Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello All -

I am a complete newbie! 100% green and would love some sage advice! My wife and I have wanted a boat for the last three years, but we were not in a position to go for it. Well that has changed! We are both ready and excited! So far I have read lots of great info, and have gotten even more confused... We have been to a couple boat dealers and really liked the price point and look of the following boats. We live close to Hickory/Mooresville, NC and plan to boat on Lake Norman which according to Google is roughly 50 square miles. We want to purchase a new boat, but do not want to spend more than low to mid $20K range. So any and all thoughts would really be great and appreciated!!

One of the boats we liked was a Bently Cruise 22' with a 115 hp evinrude etec. It also has a cover, depth finder, and ski pole. Everything added up it came in at $26,000 - but no trailer. I am having some reservations about Bently due to some of things things you read online and even though looks pretty good, I want to make sure we are making a good decision.

Another boat we were looking at is a Crest I 22' - various engine options. It has the same basic setup for about the same cost. I found a lot of good things online about Crest and I didn't know if it was really that much better or not?

We are undecided on buying a trailer or just having it kept at the marina for us. It is kind of expensive to have it in wet storage, but it seems like it would be pretty convenient to just jump on it and go instead of loading & unloading.

So all that being said.... Any thoughts would be great! Would you guys suggest any other boats for that price range? Or is that size too big or just right for a bigger lake? Thanks in advance!!

I love my Crest but would never buy from the dealer I did. If I had to do it over , I would shop for a good dealer first and see what they had to offer.

Besides a few rides in someone else's toon our only toon experience has been our Sun Tracker 18 and truthfully I find very little to fault the boat or manf for. Lot of value in the boat in my opinion, slightly basic, not overly plush but I see that as making it easier to care for. I like the plastic base seats as they will not get bruised or torn up like seats that are padded all the way to the carpeted deck... What I would change to date would be to get least one model bigger as in a 20' with as much motor as the nameplate calls for as I find ours underpowered when it is 4 of us onboard and just on the verge of being just right size wise for 4 folks but I think any more would be getting cramped....

Being able to keep ours wet and only a mile away in a private marina is more than the worth the cost of the slip and monthly fees as trailering it each and every time just to use would take away a lot of the fun as we regularly just walk out the door grabbing only a small cooler and go for a quick ride....

Check out all the dealers and different brands in your region. Research at Boattrader.com, and call'em on the phone for prices. The Bentley and Crest are both good values in a boat. I'd prefer a 115 hp Merc. or Yamaha any day over any 2 stroke, as they just suit how pontoon boats are used better.

As far as not getting a trailer: You'll get more enjoyment out of your boat if you buy a trailer. You can go around to different fisheries/lakes. And you will maintain your boat if you can get it out to change oil and the lower unit grease. (I went 25 years w/o any trailer.)

My Starcraft pontoon with a Yamaha 115 hp 2 stroke lasted 28 years because I kept it dry and out of the direct sun in a boat house out of the water. You boat would last so much longer and be easier to keep the bottom clean if kept out of the water.

A month's worth of moss on the toons will slow your cruise down maybe 5 mph. And keeping them clean requires cleaning the toons with a ScotchBrite pad about every time you use the boat.

Thank you all for the great info! I am torn about getting a trailer or keeping it at the lake. I want to keep it in good condition and feel like we would take better care of it if we pulled it out of the water after every time we used it, however I feel we would get more use out of it if it was sitting at a marina.... Very torn on the subject. My wife and i are going to go look at the Crest again tomorrow!

Thank you for the comments and i am eager to hear more if anyone has one!

pstilwell007 wrote:Thank you all for the great info! I am torn about getting a trailer or keeping it at the lake. I want to keep it in good condition and feel like we would take better care of it if we pulled it out of the water after every time we used it, however I feel we would get more use out of it if it was sitting at a marina.... Very torn on the subject. My wife and i are going to go look at the Crest again tomorrow!

Thank you for the comments and i am eager to hear more if anyone has one!

Get the trailer, keep the boat wet, store the trailer elsewhere.... This is what I do.

pstilwell007 wrote:Thank you all for the great info! I am torn about getting a trailer or keeping it at the lake. I want to keep it in good condition and feel like we would take better care of it if we pulled it out of the water after every time we used it, however I feel we would get more use out of it if it was sitting at a marina.... Very torn on the subject. My wife and i are going to go look at the Crest again tomorrow!

Thank you for the comments and i am eager to hear more if anyone has one!

You are absolutely correct on both...you will use it more if it's already in the water and you will take better care of it if you pull it out to do maint/cleanup...although it's not necessary to pull it out of the water after every use. Get the trailer, it's relatively small investment now and you will not regret it.

Oh...and I would recommend also looking at Bennington Pontoons. We are very happy with ours and the service we get from both our dealer and Bennington.

I agree with getting a trailer. Are you planning to use the boat during the winter months? I do not know what your storage fees are annually, but I cannot see paying for the boat to stay in a marina and have bugs and water fowl messing it up during the months you wouldn't be using it. The boats I saw at our local marina looked nasty as well as the docks. I would rather tow and store it at home rather than cleaning the mooring covers.

I own a Bentley and ordered the double biminis from the factory. Whichever brand you decide, inquire about the biminis, you may want a double as well. Some boat manufacturers do not offer it as an option.

