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Used Benny

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slyguy

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Mesa, AZ
I'm considering buying a 2 year old Bennington.  The toons are polished, but there are black marks in various places (I was told by the previous owner's lift or dock), and the bottom of the toons, appear dull to me in the pictures, I was told its most likely from plastic bunks instead of carpeted.  I would be buying this boat based on pictures only and is quite a distance away from me.   I'm told from the dealer that it should buff out, and the marks should come out.  WDYT?  The sales guy scrapped the E to prove that it comes off.  Anyone in the club buy a boat from a dealer long distance before.  If so, please chime in with your experience including shipping experience how did you handle that.  From the pictures, the boat appear immaculate to me.

Thanks!

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I've had black "plastic" bunks and side loading guides on my Shorestation for 3 seasons, and never had any marks that look like that. I'd tell him to clean it up and send another picture, as it seems to me if it was that easy they would have done it already. They may have just polished the visible parts of the toons (sides) as it's a ton of work to do properly.
 
TomS said:
 I'd tell him to clean it up and send another picture, as it seems to me if it was that easy they would have done it already. 
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+1

Steve
 
I doubt they will clean it up.  The 1st pic above he says was the reflection of the floor on the pontoons.  Here are two other pics.  The one of the guy is the pontoons polished and his reflection, and the next one is what he said was probably from plastic bunks.  Sorry for any confusion I may have caused.  WDYT?

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I would NOT buy it unless they got it clean. I wonder if there was shark hide on the toons? If there was, the polishing took care of that. I agree with what others have said about getting the seller to clean and resubmit pictures to you.

I'm squeamish buying anything I did not touch in person. This includes many cars and motorcycles. At the very least I would have someone I trusted that was closer to go and inspect. Pictures can be doctored up too much, and even if not doctored up, they don't always tell the story.

But hey, it's your cash!
 
Like Tooner, I hate buying anything major unless I can it look it over in person! I've bought items online that we didn't like or the quality wasn't as good as advertised and sent it back. This is a pretty big investment for you and your family. I couldn't imagine buying a boat without totally inspecting it and test driving it. I don't know how far away you are from this deal or how good a deal they are giving you but I would thoroughly think about this before jumping in............
 
Agreed, to spend that kind of money I would think it would be worth taking a trip out and seeing it.  BTW, is this a Bennington Dealer, I would feel much better if it was and I would also ask about the length of warranty left
 
As for scraping an "E" into the toon, that was not the smartest in my opinion as now there will be scratches in the toon where he did that if you do get the black spots off. I would suggest buying a plane ticket and scoping it out in person if you are that serious about this boat.
 
The boat is at a large Bennington dealer over 1,000 miles away.  I believe them, the salesman has been very responsive.  

I'm not sure if the dealer would clean them as I think they don't think they'll get money back from cleaning them up.  

I was looking for your thoughts regarding the condition of the toons and your thoughts on cleaning them up.  I'm pretty positive the boat was sharkhide'd after the toons were polished.  

I was also curious if someone had bought a boat and had it shipped to them or perhaps moved a boat long distance; if so, what steps did you take to prepare the boat for shipment..  Ex, should I have it shrink wrapped?  The boat comes with a trailer, which I will need, any special considerations for that?

The boat comes with 5 years left on bow to stern warranty + a year left on an extended warranty on the motor.   The lifetime warranty on deck/structure, turns to 10 years for me if I were to buy it.  

I do have a Benny dealer near me; but Bennington is not big here and my local dealer sells many more wake boats than anything else.  

This boat 1000+ miles away is special.  If it wasn't I wouldn't go to all the trouble.  I am debating the hassle.
 
Where is the boat located, may I ask. Maybe it is near another member, maybe could take a gander at it for you.

Just thinking out loud. Or maybe a bad idea.
 
Great idea Chris!
 
In my opinion, the reflection explanation is probably valid but not the toons cleaning up so easily.  If it was that easy to clean the dealer should have already cleaned the toons just to help the boat sale quicker.  There is a good probability that they will not clean up and probably why it hasn't sold locally. 

There are a lot of members that have gone to inspect a vehicle for someone in one of the car forums I belong to.  That might be your best option in this particular scenario.

Either shrink wrap or have heavy duty eyelets added to the mooring cover.

Where is the boat located?

Good luck with whatever you decide. 
 
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If it is going 1k miles by a third party shipper I'd definitely shrink wrap as the stock mooring cover shouldn't be used for towing at speed.
 
No way would I buy a used boat sight unseen. I'd take the time and look at it myself. Or at the very least negotiate a deal with them, have them ship it to you for your inspection. If your good then wire the money. If they say no offer to split the freight. If they still say no, something is fishy.
 
Honestly, I don't want to share the information, cause I'm afraid one of you will buy it for yourself.  LOL.  I believe the boat was someone's on the Club.

Actually, I'm sure of it and I'm sure he babied it.  I don't want to say anything unless I buy it.  Its impeccable other than the marks on the toons from what I see

I will check with the dealer, and see if they were willing to clean it up.  
 
There was a member that bought his boat in the Midwest and trailered back to Maine last summer. He had it shrink wrapped for the trip back. 
 
If you think it is some one in the club, you cam PM him for additional info 
 
I have a little of that on my boat, enough to know exactly what it is...

The black marks are just tarnished aluminum where the Shark Hyde either didn't get applied, or it got rubbed off.  Looks like some of each to me.  That's why he was able to scratch the "E" into one of the spots.  He just scraped off the tarnished part.  Guessing there's a permanently scratched "E" in that tube now. 

As long as there are no dents, I wouldn't be afraid of this, but you will need to buff and polish these spots out, then reapply the Sharkhide over them again.

I've only polished and Sharkhided once.  I've not gone back to fix these little spots (on mine, they are very small) so I do not know how it would look once Sharkhide is reapplied over those parts.

Think of Sharkhide as a clear paint.  That's what it feels like, and once you polish aluminum, and put on the "paint" (Sharkhide) it seals up the aluminum from water and air and keeps it from tarnishing. It's like a plastic top coat.  Or clearcoat, like on cars.

Polishing an entire pontoon is very labor intensive.  Fixing spots like this wouldn't take a lot of time, if you have the stuff to do it (polisher, rouge, rouge rake, etc).  Even the "E" should be able to be buffed out.

Again, I wouldn't be afraid of this boat just because of those spots.  I'd be MUCH more afraid of dents.  The black marks can be fixed.  Search on Youtube for aluminum polishing, then judge for yourself if you think this is something you can do yourself.

BUT, I would never buy a boat without being able to touch it and test drive it.   You are putting MUCH faith in this dealer.
 
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clrd said:
Where is the boat located, may I ask. Maybe it is near another member, maybe could take a gander at it for you.

Just thinking out loud. Or maybe a bad idea.
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This is an excellent idea! 
 
Can you at least say what state?  Then someone from that state might PM you...
 
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