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Buying a Bennington Tritoon

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samjones

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Well, our runabout days are over and off to a pontoon. Our neighbor has the 24' RTFB Bowrider with the fixed thing on top that can hold the Bimini (sorry my nomenclature is a bit lacking) -- and I'd love to get the same.

We love theirs. I want it to be fast 41ish+ mph, but happy with a 22' vs 24'. So I have a few questions.

1) Do I need the 300hp or can I deal with the 250hp.
2) Where can I buy slightly used or new and pay <100k?

Its not urgent, easily can order. But want to be as price sensitive as I can. Happy to buy used or new.

Thank you so much!!!
 
With an SPS Plus set up you can run a 250 and get to 45 . I've can get to 44.7 on my 23 ft QCW. ( heavy boat)
You won't find used boats on this forum,. The selling of boats and motors is not allowed, if some one posts a boat for sale they will be suspended.
 
I was in your situation 2 months ago. I just got out of 20+ years of owning tournament ski boats and wake boats. We picked up a new M22 and I researched and looked for boats that matched what we wanted exhaustively.

Best of luck with your search, but from what I saw, you may want to open your search to other models or plan to be more flexible in your price range. The R series are going to be harder to find, new or used. A new one with a 250 as the only option would be hard to get in that price range. A slightly used one might be like a unicorn hunt.

That being said, if you're open to other models, the M is very nice and you could find a new M22 with almost every option for the price you're looking at. It also has an extended deck so it's closer to 23'. We got the 200 Yamaha (F200) on ours and hits about 41. It's not fully broken in yet and it's running the factory prop so I think there's a little left on the top end. The Vmax 200 would probably get you a little more.

Going new with a 10 year warranty was a huge factor for me. We were also able to hit the timing just right and got a 5 year factory warranty on the motor. I still miss my Mastercraft but I definitely don't miss the thought of thousands, if not tens of thousands, out of pocket for a non-warrantied failure.
 
Consider an L, LX or M model. Will be slightly lighter than an R model, and cost less. Get an SPS or SPS+ tritoon hull. With the SPS you are limited at 200HP, but with a performance version 200HP you would get a 22-24’ pontoon to 40-45 mph at WOT on a light load if dialed in. With a SPS+ hull you can go to 250 HP and again can edge that performance up with a performance version of that motor (Yamaha Vmax, Mercury Verado Pro, etc). Then you are more solidly 40+ mph with a bit more leeway on weight load.

Something to be said for the 10 year warranty by going new. However, every now and then a nice deal is out there on a pre-owned boat. With slower sales in the new market, discounts are out there, and fall and early winter are prime times to get the best deals. I would really lean into deal shopping for new (unsold 2025 inventory) or a good deal on a spec’d up 2026 order.
 
Also, at least in our state (Michigan), FB Marketplace is a great spot to search for good used pontoons in addition to Craigslist if you want to scope out pre-owned.
 
samjones said:
Well, our runabout days are over and off to a pontoon. Our neighbor has the 24' RTFB Bowrider with the fixed thing on top that can hold the Bimini (sorry my nomenclature is a bit lacking) -- and I'd love to get the same.

We love theirs. I want it to be fast 41ish+ mph, but happy with a 22' vs 24'. So I have a few questions.

1) Do I need the 300hp or can I deal with the 250hp.
2) Where can I buy slightly used or new and pay <100k?

Its not urgent, easily can order. But want to be as price sensitive as I can. Happy to buy used or new.

Thank you so much!!!
Click to expand...
Check out Spicer’s Boat City in Houghton Lake. They have a loaded up 2023 24’ RTFBA with a 300 Merc for $120K.
 
Michiman said:
Check out Spicer’s Boat City in Houghton Lake. They have a loaded up 2023 24’ RTFBA with a 300 Merc for $120K.
Click to expand...
It better be for $120K! Ha!
 
BigKahuna said:
It better be for $120K! Ha!
Click to expand...
That's what I thought too, but I was assuming it was used and it's actually a new '23. With the MSRP at $190, they're probably 10-15K below what you could buy that for new with a decent deal. With model year price increases between '23 and '26, that MSRP would probably be closer to $200K right now. I'd think someone would be able to make a deal for $105-$110 right now before it sits in the showroom all winter.

