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YOUR pontoon ideas!

  • Thread starter Retired Team Member1
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 ........  CENTER CONSOLE...


Want to play in the ocean, you need a center console option to go along with the "Ocean series" option....  The view from center, a bit elevated and a bit more protection from wind (with taller wind screen like traditional center console set up) is what is needed when your in the ocean... dodging lobster pots, mooring balls and some much more hairy wind conditions on average.  I live in Newport RI..... I have a q2575 2013 with F300 and sports tower... boat was well received this year in an area full of Hinckleys and 100-500K center console boats.   I would trade in and buy a center if you design one.... lets do it, I will be your test audience,  New England Newport RI, I keep my boat at Marina in downtown.
 
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Lockable in floor storage.

Pump out for porta potti for marina

Glove box lockable

Sliding fender hangers for top rail
 
I would be interested in is making the 2350 GSR. This model would be the 2375 GCW front seating with the 2250 GSR rear seating configuration.

Another would be to have a 12 foot long bimini top

Potentially two sided panel colors (so almost like a double sided coat. Remove panel and flip around and that panel is another color. If easy (ish) to swap could give more customization options for those that like to do that.

Add a USB hub next to 12V (unless there is already one there)
 
Instead of a normal playpen cover using four adjustable poles, use three normal poles but for the final pole, substitute a adjustable dock hook. I found this out by accident when one of my poles (one with a "s" crook and  a design weakness) broke. Now I have a dual purpose pole/hook that saves space and is functional as well. We all know how precious every bit of storage space is and what a wonderful usable item for all our Benny crowd. I simply tilt open the rear seat, place adjustable hook in storage box and turn to tighten at preferred height.  Thank you, Stan
 
Ok here is my wish list:

Factory polished or chromed toons

Tower Model GSR configuration

Tower that folds....I've seen aftermarket ones that look very nice and fold to get a little better clearance....I love tower models and if they had a foldable one my PADS would go into full effect.

Q model should quite frankly be absolutely loaded as standard...I mean the best sound, every led option, satellite radio, top fish/depth finder I mean really a garmin 100 on a Q???

On the build site this needs some work it needs to be more user friendly, better description of the options and capability, and a picture of every option, motor, ect not just some.

On under skinned models either a optional wire conduit for future upgrades or repairs or a better way to access the wiring maybe a screwed in sections of under skinned instead of rivots that have to be drilled out.

Optional marine 1200 watt power inverter

And finally a true collaboration with Wet Sounds or Polk to design from ground up with Bennington extra battery (s), battery charger, kill switch, marine rca, speaker wire, subs, amps, and components as a click and pick option that works synergistically together and safely....I would buy just to save the headache i've seen a lot of you go through.

That's all I got to say about that!
 
One thing to keep in mind is Bennington's build a boat is 100 times better than any other pontoon manufacturer out there, so give them props for that. Yes it would be great to have pictures of each option, but they do also want you to go in and speak to a dealer. 

The wiring conduit sounds great, but where do you run it to and from? We all have different wants and needs and new additions we want to add, it would be impossible to run for each scenario. 

As for the Wet Sounds, well I agree it would be amazing to have, but once again, it's almost impossible to really roll it out any more "extreme" than they do. When you consider such a vast selection of configurations and trim levels, it would be a huge undertaking. Now consider how many people ACTUALLY order the one available right now, not a whole lot percentage wise. Then you have the issue of people like me who don't want the amps it comes with because I want the slightly better ones, or the fact that I have a center walk through so am able to add subs into the side of my lounger, where would a RSR or RBR add those? Too many configurations, plus not to many people would look at my stereo in a picture and say, "sure I'll pay an extra 5 grand to have that" like I said, it would be amazing, but darn tough to implement. 
 
Dang rain on my parade!
 
kmlmartel said:
....

And finally a true collaboration with Wet Sounds or Polk to design from ground up with Bennington extra battery (s), battery charger, kill switch, marine rca, speaker wire, subs, amps, and components as a click and pick option that works synergistically together and safely....I would buy just to save the headache i've seen a lot of you go through.
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Great thought! Why not bring in the upgrade audio vendor to design a sound system specific to a model like Polk is doing for other marine manufacturers. I hate the placement of my current sound system. Not one speaker is placed in a position to direct sound at the ears but my feet sure get direct sound waves. It's a big weak spot for Bennington IMHO. That and Bennington's favor for Kicker. All the higher end pontoon manufacturers have jumped to Polk for their stereo upgrades and the "go fast" trend is JL audio. Even MB dumped Wetsounds (not that WS is bad) for the '15 models to compensate for their customer's demand for better.
 
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Deleted duplicate post.
 
