crest or Bennington

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Tripletooner
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Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:30 pm

crest or Bennington

#1 Post by Tripletooner » Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:54 pm

so I don't really want to pay more money for the Bennington name. And of course I told them I was going with a Crest and they magically got within $500 of the crest. I like both pontoons very well and they are so close in price I'm having a hard time deciding.
What I'm getting... Crest II or Bennington 22" SLX
Triple toon with a Suzuki (or Yamaha?) 150HP four stroke, lifting strakes, underskin, teak vinyl flooring, upgraded helm, traditional layout "L", depth finder, docking lights, bimini top, ski tow bar, extended aft, galvanized tandem trailer-- all the bells and whistles one would need
One is 23' (crest) and the other is 22" (benny)
The benny feels smaller and not by just a foot.

any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
I plan on keeping this boat for as long as it will go! I can't wait to get this ordered and get on the water!

jediger
Posts: 213
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:24 am

Re: crest or Bennington

#2 Post by jediger » Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:02 pm

Did the Benny you looked at have an extended aft, or are the models your basing your opinions on the standard build? I know the extended swim deck on my Premier makes a huge difference on how big the boat feels. It's only two feet, but it feels like a lot of extra useable space compared to the standard model.

That being said, your post reads like your leaning towards the Crest. I'm not sure there's actually a wrong decision on this one. You will enjoy whatever you end up with. Best of luck with your decision and of course post pics of your new boat when you get it!
Pinawa Bay, Manitoba
2014 Premier Cast-a-way 231, PTX; 2014 Evinrude 250HO ETEC

Tripletooner
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:30 pm

Re: crest or Bennington

#3 Post by Tripletooner » Thu Mar 06, 2014 5:21 pm

the benny had the extended aft. Of course I'm going from one dealer to the next, so they are not side by side to really compare. I'm leaning toward Crest because the dealer seems a bit better from a customer service perspective and the sales guy is great. I'm sure either will be awesome and it will be more boat than I have now--- ummm, I don't have one!
Thanks for your feedback!

Bamaman
Posts: 3679
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 1:44 pm
Location: NW Alabama--Tennessee River

Re: crest or Bennington

#4 Post by Bamaman » Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:34 pm

I went with the same configuration in the Bennie with the $1K extended rear deck. The rear deck is worth every penny as it's so much easier getting swimmers back in the boat, docking, handling ski ropes when you can walk around on the back end. It's like the boat's longer than it is.

I also prefer the tried and true Yamaha F150--the standard of the outboard industry. My last Yamaha outboard on a pontoon gave me 27 years of great service.

The Bennington 7 year bumper to bumper warranty and the best resale in the industry is also a big consideration in brands.

But the quality of the dealer is very important. It's always better to buy local, but my local dealers were stocking twin toon boats and smaller engines. I ended up driving 90 miles when the Bennie dealer 50 miles away only had short pontoons or very expensive tritoons in stock.

But the Crest is a fine boat, and you'd also be very happy with it.
'12 Bennington 24' SSLX Yamaha 150

Rascal
Posts: 262
Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2011 8:43 pm
Location: Fort Myers, FL

Re: crest or Bennington

#5 Post by Rascal » Thu Mar 06, 2014 8:35 pm

The "S" model is the Bayliner (Price point) of the Bennington line. But will most likely have a better resale than the Crest. If your going to keep it for a Looooong time and are not concerned with resale.... get the Crest.

I'm sure that some of the people that have drank the Bennington "Cool Aid", will be pissin and moaning (lol).
Just MHO, Bennington does not get comparable with other top line manufactures until the "G series and above.
Fishing Year Round SW Florida
Gulf Coast & Pine Island Sound

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smoker62
Posts: 421
Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 4:27 pm
Location: Kenosha, WI.