That boat is probably the closest that OP is going to find to what he's looking for and desired price. All with a new boat warranty.
 
Unfortunately , once a dealer has it for 2 years the warranty starts the day the dealer took delivery.
 
samjones said:
Well, our runabout days are over and off to a pontoon. Our neighbor has the 24' RTFB Bowrider with the fixed thing on top that can hold the Bimini (sorry my nomenclature is a bit lacking) -- and I'd love to get the same.

We love theirs. I want it to be fast 41ish+ mph, but happy with a 22' vs 24'. So I have a few questions.

1) Do I need the 300hp or can I deal with the 250hp.
2) Where can I buy slightly used or new and pay <100k?

Its not urgent, easily can order. But want to be as price sensitive as I can. Happy to buy used or new.

Thank you so much!!!
Click to expand...
I also purchased a Bennington R24 Bowrider in 2021. In hindsight I wish I had ordered the Sport Arch, gives the boat a sporty look, but it was another $10K+ more with speakers. I did go with a 300 HP Mercury Verado. Mercury runs very quite when compared to the same 300hp Yamaha. It actually has a muffler option you can turn on and off if you want a throaty sound. The Mercury also came with the option for “ Active Trim” that automatically adjusts the trim level on the engine based on boat weight and engine speed. Well worth the addional option. I usually cruise around 20-22 mph but have gotten the boat up to 37-39 mph. Remember the R24 TRITOON Bowrider comes with a 58 gallon gas tank and when full and carring 5-7.people, hitting 37-39 is moving at quite a clip.
I also bought mercury’s extended warrantee that extended the engine and electronics 5 years over the basic 3 year warrantee. With everything now digital, the extended coverage it worth the investment. Mercury came out with a new improved electronic gear shifter after I ordered. Something to look into. Regarding price, you can go into the Bennington boat build website and select what options you want and it will give you a price. I order my boat in November 2020, built in Feb 2021, delivered in May 2021. With the pandemic boats were selling like hot cakes, nothing in the showrooms, manufactures were behind and short staffed since employees were coming down with Covid. It took a while for Bennington to build and deliver to Connecticut. I paid $110,000 for the R24 Bowrider with Mercury 300 hp Verado engine, Plus another $8,000 for the extended mercury warranty. Today the same boat would cost $148K without extended engine warrantee. Feel free to ask me any more questions on boat build options
 
Maybrook said:
I also purchased a Bennington R24 Bowrider in 2021. In hindsight I wish I had ordered the Sport Arch, gives the boat a sporty look, but it was another $10K+ more with speakers. I did go with a 300 HP Mercury Verado. Mercury runs very quite when compared to the same 300hp Yamaha. It actually has a muffler option you can turn on and off if you want a throaty sound. The Mercury also came with the option for “ Active Trim” that automatically adjusts the trim level on the engine based on boat weight and engine speed. Well worth the addional option. I usually cruise around 20-22 mph but have gotten the boat up to 37-39 mph. Remember the R24 TRITOON Bowrider comes with a 58 gallon gas tank and when full and carring 5-7.people, hitting 37-39 is moving at quite a clip.
I also bought mercury’s extended warrantee that extended the engine and electronics 5 years over the basic 3 year warrantee. With everything now digital, the extended coverage it worth the investment. Mercury came out with a new improved electronic gear shifter after I ordered. Something to look into. Regarding price, you can go into the Bennington boat build website and select what options you want and it will give you a price. I order my boat in November 2020, built in Feb 2021, delivered in May 2021. With the pandemic boats were selling like hot cakes, nothing in the showrooms, manufactures were behind and short staffed since employees were coming down with Covid. It took a while for Bennington to build and deliver to Connecticut. I paid $110,000 for the R24 Bowrider with Mercury 300 hp Verado engine, Plus another $8,000 for the extended mercury warranty. Today the same boat would cost $148K without extended engine warrantee. Feel free to ask me any more questions on boat build options
Click to expand...
 
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