Prestige Custom Golf Cars rides out downturn

For some golfers and recreational vehicle users, getting around in a plain, white golf cart just isn't stylish enough.

That's where Prestige Custom Golf Cars of Branson West enters the picture.

Prestige sells "golf cars," which mimic the look of real cars such as Jeeps or Hummers and are more durable than traditional golf carts because they're designed for use on golf courses and streets.

Co-owner Judy Hayes said she and her husband, Rick Hayes, a former engineer for Coca-Cola, decided to move to Missouri from Florida and start a business after Rick Hayes injured his hand on the job.

She said they met a local golf car distributor and bought his business, Americar. They purchased and renovated an old restaurant at 15038 State Highway 13 in Branson West to serve as their dealership, opening shop in late 2007.

"There's been times when we're struggling, but we're hanging in there," Judy Hayes said. "This January and February were really bad. We sold, like, two cars, and the rest were all service jobs."

She declined to disclose Prestige's 2008 revenues other than to give a range of between $170,000 and $250,000.

Hayes said Prestige sells four lines of American-made, low-speed electric vehicles - American Custom Golf Cars, Streetrods, Cruise Cars and Chuck Wagon. Prices for new vehicles range from $4,000 to $30,000.

The vehicles can travel an average of 40 miles before being recharged, Judy Hayes said, and for those who want the option of traveling farther, the Streetrods and Chuck Wagons can have gas engines installed for a few hundred dollars.

The company is trying to bring low-speed, electric vehicles into Missouri's mainstream of short-range transportation, and Hayes noted that some states have been very receptive.

"Missouri's not one of them yet, but we're trying to push it a little," she said, adding that Prestige's vehicles can be licensed to travel on any road for which speeds are less than 35 miles an hour.

Dan Hoogenraad, vice president of Chino, Cali.-based American Custom Golf Cars Inc., which manufactures some of the cars Prestige sells, said his company's cars are sold as low-speed, electric, community vehicles. They are mainly used for quick trips to stores and secondary vehicles for those in retirement communities or other similar developments, he added.

He said American Custom has about 38 U.S. dealers, and its best-selling model is the Hummer H3.

"A lot of the country is still learning what a low-speed, electric vehicle is," Hoogenraad said. "It's not just a golf car with a license plate."

American Custom's cars feature turn signals, headlights, brake lights, mirrors, seatbelts, larger chassis and four-wheel brake systems, as well as custom wheels and DVD players for those who can afford the extra expense.

"There's nothing similar between a regular golf cart and ours, except that they both have batteries," Hoogenraad said.

Hayes said the company does make a few sales from its Web site, www.prestigecustomgolfcar.com, although the site wasn't set up for that purpose.

"We are looking to get more online, because online is what everybody's doing now," Hayes said. "But ... this item is something people still want to come over and touch."

Luis Lizarribar, executive director of St. Louis-based law firm Armstrong Teasdale LLP, bought a yellow Hummer H3 model from Prestige late last summer as an anniversary gift for his wife. The couple uses it when they visit an RV community on Table Rock Lake.

"It's a great vehicle. It performs extremely well and is attractive physically," Lizarriban said. "It's expensive for what you'd buy a regular golf cart for, but sometimes you get what you pay for."

These days, however, Hayes said sales of used golf cars are becoming more common as customers seek trade-ins.

"People are coming in who are looking for golf carts between the $2,000 and $3,000 range," she said.