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I have heard that the "S" models are getting quite an upgrade for 2015 ( just a rumor )
 
I still think the 2 most important ideas in my opinion would be the CC option and twin engine platform.   Keep up with Premier and some of the other top tier (but not top to Bennington).
 
This is going to be a bit of a rant, but I think improving on the boat also involves improving on the system in which they are delivered. Bennington desperately needs to start gauging customer satisfaction, particularly with dealers. You can have the best boat on the market, but if the only dealer within 500 miles is an absolute nightmare to work with, it really hurts the brand and makes it hard to recommend. After seeing my new GCW my brother is sold on the idea of getting one of his own but nicer. It sucks to have to tell him that Bennington is the best, but that the dealer is so bad that he might still want to shop around. And the one time I tried to talk to an out of state dealer, they ignored me and contacted my dealer and told them. It's like there is an agreement not to touch other people's turf, which I get, but then where is the motivation to provide a quality service? Might not be such an issue in the east where dealers are closer, but out west this is a huge problem, in my opinion. The fact that I continue to do business with my dealer is an incredible statement to what a great boat Bennington makes. 
 
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spinzone said:
Great thought! Why not bring in the upgrade audio vendor to design a sound system specific to a model like Polk is doing for other marine manufacturers. I hate the placement of my current sound system. Not one speaker is placed in a position to direct sound at the ears but my feet sure get direct sound waves. It's a big weak spot for Bennington IMHO. That and Bennington's favor for Kicker. All the higher end pontoon manufacturers have jumped to Polk for their stereo upgrades and the "go fast" trend is JL audio. Even MB dumped Wetsounds (not that WS is bad) for the '15 models to compensate for their customer's demand for better.
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I would take Wet Sounds over Polk and JL any day! The biggest reason for the change at MB is that for the base stereo that was installed in recent boats it was coming with the base WS gear, XS-65's (not XS-650's like our upgrade) and HT series amps. In 2012 it was coming with SYN amps like I have which are far better, but the biggest thing was price. There is no denying the WS gear in the higher lines is pricey. As stated on here, not everyone cares about a kickin' stereo to listen to talk radio. I also copied this from MB Owners forum "I suspect that with Axis, Centurion, and Tige on wetsounds, and no OEMs on Exile, that this is a move that Exile "needs" more than MB," I agree with that statement. Not going to say the Exile isn't good, a lot of people like it. I believe that WS know they have top notch gear and therefore don't give smokin' deals to a manufacturer to utilize their products in a factory system, I wish they would so we could have the higher end amps factory, that would make a huge difference. As for speaker placement, well that is all on Bennington. I know that if Tim from Wet Sounds was given complete control over location and type of speakers, it would be phenomenal. But keep in mind for 95% of owners the upgraded sub and speakers are just fine for them, so why would Bennington redesign their layouts around a STEREO, when they currently design around COMFORT and QUALITY. Crap, going to be late for work now! Haha
 
bcpnick said:
This is going to be a bit of a rant, but I think improving on the boat also involves improving on the system in which they are delivered. Bennington desperately needs to start gauging customer satisfaction, particularly with dealers. You can have the best boat on the market, but if the only dealer within 500 miles is an absolute nightmare to work with, it really hurts the brand and makes it hard to recommend. After seeing my new GCW my brother is sold on the idea of getting one of his own but nicer. It sucks to have to tell him that Bennington is the best, but that the dealer is so bad that he might still want to shop around. And the one time I tried to talk to an out of state dealer, they ignored me and contacted my dealer and told them. It's like there is an agreement not to touch other people's turf, which I get, but then where is the motivation to provide a quality service? Might not be such an issue in the east where dealers are closer, but out west this is a huge problem, in my opinion. The fact that I continue to do business with my dealer is an incredible statement to what a great boat Bennington makes. 
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I agree. Yamaha (our motor) was super big on us filling out a survey with all kinds of questions and I know that the dealer was super big on it too because they mentioned it to us and wanted us to fill it out! Obviously they were trying to do a good job for us (which is the incentive, right?)! The dealer gets banners for their store, plaques and lots of recognition if enough folks give high marks for the Yamaha product and dealer services. Bennington reads this forum so maybe that's their feedback. I think it should be via a survey though since only a fraction of us post on this site. I don't think buyers should be stuck with any particular dealer if they're not satisfied. my 2cents  
 
Derrick, while I disagree with you about WS over JL(WS is too metallic sounding for my taste), I agree with you that Bennington shouldn't redesign the boat around the audio supplier. However, I do think Bennington should "invite" their upgraded audio supplier to custom tune (select mounting locations and sound packages appropriate for layout design). It's the attention to details that earned Bennington it's reputation in the industry.

