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Im from San Diego and I purchased the Palatino at our local dealer here last month. They quoted me $6500. I got it for $5300 out the door with steps, cover lifter, frog chemicals, and NO tax! It's all about negotiating my friend.
Just got a quote from the local Caldera dealer for $6500 for a Palatino. $300 extra for ozone. Another former Hot Spring dealer also quoted me $6000 for a floor model Tempo. They wanted $400 extra for ozone. So it seems that most of the dealers are being pretty consistent on their prices. Obviously so far I've just been calling around to get their starting number. I guess at some point I'll have to go in to try to negotiate with them. I have cash in hand so that may be helpful. I wonder if the prices get any better for memorial day or july 4?
Went to the Caldera dealer yesterday. This is the one who originally quoted 6500 on the Palatino. He said the best he could do is 5900 on a new 2011 Palatino including cover and delivery. It seems from my research that aside from what Woody posted, most people have been in the 6000-6500 range on this model. In that regard 5900 would be a pretty good deal. If I go 5900 I might see if he could at least throw the steps in. Thoughts?
Sometimes someone falls into a situation where they get a much better than typical deal for whatever reason (dealer desperate/closing or floor model or ... some type of special circumstance). You can't beat yourself over the head if you don't see the same below norm price. Compare it to the general population of what the spa sells for and shoot for the lower end of that.Absolutely see if he'll throw in the steps, it never hurts to ask. Or another way to try to sweeten the pot at the last minute when they refuse to budge further on price is to ask for store credit. A dealer will typically prefer to give you $150 in store credit as opposed to giving you $150 discount on the spa price for obvious reasons but to the customer its just about the same thing as you’ll need follow up items/chems anyway. They may tend to prefer store credit to the free steps idea. Give either/both a try, it always feels better later to know you tried as opposed to wondering if you could have done better if you’d given it a shot.