LadyGT wrote:I agree with getting a trailer. Are you planning to use the boat during the winter months? I do not know what your storage fees are annually, but I cannot see paying for the boat to stay in a marina and have bugs and water fowl messing it up during the months you wouldn't be using it. The boats I saw at our local marina looked nasty as well as the docks. I would rather tow and store it at home rather than cleaning the mooring covers.

I own a Bentley and ordered the double biminis from the factory. Whichever brand you decide, inquire about the biminis, you may want a double as well. Some boat manufacturers do not offer it as an option.

May i ask how much your Bentley cost out the door and with the options? The 2015 Cruise 22 is one of our options. Are you pleased with the fit and finish and quality?

Thanks!!!

Out the door with tax was about $26k or $27k. The dealer I went to, Central Georgia Marine out of Macon, GA, had the lowest price with the boat and motor we wanted which was a 115 Merc. You can check out the price online. For $200 more we got the Command Thrust. The options purchased were: captains chair, tow bar, under skin, and double Bimini. Because the factory messed up and made a cover, we got that at dealer cost. The trailer was about $2,295 and included in the total price. The price would have been higher if I did not do some comparison shopping with competing dealers within our state. I think a dealer out of the Lake Lanier area was a bit less with the same options, but the local folks matched it. This was good because we did not want to drive 2 hours to do anything.

I am not impressed with the quality control from the factory. Boats are not being made correctly. I saw an Admiral Elite not have the under skin which is standard for that model. My boat came with snaps all over the outside when we did not order the mooring cover because we did not want to deal with snaps. The kill switch was not installed correctly on our boat and was repaired after the test drive. My husband loves the double Bimini. The table scratches really easy so I put it in a pillow case while stored. There was a place where some paint got chipped on the outside so touch up paint was ordered. There are drill holes where somebody tried to attach the seats to the decking. The display model looked better than ours. The tow bar was not installed to my husband's standards so he bought better nuts and bolts and replaced them.

I think there could have been more storage in the backrests. Some of the higher priced boats offer it so I was a bit disappointed about that.

We got the Bentley because we did not want to spend a fortune on a boat and there are not too many choices locally other than Suntracker or Lowes. To get either one with a 115 motor, we would have had to pay a lot more. We would have to drive 2 hours or more to look at others which were more expensive.

My wife and I did a lot of shopping around before deciding on our 2013 bentley 220 cruise. We bought a new 2013 in late 2014. Our out the door price including the trailer and shipping to California from the Texas dealer was $20k. It pays to shop around. Saved me about 9k off of what the local dealer was asking.

I agree, get a 4stroke motor and get a double bimini.

As for the boat itself. We have been extremely happy with it. We have not found anything that was done wrong or poor quality.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy another bentley.

One thing that hasn't been said is that all of the most popular brands of pontoon boats will have 3-4 different models of boats. They're usually the same quality hulls, with the seating and fencing being more luxurious in some models.

And the prices can be just as low on entry models of the luxury brands.

I prefer Bennington, Harris, Premier and Manitou boats first. I also like Tahoe, South Bay, Cypress Cay and another dozen brands of pontoon boats. Always try to buy locally, but only if your dealers are willing to sell for a fair price. Needless to say that not every dealership is created equal.

Big boat manufacturers purchase outboards at fleet or volume discounts, and it's always cheaper to get the motor through them. If your dealer buys the engine directly from the manufacturer, you're not going to get as good a deal.

Note that both Mercury and Yamaha are in the process of coming in with new model four stroke 115 hp motors. If at all possible, go for one of the new model new engines. 4 strokes are the way to go, as they just perform better on pontoons.

Don't forget that you can go to Boattrader.com and figure out what brands and dealers are in your immediate retail market. It's not hard to let your fingers do the walking--calling for specific pricing. There will usually be a dealer that's a pain in the rear to the other dealers in their retail market--willing to sell cheaper than the others.

I believe that Crest may be the oldest brand on the market. The longevity says a lot. They also have a reputation for being overbuilt, using heavier or stronger materials than most of the competition. I compared the stringer and deck construction of my Crest to the cut-away displays of several top brands at the recent boat shows and none were constructed as well as the Crest. Crest builds them to last. That said, this probably makes them heavier than most of the competition.

We are totally pleased with our Crest and would definitely buy another one.

Service of the boat after purchase is probably not a concern as there really isn't that much that can go wrong with the boat. However, the availability of local service for the motor is important.

My suggestion, after owning a few dozen in my lifetime, and probably not done, yet. Don't buy one! You'll only want to go bigger and faster until you wake up one day and realize you have spent over $500,000 in boats and get more pleasure when riding in a buddies than in your own! Plus, if you're like some people I have taken out, you don't even need to pay for gas or beer.

Guys - after a LOT of looking and talking and looking, etc... My wife and i feel like we have made a decision, but before i pulled the trigger i wanted to get one last opinion if we are getting a good deal. You comments are greatly appreciated!

2015 Crest I - Model 220 SLD - it is the 22' version - comes pretty nicely appointed!
- full vinyl floor
- 150 hp mercury
- galvanized tandem trailer
- tri-toon with full underskinning
- Fish/depth/GPS finder
- comes with fenders, ropes, jackets, basic water safe stuff....

Total out the door with tax is $35,000 -

Thoughts? THANKS!