The market:
Many karts, pocket bikes, and scooters are now being copied, but with inferior materials and little or no parts availability.  Most of these are imports.  We are being flooded with people whose vehicle has broken within one or two days, and they cannot find parts or service.  Many of these are being sold over the internet, where the seller often "disappears" after a short time, leaving you with no recourse.  (They sometimes come back as another name, take your money until they get too many complaints, then start over again.)  Others are being sold in the mass merchant or auto store chains, but again, they provide no parts or service.

The Texas Department of Safety has stated that pocket bikes are not legal to drive on public roads:  http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/pr052005.htm.

Just a few of the ridiculous things sites that sell karts are saying to get your hard-earned money, and why you should THINK before believing them (taken from the internet on 12/13/2004):

"Ken-bar Mfg. Co. is one of the two leading manufacturers ...."  This would depend on your definition of "leading."  There are many significant players in the go-kart industry, much more than the two this company sells.  While Ken-bar builds a good kart, they are certainly not the leading company in volume, nor in the top two.

"As the oldest and one of the two leading manufacturers ... Carter ... since 1936 ..."  In addition to the "leading" comments (see "Ken-bar" above), Carter wasn't selling go-karts in 1936, as the go-kart wasn't invented until 1956.  Carter apparently built lawnmowers in 1936, but their own site says "more than 30 years," which would indicate they started building karts in the early 70's ... some 20 years after the go-kart was invented.

"45 Day Money Back Guarantee."  While that sounds generous, it's not practical to return a go-kart.  You have to drain all fluids from the engine, re-pack it, then ship it -- all at your expense.  That's in addition to the freight you paid to have it shipped to you.  Are you going to waste that much money, time, and effort?  Probably not.

"Warranty"  Where will you get that warranty honored?  Who's going to work on your kart?  (Carter's warranty, published on their page, says the kart must be inspected at the factory in Brundidge, Alabama for warranty.  Is that close to your house?  (In reality, you'll need a Carter dealer, but you need one who'll do the warranty when you didn't purchase the kart from them.  Since warranty seldom pays the full cost of repairs, that would be difficult to find.)

This site also had religious symbols, as well as a link to religious literature.  We are also members of that faith, but we don't believe in misleading people through advertising, nor do we believe using "fish" to sell our product.  (We don't believe in plagiarizing other company's websites, either ... some of our text is found on that company's site.)

A major go-kart manufacturer sells its returns to a business for several hundred dollars.  The manufacturer provides the repair parts for free;  the business provides the labor.  This provides a go-kart to a business for very little investment.  They clean them up and sell them for $900 - $1000, often passing them off as new machines.  Most of these businesses operate out of flea markets, but some "real" go-kart dealers are selling them, too.

If you purchase a go-kart at a flea market, or from any unknown business, make sure:

1. They are not selling you a "return" as a new go-kart, and,
    

2. The business is an authorized dealer for the brand they're selling.  (Don't be afraid to ask the dealer for their distributor's name and phone number so you can check them out.  A reputable dealer will gladly provide such verification.  Just because they're in a flea market doesn't mean they're not a good dealer.  It's just good business sense to check-out any unknown business before investing your hard-earned cash.)

When you purchase from a mass-merchant or online store, you generally don't know where you'll get parts or service, and it's been our experience that they are the most likely to go out of business (see the examples toward the top of this page).

When you need repairs, especially warranty repairs, who do you think gets priority treatment at a dealership -- the customer who bought a kart from that dealer, or someone who bought elsewhere?

Many warranty issues are at the dealer's discretion, if the dealer "pushes" the manufacturer just a little.  For whom do you think the dealer fights for warranty approval -- the customer who bought a kart from that dealer, or someone who bought elsewhere?

When your kart needs repair, whose kart do you think gets repaired first -- the customer who bought a kart from that dealer, or someone who bought elsewhere and now wants the dealer to fix it?

Your local dealer can be your best ally, in addition to providing "make-ready" on your kart so it operates properly.

The comments on this page were taken from various web locations on 02/16/04, 02/21/04, and 12/03/04 via "cut and paste."  Company names were removed, as we do not believe in negative selling.  Some comments were not displayed in their entirety due to space.  Due to their source, we were unable to contact the author to ascertain the validity of any complaints / comments.  Fonts have been changed to make the text more legible.  Typographical errors have been corrected.