Is There a UTV Company That Makes Good Stuff and Backs it Up, Unlike E-Z-GO?

[ruffdog]

I will be keeping my eye out for something better. Kubota looks good.

You complained about the price of EZGO parts but have you bought Deere or Kubota parts ever? I had a RTV 900 that I bought a bunch of accessories for and they $ure did co$t a pretty penny. I'm sure the tariffs will make them even more expensive too!

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Read closely. You misstate the point. My main complaint is not the price of the parts, although even the ripoff artists at John Deere would have a hard time outdoing a $2300 cart bed that cost $75 to make. And I just happen to need bed repairs. It would be nice to buy a new one, I'm going to have to weld mine up instead, which will be a royal pain.

The bigger issues are the fact that so many parts are unavailable, plus the sickliness and incompetence of this poorly-run company. Kubota will be here 50 years from now. E-Z-GO appears to be barely alive right now.

I just read that Textron/E-Z-GO/Jacobsen/New-Name-This-Month has sold its entire powersports line, as of the first quarter. That's not something you do when things are going great. You don't say, "We are rolling in cash, so let's abandon a major division and have a fire sale."

I just looked, and I can buy all sorts of parts for my Kubota engine, which is older than my unsupported cart engine. Far as I know, Kubota is not selling off any of its lines.

The Subaru engine in my cart has been unavailable for a long time. It wasn't discontinued when the cart turned 20. It was a lot earlier.

I don't understand why people get angry at me when I have a problem with a product. This happens about 75% of the time when I post things on the web about bad products and companies. It's like I said someone's baby was ugly.

I don't know why this is an emotional issue. You can criticize any product I own, and I will have no problems with you.

Forums exist to help consumers, not corporations.

 

[ruffdog]

The bigger issues are the fact that so many parts are unavailable,........

There are a TON of EZGO dealers around the country, many with a bunch of NOS (new old stock) parts they would love to get rid of. See if a local dealer can get on a dealer parts database to find those hard to get parts. Good luck!

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I appreciate the advice, but I'm just looking for a better company.

 

[Torvy]

Like I said, it's a golf cart company. They make most of their money doing that. They will keep making money doing that. Pitching them as a UTV was just a marketing ploy to expand sales, not their bread and butter.

Lots of actual UTV manufacturers who focus on off road utility. The customers for EZ Go will continue to buy them for golf and golf course maintenance. Commercial users will typically have upgraded in 20 years, so parts for old machines aren't worth the effort.

Tractors have a lot longer life span, thus, tractor oems tend to support a bit longer.

 

[2515R Dude]

The bed is small, and it only holds 440 pounds, so that's no good. The Kubota Sidekick has a bigger bed and payload. It has 54 HP, which seems ridiculous on a farm cart. If I break 15 mph on this lumpy farm, I'll go flying.

what kind of transmission does it have?

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Like I said, it's a golf cart company. They make most of their money doing that. They will keep making money doing that. Pitching them as a UTV was just a marketing ploy to expand sales, not their bread and butter.

If they manufacturing UTV's, it's a UTV company. They took on the responsibility for making good UTV's and giving them proper support.

You're just saying they neglect one product line in favor of bigger ones.

Yamaha is a guitar company. Kawasaki is a shipbuilding company. Honda is a an airplane company. If you make X, you're an X company.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

what kind of transmission does it have?

The Kubota site says it has "CVT PLUS with centrifugal clutch." The ST350 also has a centrifugal clutch.

 

[5030]

... and Maico makes hearing aids as well as made competition dirt bikes so what is your point? Kohler makes bathroom fixtures and made engines as well.. It's called diversification.

I still don't get you disparaging EZ Go.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Why are you upset about me criticizing a company?

If you don't get it, you can go look at the things I said about it. I listed them. All valid complaints.