10/26/2026
ABOUT THAT "GREAT DEAL" GOLF CART...
A lot of folks have asked us why the new 4-seater golf carts that used to sell for $7,999 are getting hard to find. Here's what IS happening, plain and simple:
The U.S. Department of Commerce spent over a year investigating and found these carts were being sold here for less than fair value, due to subsidies from the Chinese government. After finding this violated US Trade law, the fix was to impose import duties — for one major factory, it works out to over $360 in duties for every $100 of cart.
To picture what that does: take a cart that costs $5,500 to bring in to the US last year. Under those duty rates, that same cart would cost somewhere north of $20,000 by the time it cleared the port. Nobody's paying that for what used to be a $7,999 cart.
And here's the part you might not have heard. Some importers found shortcuts around those duties: allegedly not accurately disclosing the contents of the shipping containers, and assembling in or shipping Chinese carts through countries like Vietnam and Thailand to disguise where they were really made. U.S. Customs caught on and has opened formal duty-evasion investigations into several of the biggest names in the business — including Atlas, Bintelli, Denago, ICON and Venom EV. Those investigations are still ongoing, and one or more of the companies are fighting the duties in court. But here's what it means for you: carts brought in that way may be subject to the full duties after the fact — and an importer tangled up in that fight may not be around to support what they sold you.
We're not guessing about the fallout — we're living it. In our shop right now, we're seeing parts for several of these brands either completely unavailable or taking six to eight months to arrive. On a golf cart. That's half a year gone.
And here's the one that really stings. Several customers have called us recently about carts they bought Marketplace: one this month -- a $5,000 cart they got a "great deal" on. It doesn't run, and so far we haven't been able to locate the parts to get it back in service — the company behind it appears to have stopped doing business in the U.S. That's not a great deal. That's a very expensive lawn ornament.
Now, a dealer might tell you the company behind that cart is solid and will be here for years. They might even believe it — but right now, nobody can honestly promise that. The trade situation is just too unsettled. So the real question isn't "is this company solid?" It's this: who are you supporting with your purchase?
Your money can go toward American manufacturing, American jobs, and a parts counter that picks up the phone — or it can go overseas and hope for the best. That's not a knock on anyone's cart. It's just the choice in front of you.
At Macaluso Golf Carts, we offer refurbished E-Z-GO carts and new HONOR carts, with American manufacturing and access to U.S.-based parts and support central to those choices.
And whether you bought your cart from us or somewhere else, you’re welcome to call, message, or stop by. We’ll tell you honestly what we can service, what we can source, and where there may be limitations.
Helping you keep rolling is part of the job. That’s what family-owned is all about.
Macaluso Golf Carts
Expert service. Honest advice. Family owned.
ps. sorry for the long post. It's important. We have a 3 part blog series in that will be out in the coming weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter if updates on all things are important to you. www.macalusocarts.com
Your local trusted cart shop for all things GOLF carts: New, Pre-owned & Custom Built Carts, quality repairs, customization, Lithium upgrades, Parts & Accessories.
Family owned with a 5 star reputation for honesty and concierge level customer service!
