Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

2 boats are available for very similar money. Give me your thoughts on the pro's and con's of either.
New 2012 Bennington 22SL with a 75 Yamaha and some upgrade options.
New 2013 Bentley Encore 220 Cruise SE with a 60 Merc BF.

I'm torn between the 2. Hopefully viewing the Benny this afternoon and my be able to get to the Bentley on Saturday.

Thanks, Rob

rob28 wrote:2 boats are available for very similar money. Give me your thoughts on the pro's and con's of either.
New 2012 Bennington 22SL with a 75 Yamaha and some upgrade options.
New 2013 Bentley Encore 220 Cruise SE with a 60 Merc BF.

I'm torn between the 2. Hopefully viewing the Benny this afternoon and my be able to get to the Bentley on Saturday.

Thanks, Rob

To me, that's a no-brainer... Bennington. Most will say Bennington ranks among the highest quality. I don't think you'll go wrong with choosing either brand-new motor. But, getting the 75 over the 60 is better anytime.

Have you considered a larger motor for the boat? We have a 22 ft pontoon, and 115 motor. If you want to pull tubes/skiers - or just have the ability to run away from the oncoming storm - you'll need more motor.

I own a Bentley and I'm happy with it. But Benningtons do have the better reputation, and resale thats for sure. The 75 is a better motor too. Thats assuming your getting 25" logs on both. I know the Benningtons come standard on some with 23's. There is a big difference in the 2 logs.

25" pontoons on both boats.

Cool. You will be happy with either.

I myself looked at both. The Bentley dealer was asking the same as the Bennington. Both were dealing with me and the Bentley was finally agreed on. After much negotiating, The Price was 4k cheaper for the Bentley. same setup on both. So you might want have them work for you on price. This was just a month ago.

I am prejudiced, but I say go with the Bennington. I think you will find a better resale value down the road. Going to keep it for 10 years? Then either one with the best price, but I think the extra 15 hp will make you happier.
Matter of fact, depending on what you're going to do with the boat (fish, tube, cruise), you might want to get a motor that's close to the max rating for that boat.
I don't know of anyone on here who's said they wished they had a smaller motor.

We originally started looking at used boats - around 5-8 years old, good condition, cruiser style but these are rarer than hens teeth, hence why we're now looking at new.
This has upped the cost considerably from our original budget and we're now at the top end with these 2 boats. A larger motor would be nice but we're not on a huge lake, don't have kids to tow around at speed and will be using it for cruising, a bit of fishing and being social with other pontoons and houseboats.

PlaynDoc wrote:To me, that's a no-brainer... Bennington.

+1

All other things equal, it's like comparing a bicycle to a motorcycle.

[quote="rob28"]We originally started looking at used boats - around 5-8 years old, good condition, cruiser style but these are rarer than hens teeth, hence why we're now looking at new.
This has upped the cost considerably from our original budget


that's exactly what happened to us. I got the Bentley for $25k out the door with trailer and 90hp. I would have went with the bennington had it been closer in price. I did need the bigger motor because of kids.
All in all, were happy and thats what matters.

well, I'd probably have to vote in favor of the benny...... on a 22 foot boat your two choices are between a 60 and a 75.... gotta go with the 75... I think the 75 will do you just fine if all you want to do is leisurely crusing..... but don't plan on pulling any skiers with a 75 on that boat. I have a 75 on my 20 footer and max speed with 2 adults under idea conditions is around 23 mph to 24 mph or so...... that's fast enough for me, but we just use ours for cruising and fishing.... just to give you something to compare it to price wise, my 20 foot benny with a 25" tubes / Yamaha 75 four stroke with trailer ran me a total of just under 21K out the door... but remember that was 3 years ago... Good luck with your decision....

And don't forget, the Benny has a 7 year bow to stern warantty. We love our Bennington. Go here: http://club.benningtonmarine.com/

look for a used Manitou...

With a Bennington vs. Bentley, you're comparing a BMW to a Chevy. The choice is obvious--Bennington.

It's a company that's truly customer oriented, and they're #1 in sales with about 20% of the total retail pontoon market.
With 25+ manufacturers, that's pretty dominant.

The 50-60-70 horsepower motors are often the same motor with different computer flashes. The 75 hp has much more cubic inches, and is part of the family 75-90-115 hp. I'd suggest going with the 75 hp anyday.

I would recommend the Bennington. I have the same model 22SLi 2010, bought new 3 years ago. I looked at Bentley, then Sweetwater and was set on the Sweetwater until I saw the Bennington at a boat show. I think all 3 boats are nice, but Bennington stands above the rest.

I have a Yamaha 90hp which does pull tubes/skiers, but there are times I wish I had the 115hp. You will never regret going larger, now is the time to negotiate that in the price.

Also has the 25" tubes.

Hope this helps and good luck.

A quick update....
Neither of the mentioned boats won out.
There was no negotiation at all on the Bennington - the price is it. Take it or leave it. We left it as it was above our upper threshold.
The Bentley did come down a bit and tried to meet us - but again, it was still too much.

So, a deposit has been placed on a new Sylvan Mirage 8520 Cruise LE down south of the border in Minneapolis. We've like the layout of this boat since we first saw one - for a 20 footer, it's very spacious. Plus the deal is saving us over $3000 so hard to say no.
Just got to arrange a time to drive down and pick it up (about 18hr round trip).

Yes, it's only a 20ft. Yes it's only got a 50 BF Merc. Yes the warranty crossing the border is a pain - but we're happy. We're getting our pontoon....