pontoon prices

We have a 2012 Berkshire and I like to see what other boats are running. Is it just me or have they taken a big jump in price. It seems like the mid line boats with tritoon and 150hp engines are in the upper 30's and lower 40's.
Benningtons are starting in the 40's and that's just for the frame as everythin on their website is an extra. WOW!

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We dropped just over $19,000 for a 2012 Sun Tracker 18' Party Barge with 75 hp Merc and trailer.

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I didn't buy it but looked at a 24 foot sweetwater tri toon with a trailer with a 250 Honda last year for 28 k

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We paid 29k for ours which has the higher performance RPT tubes [when they're not leaking ], the LE package, snap-in carpet, double bimini and the new Merc 150FS. That also included delivery to the lake which is 75 miles away because we opted not to buy a trailer at that time; we have since dropped another $2800 for a galvanized tritoon trailer. The bigger engines is where the $$$ go, about 10k-12K for something in the 135-175HP range. If you get an engine that requires digital controls I hear that's another 2-3k... yikes!

I should also note we originally purchased it with two tubes; the center tube was added this winter for free by Sylvan for all our troubles, otherwise it would have been another $1500 at the time of purchase. I suspect the closer you are to the pontoon manufacturers the cheaper they are.

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I think I will keep my 1986 24' SanPan with 20 hp four stroke, for as long as it floates, it didnt cost me anything, I bartered for it. some of those new prices are way out of my budget

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Yea , same here junkman, and why I passed on the one I looked at

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I normally dont make a habit of discussing these things it is good info to have. For the 2013 South Bay 524E in my signature we paid sligthly over 43K. That included Mercury 150 4S, Double Biminis, Full underskin, Garmin 386Ci GPS, 6 Speaker Clarion System with Amp and Subwoofer, full cover, and McClain full Alluminum tandem axle trailer with brakes, and all taxes and registration. And they delivered it 285 miles to my lake.

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And lifting strakes as well.

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Cycleman07 said:

I normally dont make a habit of discussing these things it is good info to have. For the 2013 South Bay 524E in my signature we paid sligthly over 43K. That included Mercury 150 4S, Double Biminis, Full underskin, Garmin 386Ci GPS, 6 Speaker Clarion System with Amp and Subwoofer, full cover, and McClain full Alluminum tandem axle trailer with brakes, and all taxes and registration. And they delivered it 285 miles to my lake.

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Thats a extremely nice boat. With all of the bells and whistles.

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MH Hawker said:

Thats a extremely nice boat. With all of the bells and whistles.

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Thank you.

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You have to take into account most manufacturers went the last 5 or so years losing money. I'm sure the corporate bean counters would like to recoup some of those losses.

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Cycleman07 said:

I normally dont make a habit of discussing these things it is good info to have. For the 2013 South Bay 524E in my signature we paid sligthly over 43K. That included Mercury 150 4S, Double Biminis, Full underskin, Garmin 386Ci GPS, 6 Speaker Clarion System with Amp and Subwoofer, full cover, and McClain full Alluminum tandem axle trailer with brakes, and all taxes and registration. And they delivered it 285 miles to my lake.

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I only paid approx. half that for mine, "Cycleman". I got the insiders deal from Scott "Airdvd1227" back when he was cool and sold South Bays. Now he has gone over to the dark side and sells Benningtons !!! :faint2:

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You've just got to be an educated buyer in the boating market. And despite what any dealer says, the boat business still sucks, and the customers are in the drivers' seat. The pontoon boats are the only segment that has been increasing in sales over the years. And I bought a Bennington due to the quality of a dealership, and the most important reason--because my wife said that's what she wanted.

Most brands of popular pontoon/tritoon manufacturers have 3-4 different lines of boats and different price points. You can often get a really high quality boat for just slightly more than some of the "generic" brands. The difference is very often the quality of the seats and a little higher level of style.