Btw.. Have you heard a loaded Exile package? I got to experience it at the sandbar this past weekend. Holy %&@$, amazing sound! Exile definitely needs MB more than they need them but when people begin to associate the brand with the sound, that dynamic may soon change.
 
tyjy said:
I agree. Yamaha (our motor) was super big on us filling out a survey with all kinds of questions and I know that the dealer was super big on it too because they mentioned it to us and wanted us to fill it out! Obviously they were trying to do a good job for us (which is the incentive, right?)! The dealer gets banners for their store, plaques and lots of recognition if enough folks give high marks for the Yamaha product and dealer services. Bennington reads this forum so maybe that's their feedback. I think it should be via a survey though since only a fraction of us post on this site. I don't think buyers should be stuck with any particular dealer if they're not satisfied. my 2cents  
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Huh. I didn't get a Yamaha survey or a Bennington one. Knowing my dealer, they probably never registered me or something. I'm pretty sure they only sell a half dozen or so outboard motors per year, everything else is I/O. So they probably aren't too concerned with winning any Yamaha recognition (or Bennington). Another reason I'll be taking my Yamaha service to the Premiere dealer. Ha! All I know is, I can't get my tires rotated at the Toyota dealer without getting solicited to fill out a satisfaction survey and the people there are crazy about making sure I'll be nice to them when I fill it out. This is what Bennington needs to make happen with dealers in order to keep the brand strong. 
 
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spinzone said:
Derrick, while I disagree with you about WS over JL(WS is too metallic sounding for my taste), I agree with you that Bennington shouldn't redesign the boat around the audio supplier. However, I do think Bennington should "invite" their upgraded audio supplier to custom tune (select mounting locations and sound packages appropriate for layout design). It's the attention to details that earned Bennington it's reputation in the industry.

Btw.. Have you heard a loaded Exile package? I got to experience it at the sandbar this past weekend. Holy %&@$, amazing sound! Exile definitely needs MB more than they need them but when people begin to associate the brand with the sound, that dynamic may soon change.
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Nope, have not heard a fully loaded Exile. I did listen to a $160 Super Air Nautique, I'll take my cousins MB with WS! Just for comparison, have you sat down in a truly loaded WS setup? The clarity of it was incredible to me! Granted I haven't seen anyone around here that has anything quality truly invested in their boats, other than me. I know the cousin's boat sold me on WS. Now he has probably around 15G put into it by the time you add it all up! Maybe if I had the chance to hear some truly highend JL's it would change, but most I've seen are just your regular entry level I suppose. Take a read on WS's Sinister amps, the things are amazing for power output! By far the best around! Compare an SD4 with anything, it'll blow it away! And, I like Tim. Don't know him at all, but  it says something to me when I send an email to the President of a company, having never spoken or messaged him before, on a Saturday late at night, and he responds back super helpful, answering all my questions and actually talking me OUT of buying more subs(which I ended up buying anyway just cuz it looks cool) because he assures me the AS-10 in the helm will pound, all on a Sunday morning!! Well that is a sign of someone who is truly passionate about their business, and someone I am pleased to support because I know he truly does just want to make a wicked awesome product! That's also what makes me so passionate about the company. It's what also makes all of us so passionate about our Benningtons. We know they care about us. Sure they screw up from time to time, but they really do strive to be the best. 
 
bcpnick said:
Huh. I didn't get a Yamaha survey or a Bennington one. Knowing my dealer, they probably never registered me or something. I'm pretty sure they only sell a half dozen or so outboard motors per year, everything else is I/O. So they probably aren't too concerned with winning any Yamaha recognition (or Bennington). Another reason I'll be taking my Yamaha service to the Premiere dealer. Ha! All I know is, I can't get my tires rotated at the Toyota dealer without getting solicited to fill out a satisfaction survey and the people there are crazy about making sure I'll be nice to them when I fill it out. This is what Bennington needs to make happen with dealers in order to keep the brand strong. 
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Got the pretty detailed survey mailed from Yamaha way before we even took delivery on the boat! I held on to it and didn't fill out the survey until we could actually use the boat/motor for a while and also get past the first 10-20 hr. maintenance procedure. I am certain it was our dealer who registered our motor w/serial number. We also received a Yamaha Warranty card in the mail with same serial number. Questions were about motor but also satisfaction of dealer.

This is what the cover letter said: (from Yamaha Marine/Outboard Customer Relations, 10 Mauchly, Irvine, CA 92618-9853 in case you'd want to request one too)

"Thank you for your recent purchase of a Yamaha outboard engine. At Yamaha we strive to provide exceptional products and services for the marine industry. One step in this process is to understand your evaluation of the product sales and delivery process. We need your assistance by completing the survey on your new outboard. Through your input we are better able to measure our performance and identify any changes needed to improve quality....If you are answering by mail, please use postage-paid envelope to return...Please do not take it to your dealer"
 
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