The 12 equipment items we check on every cart
A Low Speed Vehicle is a road vehicle, and it carries road vehicle equipment. This is the list we work through on every golf cart before a package is prepared: what each item is, why carts fail it, and what it usually costs to fix.
- 01
Headlights
Two working headlamps, aimed and bright enough to be useful after dark. A light bar is not a substitute. On carts that came with an aftermarket light kit, check that both sides still work. A dead headlamp is the single most common thing we find on an otherwise ready cart.
- 02
Tail lights
Two working tail lamps at the rear, visible from behind at night. These are usually fitted alongside the brake lights in the same housing, but they are separate functions and both have to work.
- 03
Brake lights
Brake lights that come on when the pedal is pressed and are visible from 500 feet. On older carts the brake switch is the failure point rather than the bulb, and a switch that sticks is easy to miss until someone checks it deliberately.
- 04
Turn signals
Front and rear turn signals with a control the driver can operate without taking a hand off the wheel for long. A self-cancelling switch is not required, but a signal that stays on because nobody noticed it is a real safety problem.
- 05
Reflex reflectors
Red reflex reflectors on both sides and at the rear. They are cheap, they are easy to fit, and they are one of the most frequently missing items we see, particularly on carts that have had a body or rear seat kit fitted at some point.
- 06
Mirrors
A driver-side exterior mirror, plus either a passenger-side exterior mirror or an interior rear-view mirror. On lifted carts, check that the mirror still gives a usable view rather than a picture of the rear fender.
- 07
Parking brake
A parking brake that actually holds the cart on a grade. This is one to test rather than assume: on high-mileage carts the cable stretches, and a brake that engages but does not hold is not a parking brake.
- 08
Safety windshield
A safety windshield with AS1 or AS4 rated glazing. Many carts leave the factory with a fold-down acrylic screen that is not rated glazing, and this is one of the more common reasons a cart that looks complete needs a part.
- 09
Windshield wiper
A working windshield wiper. It is the most commonly missing single item in Florida, because almost nobody fits one to a cart voluntarily, and it is inexpensive to add.
- 10
Seat belts
A seat belt at every seating position, including rear-facing benches. Six-seat and eight-seat carts fail here more often than four-seaters, because the rear bench was fitted after the cart left the factory.
- 11
Horn
An audible warning device the driver can reach. A horn button that has corroded open is common on coastal carts.
- 12
Slow Moving Vehicle emblem
A Slow Moving Vehicle emblem, the orange and red triangle, mounted at the rear where it can be seen by traffic behind you. Inexpensive, and frequently the only thing standing between a cart and a complete package.
Two things decide eligibility before equipment matters
Under Florida law a Low Speed Vehicle has a top speed over 20 mph but not more than 25 mph, and a gross vehicle weight under 3,000 lbs. A cart that exceeds either limit is not an LSV, and no amount of equipment changes that. A cart that tops out below 20 mph can often be adjusted.
Everything else on this page is equipment, and equipment is a purchase order rather than a dead end. We quote the parts and installation for your cart before you commit, and you can also buy the parts from us and fit them yourself.
Procedures and county-level processes change over time. We describe what our service handles rather than reproducing state procedure here. If you want the official source, start with the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website, and ask us about anything specific to your cart.