trading up

[lkin]

Hi, I'm a new owner of a 20sl. I love the boat, but am already looking at next year and possibly trading up for more power and a third tube.

I'm curious if anyone out there on the forum has done the same, and what their experience was like.

 

[Bamaman]

I think you'll find that no boat holds its value like a Bennington. That said, its very important that anyone purchasing any pontoon/tritoon assess their present and future needs. We never hear of anyone wanting a smaller motor--and horsepower is never cheaper than when you purchase your boat. Also, these boats last just about forever if properly maintained, and can literally be passed on to your grandkids. (My 1985 model pontoon is still in great shape.)

Hopefully the true colors of your Bennington dealer will come out when you talk dealing on another boat. You could consider making the move as soon as possible for the highest resale. Good luck!

 

[Bigtop]

Yes I had the same experience. I originally purchased a 2010 2250 GCW with twin elliptical tubes with no strakes and a 115 Yamaha. I was told the boat would run around 30 mph, which it would with just one person on board, but my typical load is several people on board and we love to ski. With a load and trying to ski one person sloloming, it was only running 24 to 25 which is just a hair to slow. We also thought we would love the rear loungers, but seems no one wanted to sit in these as they were facing away from the rest of the croud. Also we needed the double Bimini top as everyone was fighting for shade. The GCW would not accomidate the double top. I wish I had done more research before my purchase, but fell in love with the looks of the boat and it was on the showroom floor, so I pulled the trigger to quick.

This year I was looking at adding lifting strakes and possibly trading up to a 150 horse. Actually had the strakes on order when my wife of all people, suggested I call the dealer and see if he had anything we could trade for reasonably. I got lucky. He had a 2010 2275RLI with the ESP tube package and a 150 Yamaha that only had 32 hrs on it as it was a demo. He added the second Bimini top and it also had the center tube storage and all the bells and whistles of the R series. We finally made a deal of trading for difference in the original MSR price of the two. I can tell you, there is nothing like the handling and ride of the ESP and the 150 horse is plenty for what we do. I can now pull two adults on with 4 to 5 adults on board and still run 31 to 32 mph. In fact, this last weekend, we pulled up 4 skiers at once, two on 2 skis and two on 1 ski. I will be posting some pics of this as it was a special moment. My dad who is 82 still skis on two and my grandson is 14. We had 4 generations up at once with myself, my dad, my son and grandson.

Good luck on your trade. My trade was the best decision I have ever made, yea, it cost some more money, but I am totally happy with my boat now and plan to have it a long, long time.

 

[BulldogsCadillac]

Wow Bigtop, great story, can't wait to see pics of all you guys up behind the Bennie!

I also just traded in my boat, originally bought my 09 2075GLi with 90hp 2x25 toons at the end of 09, never even saw the boat till I picked it up in 2010. We had never owned a boat, never driven a boat, but I was going to buy a motorcycle and decided the money would be better spent on something for the whole family and not just me. Our dogs don't like water, so we didn't even know if they would like it. As it turned out we loved being out at the lake just floating and fishing and tubing and a little kneeboarding too. So we decided to trade in our boat with only 33.7 hours and get the ESP with a 200hp SHO strapped onto a 2275RCW. I hope we like the rear loungers since once again, we have never even seen the layout, just ordered it. Our dealer (West Hawk Marine) gave us a pretty fair trade in considering he knew how great of a deal he gave us first time around, but the boat was in pristine condition. I think it's true that Bennington's seem to hold their value. Funny thing is, I WAS thinking about buying a motorcycle again before we decided to upgrade. Kinda gives me the feeling that the wife really doesn't want me to have a bike!! Haha

Derrick