Decision time - used or new Jacuzzi J365?

[yearning4heat]

I've been a frequent lurker here over the last month or so and have learned more about hot tubs than some of the salesmen I've met while wet testing.  Quite the hornet's nest I opened up once the decision was made to make this Canadian winter a little more bearable.  Yeah, best advice ever is the wet test.  I can't for the life of me understand why that 90% of buyers never wet test - and half don't even get in the tubs dry.  After testing the top four plus Bullfrog, it was clear to both me and my wife that the jets on the Jacuzzi J-365 were a cut above.  The volcano jets on the Caldera Salena were also fantastic so it was a re-test between those two.  The price is the same - $10,000 - and both feel great, but those Jacuzzi back jets were the clincher (just wish it had a volcano for the sore legs).  I see a lot of people who never use their spa after the novelty wears off so the big first year depreciation hit is a bit scary.  I think with all the aches and pains, it'll be well-used, but one never knows for sure.

So after looking at the used market, I see a well-cared for 2008 J-365 for $6000 and after much searching and finally finding a picture on the Wayback Machine, discover that the 2008 unlike the 2007 has the double FX 25 jets on the side bench (just like the ones which hit my sore back just right in the wet test).  This tub is about 45 minutes away and I'll look tomorrow, but I was wondering if there were any changes between 08 and now that might make the new purchase a little more palatable or if the 08 used could be had for say $5000, would that be the better plan for first-timers.

Again, thanks for this great forum.  It's a gold mine of information.

[wmccall]

Welcome, great first post, clearly your giving this a lot of thought.

[yearning4heat]

Well the deed is done.  Went to look at the used one and being unused for a couple years, a lot of crud came out so that wasn't too appealing.  I guess a good clean wouldn't be that big a deal, but the color, the thought of moving it, and no warranty made the new tub more enticing.  Apparently,  bearingless  jets and ClearRay are the only differences between the 2008 Jacuzzi J-365 and the 2012 model - not a lot, but when the dealer threw in Smart Seal, stainless steel escutcheons, and a cover lifter, it made the extra 5 grand a bit easier to go down.  Going new, getting exactly what you want (except for a volcano jet) is sometimes worth it.  So now I'm in the ranks of the waiting.  Oh well, I've got lots of digging to do.  This is going into a little three-sided courtyard (about 10' X 12') that was created when I had to leave an area for light to the basement during a build-out.  Leaving the tub at ground level would cover the window, so I'll sink it a couple feet, drill and rock fill a hole down to the bottom of the wood foundation I built for the house add-on and any rainwater or leaks can just go down to the rock fill under the foundation.  There's a sump pump in that very area.  Speaking of foundations, for the tub, could I just use 2 X 12 treated wood over 6" of packed, crushed rock like under the house foundation?  I also saw a picture of 4 X 4's lagged together for a hot tub foundation. Can't seem to insert a jpeg but here's a link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJujE6VvyLQ

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Congrats!  You will enjoy it.    We just got a truckload of spa's in this morning and everyone want's theirs at the same time.     Joys of being the spa mngr, guess it's a good problem to have these days   

[planetary]

Nice tub!  Welcome to the Late Summer Waiting Club.   

[wmccall]

Nice tub!  Welcome to the Late Summer Waiting Club.   

We have three now, we can call this meeting to order.

[Chas]

They will come - they will come.