Bentley 2007 Pontoon Problems

My pontoons and connecting hardware are severely corroding. One of the transom fins broke off. This boat has all the other problems stated in the other posts. The dealer has been working with me to my satisfaction, but Bentley has NOT!! I gave the boat to the dealer in October and I just got it back in worse condition. The dealer agreed with all the discrepancies and tried to get them fix through Bentley, I had to call and complain myself before they would take the boat back for warranty work. I told Bentley the boat has an electrical issue promoting the corrosion and etching the pontoons. I even installed an battery cutoff switch to stop it. Bentley replaced the corroded rails one and the corner caps twice. Bentley looked at the boat and refused to repair it. It is an obvious problem, the engine is also corroding and the anode is completely eaten up. The dealer doesn't know what else to do: ether do I. I was thinking of selling the boat but I would loose too much money! I treat the corrosion after every time I use the boat, but I am loosing the battle. Any ideas on what to do??

In my opinion, if someone is thinking of buying a Bentley for saltwater use--- DONT!!

I am an A&P aircraft mechanic for the last 26 years, I know corrosion and how to treat it. This is definitely an electrolysis problem!

 

I am also looking for a Bentley. I see all this negative on the forum. Can it all be true?? I've been in retail for 15 years and know that the customer is always right but anyone in retail knows that is a bendable law. What is your opinion on all this stuff?

 

I bet you don't buy one now. Maybe it's all true. An experienced boatman would examine the boat from stem to stern. Poor construction is easy to see in most cases. Everything is out in the open. The problem is that experienced boatmen don't often buy pontoon boats!
If you did have some construction experience, you could ask questions that make sense, know the difference between stainless and zinc plated at a glance, recognize the need for a certain level of scantlings and assess assembly methods, etc..
It is hard if these things don't pop out at you. You have to depend on consumer reports (often done by people who DON'T know boats at all). or listen to testamonials as you'll find here.
Sometimes, one customer has the worst experience even though the company has a great reputation. On the other hand, sometimes companies get too big for their britches and they change a good thing in order to grow faster (bigger profit margins). Usually when the marketing department is running things rather than the design department.
Boats then are designed to please people that are influenced by features that appear to have value on the sales floor. Since most pontoon boat buyers know next to nothing about boats or water, they are putty in the hands of the marketing people.

Alan

 

My 2 cents

Iv been looking for a pontoon boat for a while now i came across the Bentley boats on the net they seem to be a nice boat for the money compared to some others i looked at with similar equipment and at 2x the price but i wouldnt expect a boat at that price to be as good of quality as a 45k boat. so i combed the net for any problems with these boats and i have to say this forum was the only place i found that had to say anything bad about them out of the first 20 pages that google returned when i did a search,(i gave up looking after the 20 pages..) the problems brought up here seem to me superficial or miner problems with a boat, iv had a few boats and had problems no mater how much they cost or how old they were. and if these boats were used in saltwater witch a few have said so then you must expect corrosion espesaly if they were not designed for saltwater use witch the company dose not say they are. its a good thing hes a mechanic cuz i hate to see him get mad for having to take his cars in every few months for problems like i do lol my truck i payed 50k for a 06 f-350 and my wifes 07 equinox that cost 25k have been in the shop more than i can count so....why would i expect it to be any differant than a boat? i understand its a pain in the butt but thats life. i plan to check these boats out at a local dealer to check them out for my self

 

Wow. I just did a search to see if there were any problems with Bentley toons and found this thread. I've had a Bentley 240 Cruise with a 115HP Merc now since June, 2007 with no major problems. Ours stays in the water from April/May until November in a mountain lake on the GA/NC border. Our dealer is over an hour away, so all the little problems would be a pain. So far, I've had no little or large problems. After a couple of months, we did had a small leak in the front of one of the pontoons. It was under warranty, but as I said the dealer is over an hour away and I don't have a trailer. I let our marina move the boat around. I had the marina remove it and take it to their welder to repair the seam. They are a dealer of high-end JC pontoons, so I'm sure the job was well done. I had to pay for the repair, but for me to rent a trailer and drive 1.5 hrs from suburban Atlanta it would have cost more than the $100 for the weld. I don't know what caused the leak. I may have hit something in the water since it took a few months for the problem to occur.

