Pontoon Boats are a considerable investment, and like any investment you want to know if you will be able to make your money back once you decide to sell it.
Pontoon boats tend to hold their value really well. On average a pontoon boat won’t lose more than 30% of it’s value in the first 5 years. But this number can change depending on the age, condition, features and model of the pontoon boat.
While pontoon boats keep a good portion of their value, the biggest drop in value comes during its first years of use. So a $35,000 pontoon can lose $4,000 after it’s first 2 years, it can only lose another $1,000 during its third year. But before we talk about how and why prices drop let’s take a look at 17 real examples of pontoon boats and how much their price dropped over the years.
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17 Real Examples of Pontoon Boats Value Over Time
Here is a table showing the initial value of 17 boats and their value right now.
| Pontoon Boat Model | Production Year | Initial Price | Price in 2021 |
| Premier Re 221 Gemini | 2007 | $24,000 | $17,900 |
| Sun Tracker Party Barge | 2008 | $29,000 | $17,900 |
| Premier 275 Intrigue PTX | 2008 | $39,000 | $30,000 |
| Crest III 2570 | 2008 | $32,500 | $22,900 |
| AquaPatio 240 DF | 2011 | $40,000 | $33,000 |
| Bennington 20SLi | 2011 | $23,500 | $16,750 |
| Bennington 20 SF | 2012 | $23,000 | $16,500 |
| Lowe 210 SS | 2012 | $21,000 | $15,900 |
| Harris Cruiser 220 | 2013 | $29,000 | $22,900 |
| Premier 235 Solaris RE | 2013 | $34,000 | $27,500 |
| Lowe Sf214 | 2014 | $21,500 | $17,900 |
| Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 DLX | 2017 | $22,000 | $15,900 |
| Sun Tracker Party Barge 22 DLX (150 HP) | 2017 | $38,000 | $31,995 |
| Lowe 182 Fish and Sky | 2017 | $19,000 | $15,500 |
| Bentley Pontoons 223 | 2018 | $36,000 | $31,900 |
| Avalon 1985 Cruise | 2018 | $20,000 | $17,200 |
| Sweetwater 2086 SB | 2018 | $24,500 | $22,500 |
*Most of the boats that I looked at were in good shape. I decided to exclude boats that were in really bad shape since most people are not interested in buying such a boat.
What Determinants the Value of a Pontoon Boat
As you can see pontoon boats will lose some value over time, but not too much. So let’s see why that is, and what gives a pontoon boat it’s value?
The price of a pontoon boat is given by the following factors:
- Condition
- Age
- Features
- Brand
Condition
Probably the most important factor is the condition of the boat. To put it simply a boat that has no scratches on it and that has barely seen the water will always sell at a higher price than a used one.
But things are a little more complicated than that. It’s extremely rare to find a boat that has barely been on the water, so it’s usually up to everybody to estimate how much the condition of the boat is worth to them.
Some boats can have a lot of small scratches on them that don’t affect the boat in any way, but they make it look really bad. For some people this is not such a big problem, but for others this is a complete deal breaker.
Some pontoon boats can have patched up holes in the tubes, some people might think that this should knock off $500 of the total price, while other people think this is worth at least $2000.
So the value of the condition of the boat is mostly determined but what people think. So if you want to eventually sell your pontoon boat you should try and keep it in the best condition that you can, and if you have a lot of scratches maybe fix them up before putting it up for sale.
Age
Closely related to the condition of the boat, is the age of the boat.
The older the boat is the lower the price will be. There are three reasons for this.
An older boat will usually have seen more action than a newer one, so it’s overall condition will usually be worse. But as we’ve just discussed this depends a lot on the way the boat was kept.
Older boats usually have less features than newer models. But depending on your tastes some of those features might not be as important.
One thing that a lot of people seem to go over, is that the older boats have older engines. Gasoline engines have a lifespan of 1,500 hours and diesel engines one of 5,000 hours.
If you are going to buy a boat from 2015, there is a good chance that you will soon have to change the motor, and this can get really pricey.
Here is a list of the average prices for a motor (for this list I looked at well known manufacturers like: Evinrude, Honda, Mercury, Suzuki and Yamaha):
40 HP – $6,700
50 HP – $7,900
60 HP – $8,500
75 HP – $9,600
90 HP – $10,200
115 HP – $11,500
135 HP – $13,500
150 HP – $14,800
175 HP – $15,900
200 HP – $19,200
225 HP – $20,900
250 HP – $21,800
So overall motors are very expensive, but don’t hold their value that much. And depending on how many hours you’ve used it for it can drastically reduce the price of the boat.
Features
Another thing that will influence the price of a pontoon boat are the features. From what I’ve seen on the market features usually lose their value quite fast.
A new double bimini can easily cost $1,500, from what I’ve noticed if you sell it with your boat it will usually add up between $500 and $750 to the total price.
If you are in the market for a pontoon boat this means that boats with added extra features are usually worth the extra cost.
If you want to sell your pontoon boat you should know that extra features will increase the price of your boat, but won’t help you make a profit.
Brand
One final major thing that influences the value of a pontoon boat is the brand.
Some brands are simply better known than others, and this will make their price go up considerably.
So if you want to buy a pontoon boat and be able to sell it later for a good price you might want to look at the premium brands since they tend to keep their value more than others.
One thing that I want to add is that if you leave the brand aside most pontoon boats are more or less the same, they are built using the same materials, they have almost the same design, so in a lot of cases the extra dollars that you pay for a premium brand won’t necessarily give you a better boat. But if we speak strictly about value, they will hold their values better than others.
How to Increase the Value of a Pontoon Boat
Now that we know what gives a pontoon boat it’s value, it’s time to see what we can do to stop it from decreasing, and even increase it.
Storage
The first thing that you can do is to store it properly. A boat that is stored properly will be in a considerably better condition than one stored poorly.
The best way to store a boat is indoors and covered. If you don’t have the space to store a boat in your garage you can always look at local boat storage, but sometimes they can get quite expensive. So in a lot of cases the storage cost won’t always be worth it.
The second best thing that you can do is invest in a good boat cover and keep it in your backyard. While your boat won’t be as protected as it would be indoors, there shouldn’t happen anything bad to it. And the boat cover will add to the value of the boat when you decide to sell it.
Quickly Fix Scratches
As we discussed for some people even the smallest scratch can be a deal breaker. So it’s important to fix those scratches as soon as they appear. If you leave them sitting for too long they might end up causing a lot more damage to your boat.
To prevent this from happening I always keep a kit like this one on hand. They are quite cheap and if you can quickly fix up any scratch.
Small Upgrades
One possible way to increase the price of a pontoon boat is to make small and cheap upgrades to it.
There are a lot of cheap things that you can add to your boat that will increase the price. Adding a rod holder, underwater camera, lights, cup holders, a ramp, etc. If you do all those things by yourself you will pay less than $500, and you will end up adding at least $1,000 to the value of your boat.
Final thoughts
Overall pontoon boats don’t lose too much value, but depending on how well they are maintained, what features they have and their brand, the price can go down considerably over time, or it can stay mostly unchanged.
While a pontoon boat is not something which will make money back when you decide to sell it, it won’t be a big loss either.
If you want to get a pontoon boat and only keep it for 1 or 2 years, I would say that you can expect to sell it between $500 and $1,500 less than you paid for it.