Re: crest or Bennington

#6 Post by smoker62 » Wed Mar 12, 2014 4:38 pm

I agree. Bennington is top of the line but there S series is definetly priced accordingly. After my SB I could not get myself to buy an S series. No offense to those that have them. They are still great boats , and marketing to all need levels.
2014 Crest Classic 250 SLR2 , Mercury 300 Verado Pro , Mercury Enertia Prop
2012 South Bay 522 , Merc 115 4S, Mercury Spitfire 4 blade prop-13 pitch light 25 mph gps, 11 pitch heavy - Sold

Bamaman
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Re: crest or Bennington

#7 Post by Bamaman » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:54 pm

I've got the 24' S model. The only difference is they use 24" cross members (instead of 16") toward the front of the boat. The back of the boat that has most of the stress (from the engine) has 16" or closer cross members. Every piece in my boat is exactly the same as in the other Bennie's--as are the construction techniques. The 25" toons are the same, with the solid keel on all Bennies.

In in all the big waves I've gone over, I've not experienced one bit of front end flex. That's what really matters.

Their seating designs of all 4 models are top notch and the quality of the S seating is as nice as I want to pay for. The helm seat is the nicer G seat in just about every S model sold. I sat in many other brands, and found few that had the seating comfort of a Bennie.

My boat does everything I want at the price that I desired to pay. All in all, it's a strong value in a pontoon boat, and we have no regrets for buying it.
'12 Bennington 24' SSLX Yamaha 150

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ROLAND
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Re: crest or Bennington

#8 Post by ROLAND » Thu Mar 13, 2014 3:09 am

Bamaman wrote:I've got the 24' S model. The only difference is they use 24" cross members (instead of 16") toward the front of the boat. The back of the boat that has most of the stress (from the engine) has 16" or closer cross members. Every piece in my boat is exactly the same as in the other Bennie's--as are the construction techniques. The 25" toons are the same, with the solid keel on all Bennies.

In in all the big waves I've gone over, I've not experienced one bit of front end flex. That's what really matters.

Their seating designs of all 4 models are top notch and the quality of the S seating is as nice as I want to pay for. The helm seat is the nicer G seat in just about every S model sold. I sat in many other brands, and found few that had the seating comfort of a Bennie.

My boat does everything I want at the price that I desired to pay. All in all, it's a strong value in a pontoon boat, and we have no regrets for buying it.

Bama.... couldn't agree more.....I knew the cross members were not 16" but as far as I could tell when I was buying my Benny, that was the only real "structural" difference. I"ve got a 20 foot "s" model ( I think this used to be their Sadona model ) and after 3 + years I havent had one issue... True, my benny doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but when we bought it we were looking for a boat for "occasional" cruises but mostly fishing. Plus the lake we use 95% of the time doesnt have a lot of rough water.... and the boat has been perfect for us.... I'll be honest here, when I bought my boat, I didn't know jack squat about boats / pontoons... The only thing I knew is my son had just bought a bennington, benningtons got very good reviews, and I got what I thought was a fair price ( thanks to the fact the general manager of the boat dealership "used" to be the little boy that lived across the street from us and played basketball with my son in my driveway for years ... not always what you know, but who you know ). So yeah, I like my benny, but I wouldn't be afraid of buying a crest, harris, G3.. and the list goes on... they all make nice rigs. Just a matter of personal taste.
Roland & Jo
2010 Bennington 20 Sfi
Yamaha 75 4 Stroke
Shreveport, Louisiana

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mgbcb
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Re: crest or Bennington

#9 Post by mgbcb » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:01 am

I have the Bennington 22SL and love the boat and the extra room at the aft is great not only for getting swimmers aboard, but for tying up.
I got the Vinyl floor and it makes it a lot easier to clean.
As a rather large person I changed the rear boarding ladder to a 4 step by Windline made getting aboard MUCH easier.
About 2 weeks after receiving the boat the dealer called and said the new windshield and panel were in and to bring the boat in and they would change them out. What there is no problems, they said yes there is scratches on both. I finally found the scratch on the side panel ( after 20 minutes of looking) and told them to keep the panel. To this day I have not found or noticed the one on the windshield. They all Bennington and the dealer have been great to work with.

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