As the poster just before me, I haven't found too many others posting problems with their Bentley. Anyone who is interested in a pontoon should check out the forums dedicated to pontoons: pontoon.net or pontoonstuff.com You won't find any serious complaints about Bentley. Just my two penneth.

 

Wow. I just did a search to see if there were any problems with Bentley toons and found this thread. I've had a Bentley 240 Cruise with a 115HP Merc now since June, 2007 with no major problems. Ours stays in the water from April/May until November in a mountain lake on the GA/NC border. Our dealer is over an hour away, so all the little problems would be a pain. So far, I've had no little or large problems. After a couple of months, we did had a small leak in the front of one of the pontoons. It was under warranty, but as I said the dealer is over an hour away and I don't have a trailer. I let our marina move the boat around. I had the marina remove it and take it to their welder to repair the seam. They are a dealer of high-end JC pontoons, so I'm sure the job was well done. I had to pay for the repair, but for me to rent a trailer and drive 1.5 hrs from suburban Atlanta it would have cost more than the $100 for the weld. I don't know what caused the leak. I may have hit something in the water since it took a few months for the problem to occur.

As the poster just before me, I haven't found too many others posting problems with their Bentley. Anyone who is interested in a pontoon should check out the forums dedicated to pontoons: pontoon.net or pontoonstuff.com You won't find any serious complaints about Bentley. Just my two penneth.

 

Amazing stuff this - I always thought Bentleys sold motor cars!! Oh well, guess I ain't a septic and don't understand these things!!

 

2005 Bentley Cruiser 240 - Need some help please

I have just purchased a 2005 Bentley 240 Cruiser. Its in great shape and we like what we have. I have emailed Bentley several times along with calling the dealer but have not had any response. Not sure why??

There are two questions that I am hoping someone can help with-

1. The front navigation lights (green & red) are missing their chrome covers. I realize this is just for asthetics but we would like to get them replaced. I have not found any that are aftermarket that would fit so wanted to know if anyone knew where to obtain these? I wanted to buy them from Bentley but cannot get a return email or phone call.

2. When we are going at a reasonable speed or when it is choppy we find that the carpet around the area of the side entry ways get wet. I assume this is due to water splashing up under the pontoon and getting under the wood and into the carpet. Is this normal for a pontoon? I have heard that there is a fix for this which is a cover or series of covers which go over the ribs under the boat and prevent this water from penetrating. Any information on these items would be greatly apprecaited.

Thanks for any help that someone can provide.

Ken

 

New Bentley Owner

G' Day to all!

On July 18th at 1:30pm my 2008 Bentley 220LC Prestige was delivered. That very morning I found this Thread. My heart sank to my stomach and I wondered how I could have been suckered in by a salesman. I took a deep breath and hoped for the best. Since receiving my boat I have had it in the water EVERY day. I am very pleased with the boat thus far.

There have been minor issues ie., decals, screws needing tightening, fuses blowing, on maiden voyage etc. My dealer however will take care of anything I am unable to fix at the end of our season. The overall construction is sturdy and consistent. Carpeting exceeds standards the automatic oversized Bimini top is a definate plus. The Mercury 115hp 4 Stroke purrs like a kitten.

In response to the question regarding splash. I'm a newbie and had a splash problem the first day. It was brought to my attention that the fender was dangling too low and the H2O splash was deflecting off of it and onto my passengers. I was a bit red in the face and not from the sun.

Pontoon.net and Bentleyownersgroup.com are great resources.

