Bennington’s warranty is transferable to one new owner, but the “paperwork” online needs to be done through a dealerhsip. Small fee involved. Worth the call to get it in motion. Your 2016 has either a 7 year or 10 year bow to stern warranty. It changed up somewhere around that time period, so ask the dealer about it.
That said, sounds like you got a heck of a deal on the boat. I can appreciate just grabbing it in this market, and worry about a potentail upgrade down the road if after using it the possibility of going bigger remains appealing over time. Darn things are pricey!
The underskinning helps with noise as you mention. It also smooths out the ride considerably with surging. Particuarly with a dual toon, water will surge and hit the cross-members as you speed up and try to get up on plan. Holds you back, creates a “catching” kind of feel or ride at times. Very noticeable in choppy water. Will still happen with a tritoon as well, but much less so.
The underskinning allows that water to be smoothly displaced. Keeps marine plywood underneath dry. Reduces noice while also making for a more confortable ride. Also aids in getting up on plan faster which will be nice with your 115HP. With your skills, I’d highly recommend adding it.
That said, if you add underskinning, only do it after other upgrades and wiring are done. It is like drywalling your walls and ceiling in a basement. Once you add it on, you lose easy access to the bottom side of the boat. Thus, running new wires and what not is best done before doing something like this.
FYI, with the diversity of layouts and boat rear-ends, post some pictures of that area of your boat when you can. After seeing the back of your boat, some people might have some neat ideas for mounting speakers, or lights, etc… from your list of upgrade ideas.
After Speaker and Lighting Ideas/Non-Arch:
The aft deck set-up for my Swingback has the built in Bennington speaker grill and lighting. Honestly, it is basically a cut out with a RGB lighted speaker grill insert. Although a stock upgrade accessory, again someone with your skills, could probably cut and internally mount a slick set up of their own without a tower.
Providing picture of my setup simply as food for thought. Entire grill lights up with RGB lighting (see bide beneath pictures). Pretty cool in the dark, and a neat chrome look during the daytime:
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What the RGB lighted grill looks like in use - 14 sec video from when I first received my order back in 2017:
Aft Chrome RBG Speakers and Grill
