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Quest

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I am thinking about buying my first pontoon boat. I have my eyes on a 2012 2575QCW with a 300 Yamaha. The only thing I have heard about this model is that it is heavy but that if you counter that with a big enough engine you will be fine. We have fallen in love with the interior and width of seats and lounges. So here are the rapid fire questions:

Is a Yamaha 300 enough?

Are those beautiful seats a pain to keep clean?

Is a 25 gallon standard tank enough if you are not flying around the lake?

What are your favorite options?

Do you have opinion on the Yamaha DEC control (throttle control for that engine)?

Snap in carpet?? Is it worth it?

Thanks in advance for any info. I love to hear it from the experts that are out on these boats every weekend.
 
Hey Quest, welcome to the forum! I do not have a Q, haven't even picked up my new 2275RCW yet, but I read and have an opinion. I think that the 300hp would definitely be enough, you can look at the inboard option which allows you to hold on to that beautiful view off the rear loungers without staring at a motor, but most of those are still 300hp. I went with a 200hp Yamaha SHO, I would have gotten the 250hp if I could have afforded it, but the 200hp should get it done!

I went with the bigger fuel tank for the sole reason of storage, that way I have my storage under the seat instead of a fuel tank, plus being mounted in the center tube should, in my mind, offer more even weight displacements. I also got the in tube storage. As it turned out, some people have been having issues fueling there r/g/qcw's because of the vent line and that doesn't seem to be an issue on the center fuel tank, so that was an added bonus.

As for the snap in carpet, there is a long thread with people's views on here, once again, if I could have afforded it, I would have got snap in just for the ease of cleaning if it ever got dirty. Instead I bought a "little green machine" and it seems to work well.

Keeping the seats clean shouldn't be any different than any other boat, 303 protectant seems to be the preferred choice. A little soap and water works wonders too, and I think someone threw out the white vinegar and water solution as well.

As for options, are there any options on a Q? Haha once again comes down to your personal preferences, power bimini is a bit of a nice show off feature, if you so a lot of night boating, the l.e.d. Seems like a nice touch, upgraded stereo (subscribe and amp) also dual batteries are a good choice on that unit. Remember also if you get the 300hp outboard, you would need the taller ski pylon. Stainless steel rub rail is a nice touch. Oh and for the seats, are you talking the diamond stitching upgrade or the pillow top upgrade?i also got the elevated helm, that option is mixed reviews on here, I think ill like it, oh and the rear stereo control should be handy if it's just two of you and you don't feel like leaving the loungers!

As for the yamaha control, I've never seen it, didn't order it with mine, but I should look it up on you tube and see what is fancy about it.

Hope some of this is useful, mostly I just regurgitated what everyone else has said or what I think, in the end, it is a Q, what's not to love?

Derrick
 
The Yamaha 300 should be a good motor for a Q. It is a heavy, luxurious boat which is why the power plant is so important especially if you have a lot of people on board or plan to do water sports. I would absolutely add the optional center fuel tank unless you want to spend a lot of time fueling up at the marina. Let us know if you get it and we love pictures.
 
The Yamaha 300 should be a good motor for a Q. It is a heavy, luxurious boat which is why the power plant is so important especially if you have a lot of people on board or plan to do water sports. I would absolutely add the optional center fuel tank unless you want to spend a lot of time fueling up at the marina. Let us know if you get it and we love pictures.
 
Quest,

I would send a private message to Geewest and Butchkid. They both own the Q series and may have more insight to lend to you.

The only thing I can help you with is the fuel tank. I can guarantee you that with a 300's thirst, it won't be nearly big enough. I'm on a 101 mile long lake currently and can run through an entire tank to my favorite spots and back.

Here's the closest performance bulletin I could find.

http://www.yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_v6-offshore_sws2-sds_bnt_2550rcl_f300xca_2011-05-04_pnt.pdf
 
Quest said:
I am thinking about buying my first pontoon boat. I have my eyes on a 2012 2575QCW with a 300 Yamaha. The only thing I have heard about this model is that it is heavy but that if you counter that with a big enough engine you will be fine. We have fallen in love with the interior and width of seats and lounges. So here are the rapid fire questions:

Is a Yamaha 300 enough?

Are those beautiful seats a pain to keep clean?

Is a 25 gallon standard tank enough if you are not flying around the lake?

What are your favorite options?

Do you have opinion on the Yamaha DEC control (throttle control for that engine)?

Snap in carpet?? Is it worth it?

Thanks in advance for any info. I love to hear it from the experts that are out on these boats every weekend.
Click to expand...
Don't have a Q ® but suggest you will love the 300. My 350 is quiet and powerful!

Extra gas would be worth it. So far I have not been surprised by fuel use on my 350 but more is better!

Everyone loves the rear loungers and I love the DEC and power steering

As far as carpet I thought about it but my expereince is these new carpet materials clean up pretty easy so passed on snap in. ( and our lake is a mud hole)

Just came from a big I/O to outboard and love it!
 
Thanks everyone for the quick responses..

With your 350 how quiet is the engine?

I have found one person that said the Q has issues with surging?? Anyone else seen any issues?
 
I have a IO the 300 Hp seems to work just fine, The dash mounted speedo reads around 45 at full throttle or (WTO)

I agree with BullDog The IO opens up the rear of the boat Im glad I went with a IO.

Snap In Carpet. I think its worth it. We have a "Family boat" Bennington 2275 RLIO and it has regular carpet and it has held up well.

but is showing its Age. Its like 5 years old and its not going to be a easy job come time to replace it. So the snap in carpet option allows you the flexability to change carpets down the road a bit more easy.

