Good Value? 04 Bennington tritoon 350 i/o

[Acdrichmond]

Looking at buying a 2004 24 ft bennington tritoon with 350 mercury i/o. The interior has been completely redone in 2018, with all new seating, even with bennington in the seats, new flooring, its not carpet but high grade vinyl which looks like carpet, new bimini, and wrapped on exterior. Engine has about 400 hours, comes with trailor. Looking at it i would never think its an 04. He is asking 25k, im in va and tritoons and pontoons seems to be hard to find at a decent price. Would i be getting a good deal or hold out for a newer boat with say a 150 4 stroke outboard? I know people will be starting to sell more with summer coming to an end

 

[Remediation]

I love our I/O but is much more expensive to maintain. Winterization will put the boat away till spring and are not cheap. The outdrive will need ujoints and a gimbal bearing at some point. Mine is at the mechanic right now for an outdrive overhaul and he had 4 other boats in the shop for the same repairs. As said I love the looks and sound but will probably not get another I/O. If you buy it budget money for maintenance

 

[ILLINOIS AVE]

Welcome! My advice, search upper right hand corner for quickest answers and hold off on your purchase. Good Luck !

 

[sunedog]

$25K is a TON of money for a 17 year old boat, no matter what was done to it. And I'm not a fan of I/O's either. There's a reason they are almost never seen on newer boats. Heavy and they are more difficult to service.

 

[Jack M]

Wait and buy newer .Too much for a boat that old .

 

[BigKahuna]

Had a 2004 4.3L Mercruiser I/O for 12 years and just loved it! Sold it at the beginning of the pandemic to a couple from Smith Mountain lake for what we bought it for. Like Remediation said it's a little more expensive to maintain but we loved the clean look of the boat with no motor hanging off the back. We now have a Mercury 150 outboard and just love it! First outboard and love how quiet it is and the way it accelerates. Getting back to your 2004..... No matter how good that boat looks it's still 17 years old. The interior may be new but what is the condition of that motor? Did the owner meticulously maintain it? It might be running like a top today and tomorrow the fuel pump goes! That's the only major incident that happened to us in all the years we had the boat but it was an expensive one. The motor had to be removed from it's pod because the fuel pump is located on the bottom of the motor. Then it had to be reinstalled. Not hard for a seasoned marine mechanic with all of the tools/equipment but very labor intensive!!! Not trying to scare you just want you to be aware of what can happen with an I/O......