Here are a few reasons to choose Yamaha as your golf car brand, and Golf Car Associates.

• 20+ years in business
• An impeccable record and countless satisfied customers
• Japanese design (USA factory) with ongoing innovative product development
• Golf cart experience over many years with an increasing market share worldwide
• Quality, reliability and low cost life-cycle.
• Golf carts should be a source of significant revenue on a golf course. But this is only possible if the carts are reliable and provide a high level of operational availability.  Yamaha does this better than most.
• First Fuel Injected golf cart – considered to be the best petrol car on the market
• Lithium ion battery option – low-maintenance, hassle-free & long-lasting
• Golf Car Associates has a culture of ensuring customer satisfaction
• Technicians mobile with spares (flexible)
• Superior cart fleet maintenance ethic (with process perfected)
• Competitive prices

Over the years we have supplied Yamaha Golf Cars to Country Club Johannesburg, Bryanston Country Club, Glendower Golf Club, Highland Gate Golf & Trout Estate, Vaal de Grace, Killarney, Glenvista, Cullinan, Kalahari Country Club, Marble Hall, Clarens, Kambaku Komatipoort, Benoni Lake, Mooipoort, Huddle Park, Zwartkop, Sabie River Bungalows, Royal Swazi Sun and Zen Cart Hire, to name a few.

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Here at Golf Car Associates, we are of the view that Yamaha petrol golf carts are generally better than any electric golf carts. The only real positive of an electric model is the lower noise level and smoother acceleration. The Yamaha petrol engine golf car has significant advantages compared to any battery powered golf car for the following main reasons:

Petrol Advantages

• The petrol golf carts hold their value better (higher resale value) because they don’t contain expensive and relatively swiftly depreciating batteries.
• New golf cart fleet owners do not have to construct expensive indoor parking with charge points and electrical reticulation for petrol cars.
• Petrol carts are less expensive to own and operate in the longer term than the battery car (new batteries, lead-acid and lithium are expensive).
• The tried and tested Yamaha petrol golf cart engine, now available in a “PTV” fuel injected model, is extremely quiet, light on fuel, reliable and designed for a low life cycle cost with long service intervals and relatively inexpensive service parts. Yamaha is generally accepted as the best petrol golf car available, as evidenced by the market domination (petrol golf car market share) in the USA. We can show from our fleets on various golf courses that the petrol Yamaha golf car is less expensive to run over the typical 3-to-4-year cycle than any brand of battery golf car, despite the higher petrol prices.
• The servicing of petrol golf carts is only required every 250 hours of run time or 2 years (about 330 rounds; privately owned cars are typically serviced every 2-years). The ongoing battery maintenance on electric models is not to be underestimated.
• In spite of common perceptions to the contrary, we suspect (but cannot prove) that the petrol golf cart in South Africa may have a smaller carbon footprint than the battery model. Remember all the pollution created by Eskom to charge the batteries every day, the mining of lithium, and also the manufacture and disposal of these batteries. We would welcome any contribution in respect of this calculation from appropriately knowledgeable people.
• Modern Yamaha petrol golf cars have relatively quiet 4-stroke Yamaha engines that comply with US and UK noise emission standards.
• The petrol golf cart can be driven all day without the problem of having to plug them in for some hours to charge. This is also a factor when there are power outages.
• As the petrol model is lighter, it is on the course sooner after rain and generally creates less wear and tear on the course.
• Lower labour cost to get fleet ready: – no plugging-in and unplugging of charging points.  For example, one can stage (set-up) cars the night before early starts.
• More flexibility at the end of a lease.
• No battery ‘headaches’ when the cars stall due to old batteries during a round.
• Electric lithium battery fleets pose a fire risk and result in higher insurance costs.   A significant number of lithium fleets and their storage sheds have burnt down all over the world in recent years. In some cases the entire clubhouse has been lost.

Further, while the cost of electric golf cart servicing seems cheaper than the petrol cart servicing in the short term, you will find yourself in a situation at some point, where you will have to buy new batteries to maintain the value and usefulness of your (electric golf cart) assets; in addition to the cost of Eskom power; this is why electric golf carts end up being more expensive in reality.

LITHIUM ION BATTERIES

The older electric Yamahas were fitted with Trojan 6V, 8V & 12V Deep-Cycle lead-acid batteries in the past.  Golf Car Associates is able to convert the older carts to game-changing Lithium Ion batteries.  We recommend the RoyPow LiFePO4 100AH or the Redpole LiFePO4 100AH (or 160 AH for bigger electric motors) as the most suitable aftermarket batteries (mainly installed into older and preowned carts).

The efficiency, power output and ease of maintenance of the Lithium-ion battery makes it a popular choice for modern electric golf carts. From June 2026 we will be able to supply new Yamaha golf cars factory fitted with the RoyPow LiFePO4 48V 105AH lithium battery.

• The longer life cycle and other benefits of lithium batteries outweigh the higher expense.
• Requiring fewer batteries means less weight (Fitted Li-ion batteries weigh 25% of a lead acid set).
• Lead acid batteries can lose around 33% of their charge in 30 days, while lithium only lose around 3% – this can be important if your cart sits dormant for an extended period.
• Lithium batteries operate at a fully-charged level of power delivery until they completely lose their charge – no loss of torque or power.
• It takes a lead battery around 8 hours to fully charge, while lithium batteries can be fully charged in about 3-4 hours.
• Lithium batteries will also last much longer than lead batteries because they can handle far more charging cycles over their lifetime (5x more).
• Partially charging a lead acid battery may result in damaging the cells while lithium batteries can handle quick, short charges without damage.

Get in touch to find out more.

Golf Car Associates (GCA) has been supplying, servicing and repairing active Yamaha golf car fleets on various golf courses for most of the preceding 20 years.  In order to provide an efficient service and ensure that our fleets have a high level of operational availability, GCA has built up a significantly large parts division.  GCA can generally supply most Yamaha service parts and other commonly used parts immediately.   Parts required infrequently and parts for older models can generally be supplied within a few weeks.

Please quote the serial number or model description of your Yamaha golf car when calling our Winray or Desiree on 0113976671.   You may be asked to provide a photo of the old part in cases where something unusual is required.

Golf Car Associates focuses on long term rental agreements with golf courses (typically 4 years) and the retail of new golf cars, but we have formed a close working relationship with a reliable and professional short-term rental company, Zen Carts, that uses mainly Yamaha golf cars.

Zen Carts can be contacted on 011 943-6003 or book@zenevents.co.za.