Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Does anyone have any information on the Bennington S Series/ 188SF3?

I'm looking at purchasing a fishing pontoon boat in the next 3 months, so I'm trying to find out as much as I can about some of the lower end fishing models.

Thanks in advance for any help.

There's really nothing lower end about any Bennington.

I have a 24SSLX, and the quality of the welding and workmanship is extremely good. At 40 mph hitting a wave, I see not the first hint of hull flexing.

If I was going the shorter pontoon route, I'd be going for a 20' minimum length with 25" tubes and a 75 hp. They're just more seaworthy at that point.

Sholly.... I have the S series Bennington 20 SFI. Bought it new in 2010 and I have not had one minutes trouble out of it. as stated it's a 20 footer with a yamaha 75 hp 4 stroke on the back end.. We specifically bought this boat because of the bennington reputation and it came rigged for fishing with fishing seats in front and rear... we absolutely love it. As Bama said, i don't think of it as a lower quality boat, but rather more of an entry level rig. In other words, not as many bells and whistles.. but we use ours for fishing almost exclusively so we don't need the bells and whistles... like I said, we love it. Also we ordered our boat with a vinyl deck... if you're going to be doing alot of fishing, I would stay away from carpet.. Vinyl cleans up pretty easy..Here's a couple of pics below to give you something to go by.... good luck

Have you looked at Lowe boat? We have the SF232 which gives us all the comfy seating up front with fishing seats and live well in the rear with a nice built in tackle storage. Its 23' 7" long but know they make a shorter version. Absolutely love this toon. Its not a high price boat but offers a lot of stuff for the money. https://www.loweboats.com/pontoon-boats ... el-line-up

I went to the Bennington Website and submitted a boat build for a quote, but I've never heard anything back. Not sure if this is a problem with their website or customer service.

I have my pre-approval from the bank, so I'm getting excited about getting a boat. My son and I will probably be visiting dealers that are not too far away for Bennington, Lowe, and Tracker in the next couple days.

Sholly,
I definitely think you should consider the savings available on a new (previous model year) Pontoon that a Bennington dealer may still have in their showroom. I purchased a new 2014 Bennington 2375 GCW in September of 2015 at a substantial discount. Dealer wanted to get it sold.

[quote="Tim in Michigan"]Sholly,
I definitely think you should consider the savings available on a new (previous model year) Pontoon that a Bennington dealer may still have in their showroom. I purchased a new 2014 Bennington 2375 GCW in September of 2015 at a substantial discount. Dealer wanted to get it sold.[/quote]
I agree 100%, if you don't need specific upgrades (or you might get lucky) there are a ton of left overs that could save you many thousands. Go to boat trader, search by brand, then you can see all that those dealers have to offer.

Unfortunately, the 4 locations that have fishing models are all 500 plus miles away. Go figure.

I visited the Bennington dealer today. I will agree that the Bennington is a better built pontoon, but I don't think the 18SF is $3,000 better than the Bass Buggy 18 DLX by Tracker.

Just out of curiosity, if you don't mind, what did they quote you for the benny 18 footer?

I didn't go with a bunch of upgrades, so it was $23,500.00.

[quote="Sholly"]I didn't go with a bunch of upgrades, so it was $23,500.00.[/quote]

Not having shopped boats for a few years I wasn't sure what they quoted you... is that price out the door or would they still have to add on taxes etc? if that is OTD that doesn't sound too bad considering I bought my boat in the fall of 2009 when this model first came out, and I ended up paying $20,786.00 out the door.

That was just boat, motor, and trailer.

If you're not in a huge hurry, why not check out some of the boat shows. They typically offer show special pricing and you can easily compare brands and models. Toons have almost Alen ove the shows. Plus, they can be really interesting. Here's a link listing many of them.

http://www.boatshows.com/Calendar

Sholly,
Give the Bennington dealer in Troy MO a call. They have been extremely fair with us and can probably get you exactly what you want. I have owned different brands and the Benny is without a doubt the Cadillac.
Good Luck