And so it begins...

[RiverBoy4Ever]

Searching on the web I found a 24' Bentley 243 SE with 150 HP Mercury ELPT 4S for $27,695 with an additional $2795 for a trailer which I would need and want. Being new to this style of boat I am not familiar with this company and their reliability/durability. Looks nice in the photos but that is only part of the story. I would like to stay at or below 30K for this size and power, not sure that is realistic but this model is close @ $30,490

Thanks,

[xnavyguy]

I'm sure you'll hear a lot of opinions about Bentley and other brands as well.

For what it's worth, we just purchased a 2015 243 24' tri-toon with a 150 hp Mercury 4 stroke and a magic tilt trailer. We also got the dealer here in Florida to add some extras like the elite captains chair, the SE tan seats, saltwater package, ski tow bar, dual batteries and switch and a few other minor things. it also came with hydraulic steering, lifting strakes and underskinning since we purchased the tri-toon. Purchase price with everything listed and tag, title and registration was 32,745 here in Florida (Sales tax wasn't included in that price).

As for the boat and build quality, while this is our first pontoon it's not my first boat and I have to say, I'm impressed with the quality and construction, it handles great out in the Gulf of Mexico and it really gets up to speed quickly. We had it out a few weekends now and had 8 adults (some of us guys are pretty stocky) and had no problems with speed or handling.

For the price of this boat compared to some of the other companies I looked at, I'm very impressed. I know it's not considered the "top of the line" by some but I can't see a $20,000 difference between what we paid and some of the other "premium" branded boats.

Again, just my opinion but for my family this boat fits our needs perfectly.

Mike

[BobL]

My first pontoon was a Bentley. I wanted to use it for a couple of years to see if we could eventually justify getting a larger and more expensive pontoon (had a couple of jet skis and a wakeboard boat as well).

For what I paid and for what we did, it was a very good investment. I kept good care of it and sold it almost 3 years later for close to what I paid for it.

We used it so much, I upgraded to a South Bay then I recently upgraded to a tri-toon Xcursion with a larger motor.

There are some noticeable quality differences in all low/mid/high end boats.

I think the biggest difference I found were the materials used for flooring, seats, hardware (i.e. latches), cover, along with the stereo and speakers. That is not to say Bentley uses cheap stuff but after a couple of years of using the Bentley and the South Bay, I started to notice that the more expensive materials hold up better.

The biggest cost on all these boats is the motor so if you have a good quality motor hanging off the back then get whatever you can afford.

In summary - I think the Bentley's are priced very well (or were when I last priced them) and certainly offered a good value for the $$$.

[dhsofficer]

I have just recently purchased a Bentley 220cruise se with a 90hp merc. I did a lot of shopping around and with my budget, I narrowed it down to 3 manufacturers. I then shopped all over the country. As for the Bentley, I priced them at my local dealership who claims to have the best prices. I priced a 200cruise with a 70hp. The prices started a about 29k.
I found a dealer in Georgia who would sell me the same boat for about 22k out the door.
These were for 2014 models.
I then found a dealer in Texas who had a 2013 220se, on a two axle trailer, with a 90hp engine for 19,900.
$10000 less than a 2014 20 ft boat with a smaller more.
Compared to a local 220, I saved over 12k.
After paying to have it shipped from Texas to California, I'm still 10k ahead.
My point?
Shop around. You will find that boat for a lot less than you may think.
So far, I'm very happy with my Bentley...and my 10k in the bank.