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Why Did I Buy Bennington

Pittsburgh

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Why Did I Buy Bennington ?

To me buying a Pontoon was a large investment in my families safety and happiness

I am not the type of person who jumps into decisions at the spare of the moment

When I went to the Pittsburgh Boat Show I went knowing what I wanted 

The dealer was surprised to hear me explain to my family why a Bennington Pontoon 

He asked if I needed a job as a salesperson

Research Research Research and More Research

Thanks to the web and acquiring manuals from an array of manufacturers I had no problem with my decision

Warranties, Guarantees, Quality , Reliability , and Expertise is synonymous  with Bennington

Though the Bennington won't be here till May 1st

I feel sure I made the right choice

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Rest assured you made the right choice!

I am a total studier, drives my wife crazy. Study, study, study... an engineer at the core. I did all that over and over, knew every spec, quoted every benefit and agonized over every shortcoming, asked a zillion questions. In the end they were pretty evenly matched with a couple of other brands (on paper!). There are some very well built boats out there fortunately.

Then I had a chance to attend the Club Bennington event in 2012 and after meeting many Bennington associates, gained a full measure of what wasn't on paper or in the specs - the passion and commitment they each had to building the best and also following through for every customer as long term owners. It was immediately clear they totally get it. My order followed shortly thereafter and my experience tells me I made the right choice too.
 
Congrats on purchase. Like many I went with bennington as my boat of choice and investment in my family's watersports Fun
 
I have just bought my first boat and its also a Bennington just waiting for weather to get better to put it in the water
 
All I can say is "You did make the right choice".

I did tons of research prior to buying ours. I looked at other brands, and yes, I could have saved thousands, but I understood where the extra money was going.......Quality, craftsmanship, and materials. Could I have been "happy" on another brand, short term, yes. But long term is the goal. The "model" at the chain was so cheap in design and quality, that it did not even compare.

The old saying "you get what you pay for" doesn't always hold true, but rest assured with Bennington, it definitely does.
 
I just bought it cuz it was red.hahaha
 
Haha, oops, yes them!  

I've told this story before, but here goes, I was going to buy a motorcycle. A Harley Davidson Night Rod Special.  But I started thinking and realized that it would only make ME happy, I should think about what is best for my family. So I looked at boats. Always had wanted a Sea-doo Speedster(I think that is the bigger one) but realized that it might be tougher for my dogs to get on and off, so thought a pontoon was the answer. I had never owned a boat, driven a boat, or ridden on a pontoon. So we started looking in the classifieds online. Had seriously considered this one, a recognizable name, even called and talked to the guy about driving the 4 hours to come and see it. Max budget was $20G since we didn't even know if we would like it. Then the wife was looking and saw the red boat!! Brand new 2009 2075GLi. It was end of the year (October! ) and my dealer was wanting to clear it out because quite frankly, he doesn't really like red boats!!! Funny thing though, my trade ins keep selling pretty fast! So once I saw the red boat online, the researcher in me kicked in. This was over my budget so I wanted to see if it was worth it. Well after spending hours upon hours reading about all the different manufacturing processes, and it was clear. Bennington was the way to go. After owning it and getting on the forum and posting and reading and all the great help I received, there was no way I would switch. I hope Bennington realizes just how much this forum helps them grow as a company. I feel like so many of us are unpaid salespeople for their products and I love it! I love the fact that we all feel the sense of pride in owning one that we tell all our friends what a great company they are and what a useful tool this forum is because of ALL YOU!! I do wish Bennington would play a larger role on the forum like they used to. I understand that they prefer people going to the dealer and asking questions, but nothing makes you feel more connected to a company then having real interactions with them and personal attention by them. They have always been great to me and I will always stick with them, but for the newer members, the connection means so much. And that's why I bought 2 more boats. And because they liked my pictures.  Hehehe
 
Derrick, 

            That is a great testimonial

I had a 6 passenger Sea Doo Bombardier as my first boat

When gas was 79 cents a gallon believe it or not it was in the year 2000 it was amazing

Twenty gallons a day cost us only 15.80

Today well it would cost 75.00 a day

The pontoon is something the entire family young and old a like can enjoy

The pontoon in my opinion was the way to go

Yamaha T60 or 90 hp is still an uncertainty 

The Bennington, I never second guessed 

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We were really close to buying the Manitou with the converitable rear bed- table-dual bench model. Their v- toon setup with the 250 was fun o drive, price was less. Then-

I met Monica a Spend a Day. Her passion for the Bennington was infectious. Test drive was not in her favor, 20 degrees, 20 mph winds, wife did not want to even bother.

And Mercury was short on motors and they needed to pull the motor to appease another customer that was in a hurry to boat in March in Ohio...

What stuck in my mind was the fit, finish, and overall quality. I couldn't get it out of my mind, Benningtons R model was heads above Manitou and i pulled the trigger that next week.

Motor- My patience for not caring about a motor till May that year was awarded with larger newer model year motor for the same price.
 
WillB

All of my research 

Pointed to one and only one Manufacturer 

Bennington

What really was the stand out for me 

The same warranties and guarantees on their entire line

From My S Series to their TOP of The Line !
 
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For many years we have owned an open bow v-hull boat, which has served us well. My kids grew up spending summers on the lake, tubing and skiing. Although it always felt crowded when there were more people on the boat. After some internet searching I realized we could do everything we wanted to do on a pontoon and also have room for my kids and grand kids if they come. There aren't many pontoon dealers or users where I am but they are growing in popularity. My wife was skeptical at first but soon saw it just made sense. After much research and browsing this website it was clear to me that  Bennington is a cut above the rest. To me boating is about family and relaxing. I am happy to say we are now Bennington owners and we can't wait to start making memories on our new boat.
 
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One of the things I was impressed with. Was that the dealers also had great pride in representing Bennington. I dealt with two different dealers and the one thing they had in common was a great pride in the product they were representing.
 
I also like that you can build a boat on Bennington's website. Although the price seemed outrageous at first, at least I had a starting point.

I was trying to put together another boat from band x dealer and I was calling him multiple times a day for options and pricing. Then he would get back to me with a price that was pretty much non negotiable. Quite a turnoff for me. 
 
Water People seem to have much in common with one another. Their need to live as close as possible to any and all bodies of water are first and foremost. Within any group there are many sub-groups. Water People are boaters, fisherman, surfers, snorklers, swimmers, pwc'ers, tubers, divers, and a multitude of other things to numerous to mention.

                        I fit into only one of the sub - groups since I do not swim, lack the patience or interest to fish, and ofcourse would never get on a tube !!  I am a boater 
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 , I would rather boat than do almost anything else in the world other than be with my wife who is not the biggest boat enthusiast.  For me retiring to a sail boat or house boat in the Carribean would of been paradise on earth ! Only disadvantage would be not having the entire family with my wife and me.

                        
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Yup, we've been looking at "houseboats" ..... Real houses on floats. They are lots around Portland, but we want warm n sunny y, not cold n rainy, (sorry Tommy). Worst case, we may get a regular houseboat, hopefully Key West area (after I hit the lottery) :)
 
Focus is not my greatest attribute since retirement

So this video like my last post is a bit off topic 

BUT

Wanted to share what our neighbor does here at the Lake.

I hope you find it as enjoyable on video as we do in person.  :)  

 
Pretty cool, but also pretty scary with how low it sits in the water.
 
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