I wish everyone Happy & Safe boating.
Cheers,
Rideau Runner

Rideau Canal=UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Ken,
I'm not sure where you live, but the dealer I purchased from is T&S Marine in Buford, Georgia. They are right by Lake Lanier. Also, if you go to pontoon.net, there are guys there who can tell you where the other good dealers are.

 

Yes, the Prestige line is very nice! I have a 2007 240Cruise with the same 115HP 4s. I'd be interested in hearing how yours performs. I've been trying different props looking for just the right one. My best speed has been 23MPH. All the boat mags that have reviewed this exact same boat have posted higher numbers. The Mercury Marine site also tested my same boat/motor combo and posted better speed.

 

2007 Bentley 200 Cruise Problems

I found this forum while trying to find information on the internet on how to repair the switch panel on our 2007 Bentley 200 Cruise. I accidentally found this thread and I can only hope that some of the original posters will see my reply.

I have to admit we were dazzled by the boat, but we were naive. No we didn't do our research, no we didn't know what to look for when inspecting the boat and no, we didn't know that Heckel's Marina in Madison, Wisconsin (which is 200 miles from our home) would screw us. Our fault for not being less trusting. Also I guess our fault for not being more aggressive and trying to contact Bentley directly. Maybe they would have stood by their product, I don't know, it's too late to find that out now. I'm not here to throw blame at anyone, only want to tell my story.

I just want everyone and Bentley to know that we too have had numerous problems with our Bentley and continue to have major problems with our boat. Last year as soon as the season began, we noticed that the steering wasn't functioning properly and was dangerous to drive. We found a dealer closer to us (only 125 miles away) and brought our boat in for warranty work. We asked that they also fix the speedometer. We were told that there was nothing wrong with the steering or the speedometer. They used an air hose to blow air on the speedometer to show us that it worked, and it did, but to this day it still doesn't work when the boat's in the water. They made a minor adjustment on the steering and told us that's all it needed. And all this after having our boat for 6 weeks. Yes, 6 weeks. The steering worked better and isn't dangerous any more, but we've had experienced boaters try it out and so far all have said that it still isn't right.

I’ll shorten this up a bit

Also have corner corrosion, didn’t know it wasn’t supposed to be like that.
Warped seats, can’t use under seat storage because they fill with water. Have to pull boat out of slip often to shopvac water out. We were told that the seats weren’t under warranty.
All the lights and the 12 volt plug are out. Changed all the fuses we could find, they still don’t work and that’s what I was looking for here.
Boat rattles at certain speeds. Depth finder doesn’t work at speeds higher than no wake speed. (I don’t know what speed that is since the speedometer doesn’t work) And yes, we have tried to adjust the sensitivity.

We’ve seen other people in our area with Bentleys and the people we’ve spoken to have many of the same problems as we do. When people admire our boat I make sure to tell them, looks are deceiving, don’t buy a Bentley. We hate it but we’re stuck with it because we’ll never be able to sell it for what we owe and couldn’t in good conscience sell a defective product to anyone else. We’ll have to live with it and try to make the best of it.

All that being said, does anyone know a thread that may have information on how to fix our lights?

 

jd87,
That's terrible. I've never heard of so many problems. Something is definitely wrong with your boat and they do have a pretty good warranty at Bentley. Although I don't know about the seats. My question is how the heck is water getting into the seats in the first place? Our 240 Cruise is now 14-mos old and I've not had any issues like that.

You should go to pontoon.net and log onto that forum. There are lots of Bentley owners there (including me under a different screen name) and probably some in IL. I know there are some very well respected dealers in MO that are also high volume Bentley dealers. Maybe you could check with one of them. Also, Bentley has a factory in MO.

 

Thank you for the info blue I will definitely check out the other site. Our warranty ran out in April though. Water is getting into only the corner seats with a removable cushion and not the seats with hinges. It's because the cushions don't sit flush with the seat because at the rear of both seats the plastic bows downward creating a gap and allowing water to run in when it rains.

 

You should definitely check out that forum. It's a pontoon specific site and like I said, you'll find lots of Bentley owners as well as any other brand out there.