TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Golf Car Business Always Moving Fore-ward

ADVERTISEMENT

By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 19, 2007

LAND O' LAKES - Marty Luster has golf cars that look like miniature limousines, pickups and vintage Chevrolets.

He can customize them with radios, dashboards and flashy hubcaps.

Some of them can go 30 mph.

"About 70 percent of the golf cars you see aren't used for golfing," said Luster, co-owner of Golf Car Depot in Land O' Lakes, which opened Aug. 2 at 4334 Land O' Lakes Blvd. "They're mostly used for utility purposes and just for fun."

Luster's brother-in-law, Jeff Blitman, opened the original Golf Car Depot in Pompano Beach in 1994. After noticing the number of golf cars he was delivering in central Pasco County and other areas of west-central Florida, he decided to expand.

"It's a good, growing area and conducive to golf car ownership," Blitman said. "A lot of people there have acreage or live in gated communities. It's a fun vehicle. You're out in the wind. A lot of our customers seem to be a lot of guys who do outdoorsy stuff."

The company recently opened a location in Costa Rica, and a store in Panama is scheduled to open soon.

Since the Land O' Lakes store and repair shop opened, Luster said he has sold cars to nudist resort residents, people who live in golfing communities and people who simply enjoy leisurely rides through their neighborhood.

Business has been so encouraging that Luster recently hired two full-time mechanics. Besides golf cars, the store sells accessories such as wheels, seat covers, floor mats, golf ball washers, coolers, sand bottles, sand buckets, mirrors and fuzzy dice.

Customers may choose electric or gas cars, but Luster said many communities don't allow gas golf cars because of the noise. Electric cars hold a charge for 10 to 12 miles and are easily recharged, he said.

Golf cars typically cost $3,000 to $6,000.

"We've got cars we do service on that are 20 years old," Luster said. "It's kind of like a regular car; they usually last 10 to 15 years with good maintenance. We also can completely refurbish them."

Litman and business partner Christian Valiquette started the business with just a few basic golf cars they sold out of a small garage.

At the Pompano Beach location, there are now about 700 golf cars in stock. Luster keeps about 125 in Land O' Lakes. The business is an authorized E-Z-GO distributor and also sells ClubCar products.

When the business began, Litman said, golf cars weren't nearly as sophisticated.

"They started out as a piece of junk people would just drive around, but it morphed into something bigger and better and faster and prettier, like cars did," he said. "You started off with Henry Ford and his Model T. It was black and that was it. It's just a natural progression in a maturing market."

GOLF CAR DEPOT
For information about Golf Car Depot, call (813) 996-5522 or visit www.golfcar depot.com.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT