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Purchasing a 22 SCWXP!

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LOUNGER

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Hello!


Wanted to introduce myself and to let everyone know I'm really excited about purchasing my first ever boat!  It'll be a Bennington and I'm leaning towards a 22 foot SXWXP with a 115 Yamaha. I love the rear loungers! I'm not set on the colors and all of the options are very confusing. If anyone has any words of wisdom on what not to get or a must have, please post! Looking forward to the buying process and learning valuable info from this site!


Perry


(LOUNGER)
 
Welcome to the place where we will spend your money.  :)   I will only suggest the SPS and a 150 hp motor. The rest is optional.
 
I agree with Carl if you plan on water sports. Friends of ours just bought on the lake down from us and after riding on ours they made sure to order the SPS with a 150. I even talked them into power steering!!!
 
Well to be honest the power steering sold itself!


LOUNGER, what do you plan on using the boat for? Just slow cruising? Fishing? Once you share what your intended use it we'll be able to craft you a custom boat solution! We've been spending others money for years on here and there are many members who are on their 2nd, 3rd and even 4th bennington so there is a lot of experience here. Congrats on the new boat though and come on spring!
 
SPS/150. Regardless of what youre doing with it, because you can do it faster.
 
Thanks for the replies and I apologize for the initial lack of info. I'm 54 years old and have never owned a boat. I live in Louisiana and the majority of my boating will be cruising on bayou's and local lakes. Very, very, very little water sports. Tubing (sometimes) will be the extent of it. My idea is moderate to slow cruising with my fiancé and/or family and stopping for the occasional bite to eat. I doubt I'll travel to any large lakes however we have the Red River that's popular here.
 
Even though you don't expect it... think resale. As you can see those that do their research will stumble across this awesome community, and...they will be looking for a sps with a 150 or better. Either way, whatever you get...you'll love it. But I promise you. You'll hear it from quite a few... go get the biggest motor you can. If it's a 9.9, so be it... you'll still love that boat.
 
My words of wisdom. The first thing you do after ordering, if you have not done so already,  take a boaters safety course ...... just my 2 cents. 


Welcome to the family though, and remember, once you get it, pics are MANDATORY ......  :D
 
Congrads  on the the decision to buy a boat.You'll never regret the decision. As you can see in the above posts,you landed in the best forum on the internet. Just ask and you'll get at least one response to the question. But most importantly, your first boat is going to be a Bennington! No matter what options you decide on, the boat is a Bennington. And since this is your first boat,PLEASE TAKE THE BOATING COURSE. Good luck with the option decisions.
 
LOUNGER said:
Thanks for the replies and I apologize for the initial lack of info. I'm 54 years old and have never owned a boat. I live in Louisiana and the majority of my boating will be cruising on bayou's and local lakes. Very, very, very little water sports. Tubing (sometimes) will be the extent of it. My idea is moderate to slow cruising with my fiancé and/or family and stopping for the occasional bite to eat. I doubt I'll travel to any large lakes however we have the Red River that's popular here.
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Based on your intended useage, you sound like a good candidate for a boat with 2 tubes and a 90 or 115 motor. That said, look into your future. Who will be doing the potential occasional tubing? Grandkids? Neighbor kids? Potential grandkids? As they age, they will be less and less satisfied with the water sports experience behind a 2 tube boat with lower horsepower.


So unless you are willing to pay the cost of admission into the "Upgrade Club," it might make more sense to go with the SPS/150 now. But don't let these knuckleheads make you feel unhappy with your eventual choice. ;-)


That said, I bought a 2 tube boat with a 115, added a 3rd tube (Express Tube) and 5 years later, upgraded to an SPS/150.


Go figure.
 
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As mentioned before......the sps package with at least a 150 is a good place to start.   When we bought ours back in '14 I knew that I wanted something that could scoot off the lake if need be (a LOT better than our old 50 was) and I was for sure that I wanted a tri-toon.  Yes a tri does ride better than a standard pontoon....when our small 5800 acre lake gets a bit rough we hardly notice it.


If you were a bit closer we could show you our boat and take you out for a ride so you could see how well the sps package actually handles.......yes we've sold a few boats for our dealer this way.


Some options to consider:


Flooring - we like our full seagrass (yes it can get warm in the sun but so did our carpet)


Lighting - stainless docking lights are more durable ( we like ours) but seem to put out less light than the plastic counterparts


Extended aft deck - makes it real nice at the sandbar for coolers and storing towables or floaties


Underskinning - sps package comes with it standard


Rub rail - stainless (we have) or heavy duty....get at least something if this is your first boat and plan on docking up 


Wider 4 rung telescoping swim ladder - wife liked the wider ladder a lot better than the narrower 3 rung


Heavy duty engraved cleats are a nice touch as well.


The color combo.....you're on your own on that one.  We are partial to regatta blue with champagne accent  :D :D


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DSCN42271_zps2c9ebqes.jpg
 
Thanks EVERYONE for your insight and suggestions! ILB, that's a beautiful color combination, thanks for sharing and thanks for your suggestions. I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon to start the build. Although I'm sure the 115 will be fine, stepping up to a SPS with a 150 would be the ultimate. I'm not sure I can handle the extra funds it'll take for that though. We shall see. If anyone else has any words of wisdom, please post. Again, thanks everyone and I'll post my results!!! This really is exciting!!!!
 
Welcome aboard!!! Your making a great decision purchasing a Bennington no matter what the options. I'm glad to say I'm in the "upgrade club" and run SPS/200. I couldn't do it with less. My advice has always been to buy as much horsspower you can afford as it cost twice  as much later on. Oh yeah, you can always pull back on the throttle..... pushing further forward never works!!!  Last but not least take a boater safety class, no matter what you can always learn something.
 
If you have the opportunity build a few boats at the dealership so you know the actual pricing and bring those options here. You'll get a ton of feedback good or bad but hopefully it'll keep you from making some of the same bad decisions we did!! You gotta be a pretty smart guy already buying a Bennington! :)  
 
Lounger...........Building a boat can/will get expensive. Buy what you can afford. 
 
Thanks again for all the input! Here's the unfortunate update of my visit to the marine center. I built a couple of boats on the website before I went to the store so I could get a feel for what I was looking at. The one I focused on was less money and was a 2017 22SCWXP with a 115. I called my recommended salesperson and he informed me that the MSRP does not include freight, trailer or taxes. He then informed me that I could indeed purchase said boat with freight and trailer added for $11K off of MSRP plus taxes. I was hesitant to believe that there was that much mark up from the factory. I asked him to repeat it and he did. I told him I would see him in a couple of days. The day before my appointment, I called my salesperson to confirm the $11K discount and again, twice, he confirmed it. So..............................on the day of my appointment I showed up to look at the couple of left over models outside when my salesperson came out to greet me. He said lets go inside and look at figures because the LSU games is on. I replied "ok" so we went inside. The second I sat down he handed me a paper with numbers all over it and one group of numbers that was circled. It read $4K over MSRP. He said that's your price on the one you picked out. I laughed and said I didn't understand. He said "that is the one." In disbelief, I questioned how he could go up $15K from what he quoted me four times. He said that's the price and I'm not making any money on you. I "gracefully" stood up and exited. I went there armed with an approval for whatever I wanted with a 2.9% APR and a ton of excitement. I left feeling numb. Whether there is any room for negotiations from the manufacture's MSRP or not, I will not do business with the marine center I visited. I will purchase a Bennington, that's a fact and it'll be soon. Sorry for the whining, it just makes me feel better.
 
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Sounds just like an experience I had with a HUGE local dealer. Went with a smaller one a little further out and have been treated like a king. 


But for anyone reading this who is ok paying over MSRP for a boat, Please send me your order and I'll fulfill it!
 
My dealer was right up front and told me my multiplier on retail, I was lucky enough to pay almost 30% of the list price. The other dealer in Maryland was about 23% off list price.  Sounds like you need a different dealer, doesn't matter what he's selling.... sounds like too much!!!
 
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