Welcome to our forum.
I would look at a Hot Spring - Much better than all listed above. Since Caldera is made by Hot Spring anyway - check it out at least! We love ours! My wife is 4'11" - we have the Sovereign and it's perfect for us and the kids!
The Marcy LE is $6299+tax and the Caroga is $5849+tax. The Caldera Hawaiian is $7100. The Caroga is the smallest tub and we both felt a little claustrophobic in it.
You probably should tell the Caldera dealer that you like the spa but the price difference is an issue and you want to give him a chance to match (or see how close he comes). Its always a tricky thing because on the one hand its your $ and you don't want to spend more than you have to but on the other hand this purchase will be in your yard for the next decade+ and you have one chance the get the right spa for you and you don't want to sit in whatever spa you choose and think "maybe $X00 spread over the life of the spa wouldn't have been much of a big deal after all and I should have gotten the XXXXXX spa".Take you time and be direct with the Saratoga, Caldera and Jacuzzi dealers about where your search stands.
In the next few days, i will return to the Jacuzzi dealer with what I've learned and the prices I got for other tubs and see if he will budge.... Ditto with the Saratoga dealer. Budgets sux!!!!! LOL Thanks for the info folks. I also looked and there will be a home show in CT is a few weeks....
Be careful with homeshows. It is good to go in with a good knowledge of prices. [glow]Also, beware of the brands that display at your show that don't have a local dealer. [/glow] You'll want to stay away from them.You can get some good deals at the home shows. However, ask your dealers if they are going to have any specials at the home shows that you could get now.It is best to make a decision on which spa you want, then negotiate. Negotiations will ultimately get to the point of "if I do this for you, are you ready to make the decision?" You need to be in the position to say yes if they are getting down to their final offer.
Well said, especially about shows where they may sell you a spa without having local support and once they're gone and the spa gets delivered you’re on your own. If you bring it up as a concern you'll get an earful on how they'll make it work without the local dealer but I wouldn't think about buying a spa from someone who was going to leave town a few days later.