Cleaning the Seats Again I agree with BullDog. same as any other Bennningtion. 303 has been working great. It protects and at the same time keeps things clean.

Gas Tank: " The only time you couldn't use more fuel is when your on fire"

But with that said the Q already has less storage than most boats of that size. IMO the center toon storage is a life saver for me. If I didn't have that I would not have the ability to bring my play pen cove with me.

DSC01876.jpg


Other options???

Get them ALL!

under water lighting, side lighting, Rear washdown, Rear galley,

Load it up! you wont be disapointed
 
I just bought a 2012 "Q" with ESP. You would not be disappointed. I put a 225 yamaha vmax SHO on the boat. Goes around 40mph fuel 54 gallon tank and 4 people. Still breaking it in so I have not been running full throttle very often. For me that is plenty fast. You must remember there is no place to hide from the wind in a pontoon boat. The up on plane seems almost instant with 4 people on it and a full tank.

Most important options for me were #1 center storage #2 Center Fuel #3 all the rest if you can afford em get em! The wish list that I would get and did not would be the upgraded speaker system and the auto lift on the canopy. The canopy is a two person job with out it.

Justin
 
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Quest said:
I am thinking about buying my first pontoon boat. I have my eyes on a 2012 2575QCW with a 300 Yamaha. The only thing I have heard about this model is that it is heavy but that if you counter that with a big enough engine you will be fine. We have fallen in love with the interior and width of seats and lounges. So here are the rapid fire questions:

Is a Yamaha 300 enough?

Are those beautiful seats a pain to keep clean?

Is a 25 gallon standard tank enough if you are not flying around the lake?

What are your favorite options?

Do you have opinion on the Yamaha DEC control (throttle control for that engine)?

Snap in carpet?? Is it worth it?

Thanks in advance for any info. I love to hear it from the experts that are out on these boats every weekend.
Click to expand...
Heres my two cents and why I ordered the boat I did. Beforehand, Bennington makes 52 models of wonderful boats to suit many tastes, needs, and boating conditions, therefore if I mention why I chose what I did and why not, PLEASE readers don't be offended by my personal preference. I chose an R model because it is luxurious enough for me. Many, many included features. I prefered not to go with the pillowtop, as luxurious as it is, because of the nooks and crevices at the top to accumulate "stuff" which is the standard seating on the Q. I just didn't want to go with the I/O because it seemed heavy and cramped in the working spaces "down there". The look of the O/B off the stern doesn't bother me and you don't have the step-up and down to the loungers. Also seems the O/B config. allows a bigger rear deck. I agree about the carpet, very durable and easy to clean even though the snap-in seems great, I noticed boats with snap-in carpet end short of the loungers and with the teak deck I ordered the carpet goes all the way to the rear teak and not a short piece of vinyl there. Someone had a very nice description of plus 35 mph on the water and sometimes I hear this forum getting pretty obsessed with squeezing out an extra knot or two. Unless we are being chased by the "Prince of Wales", our little "Bismarks" should be safe. ( I know, terrible analogy) IMHO low 40s is fast enough. I ordered the power bimini and think it was one of the best $$ I spent on the boat. No more crawling over furniture and pinching fingers to raise and lower the top,(the RCW does help that a lot) The straight walkthru is terrific. With my old boat we never seemed to use the rear of the boat, it seemed cut-off from the rest of the boat, the RCW solves that. The center fuel tank and storage of the ESP is wonderful. The elevated helm is almost a must in my opinion if budget allows. No substitute for visibility. Hope this helps. Just my perspective. Gerry
 
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Thx Gerry... Good info.. I am pretty crazy about keeping the boat cleaned, covered and garaged so I think I will be fine with pillow tops. I agree an outboard is the way to go.. The 300 sounds like a good round number for me.
 
I'm with others about the 300 hp. Great. I don't think it uses any more fuel than a 250 hp motor. It should maintain normal cruise speeds very comfortably--without pushing the engine very hard.

I've heard nothing bad about the optional vinyl flooring. I have noticed a number of owners with snap in carpet that say they never take time to snap it in. They like the lighter colored vinyl floor that much--and it's so easily kept clean.
 
Quick question..

Would you guys trailer your boat with the snap on cover on at highway speeds.

If not do you have any other ideas to keep road grim off the interior.
 
These boats sit so high on the trailer that you don't get a whole lot of road grime inside. I would not trailer it with the cover on for any distance at highway speeds. I have been contemplating getting a custom cover made just for the front. It would keep the bugs and stones from hitting the pretty black paint job. Use the existing snaps and put a few snap up on the top rail.
 
I would tow with the cover and not worry about it. The dealer said it was find to do so, I haven't done it yet, But it would be a good question to ask TB
 
Just my opinion. This year I traded my one year old 2275 RLi for a 2012 2575QCW I/O. We absolutely love it. It is heavy, it is powerful and it is beautiful! The 300 outboard may produce a couple of mph better, but at WOT, the I/O will do 44.8 mph. The view out the back loungers is spectacular. Very high quality boat. As far as options... get the option list and check every box! This is my first boat with the Mercury DTS and it is so smooth.
 
Somewhere I read that Bennington does not recommend leaving the cover on for towing. Usually damage from towing is not covered under warranty. Our other toon tows much easier with the cover on and we tow 600 miles each way. We had a very heavy duty cover made that is warrantied for towing.
 
Have you seen a better looking pontoon boat then the "Q" ?????? If So please post a pic!!!!! :D

DSC01735-1.jpg
 
There goes Gee, showing off again. Haha :p

Derrick
 
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