One trick to saving a little money is ordering a boat exactly like you want it--no more, no less on the options. This time of the year, you'll have the boat before "boating season." Also, the dealer won't have any carrying costs or floorplanning charges.

When the Summer, 2012 selling season was over, I noticed the pontoon boats still sitting on the dealers' lots were the highest end boats @ $55-65K and the lowest end of the market--two toon boats with 50-60 horsepower.

I bought the tritoon, 150 hp four stroke in a 24' boat with strakes. It runs 40 mph, or about 3 mph less than the heavier 250 hp engined boats costing $10K more. My boat seems to be what's most popular at the present time, and it'll be the last boat I ever need to buy.

Good luck in your search.

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The Rooster said:

I only paid approx. half that for mine, "Cycleman". I got the insiders deal from Scott "Airdvd1227" back when he was cool and sold South Bays. Now he has gone over to the dark side and sells Benningtons !!! :faint2:

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I took kind of a different path. I was going to rebuild my 25' pontoon, but after estimating the cost, the time, and the fact that I wouldn't change any of the performance characteristics, I started looking at a local pontoon mfg. I bought just the boat from them in the config I wanted for under $11K. It has full furniture, bimini, console, vinyl flooring and custom mooring cover.

I paired this with a completely rebuilt Evinrude 115hp 2 stroke OB. I worked along side the rebuilder to rig the outboard and I did all the guages. I also picked my own stereo and installed that myself.

So the complete unit came in a little over $13K. I sold my old boat for a little over $5000. The rebuild cost was going to be $4500-5000. So at the the end of the day the new boat was a little over $3000 more than the rebuild.

I don't have the really fancy furniture and can't go 40mph, but I also only use the boat 12 or 13 weekends a year at most. I just couldn't have that kind of money tied up without using it more..

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The Rooster said:

I only paid approx. half that for mine, "Cycleman". I got the insiders deal from Scott "Airdvd1227" back when he was cool and sold South Bays. Now he has gone over to the dark side and sells Benningtons !!! :faint2:

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Yours is a good looking boat to be sure.

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Pontoon prices around here have gone up from 2012 to 2013 for sure. I have seen this across the board on all models and in all brands. First, pontoons seems to have more and more extras and are going more upscale with each year. Second, they are simply just very popular..

I paid $25k for my toon in my sig last year and they want 30k for a 2 foot shorter one now with a slightly smaller motor. That was for a 24ft model, 115, RPT, and many upgrades like skin, lights, hydraulic steering, etc...

The key to getting the best deal on a pontoon in my opinion seem to be:

1 - Knowing the market and knowing when to pull the trigger when you find a good deal.

2 - WAY cheaper to order it the way you want it, then pretending to save money and adding features later. For example, adding a third toon or a upgrading from a 115 to a 150 hp might only add 4 to 5k to the price of the boat when new (for both), but if you try to do that later, it will cost double that, at least.

3 - Work with a large volume dealer and ask them straight-up, "what models are you getting the most money back on?". I have found local Benny, Sylvan, Premiere, and Bently dealers who have special packages on many boats because they buy many of the similar model in bulk and they are willing to pass the deals on to the buyers.

4 - Timing is everything....boat show specials are great times to buy, but so is anytime during the year when a dealer gets stuck with too many in stock, but that is a risky game to play.

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Pontoon boats are generally way over priced. That's why I got our 24 ft StarCraft a couple of years old .It's an 07 and we got it in 09,90 hp Merc oil injected 2 stroke. with trailer , sadly I
m going to sell it this year for a center console out board ,something low to the water. Something easy to get into with out the use of a ladder. I'm 71+ so my legs aren't what they used to be. Some one is going to get a good deal on this one.

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Pontoons are just priced where people are willing to pay for them. Used clean ones sell very fast around here.

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I believe its also based on your Geography. In Oklahoma there is a lake every 30 miles, and the boating season is long (March-October) and Pontoons are in high demand. That is a big driver of price.