Tub selection advice. J-480, HS Envoy wet tested

[TdiDave]

Some background info: We live in a rural area on only have a beachcomber & hot springs dealer with 30miles. We push out to 100 miles to get anything additional.
We did some wet testing yesterday, with my wife. and as everyone states it must be done.
What a difference in the feel from tub to tub. All the dealers seem to be very accomidating, I guess once they realize you are serious about a purchase.
We started the day wanting a tub with a lounger. We got to try out most of the hotsprings line up and nothing really seem to jump out. The Envoy was difficult to enter and exit as the lounger is right at the front at the entry point, also the lounger was to long and we didnt fit, the captains chair was kinda nice but cut for a larger person so the jets didn't hit in the right places. The sovern had a nice entry step and the lounger was a bit shorter and did work ok but we didn't seem to be very exited about the rest of the seats. They had no Aria in stock and won't for some time so still wonder what it would be like.
The beachcomber dealer didn't have many models we really liked in but did try one of the entry level tubs and again no wow factor. So not sure what the others may feel like.
After we left there we figured a lounger was out of the mix and start to think about some other ideas.
We then made the trip to the Jacuzzi dealer. Tried a j-480 and we got the wow response. The lounger fit us both great, loved the center well hump with the feet jets. All of the seat just seem to fit well.

The Jacuzzi dealer was very nice, explained everything and was not pushy. Did get a little of "ours has the best x in the industry" stuff maybe a bit more than the beachcomber guy but less than the hot springs guy. They do have 3 locations but just not sure as this store was in a strip mall. They made what seems like a fair offer of $11,700.

So now need some opinions. Should keep looking and compare to some others? What other tubs would be similar to the j-480 that we should look at?

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

you can certainly shop around more, but if your family loves the Jacuzzi then maybe you found your spa  ....assuming your prepared to buy that day I wouldn't be afraid to negotiate a little as well, maybe offer him 11k

[planetary]

Dave, our situations are similar.  I ended up with a 470 delivered last month.

In my search, in addition to Jacuzzi and Hotspring, I also looked at the Sundance Optima (no lounger; Cameo with lounger), and Dimension 1's Lotus Bay.  These are all fine tubs, and finding the one that gives your family the biggest "wow" is a good standard to use.

If you've not scraped the internet for exhaustive research about the 480, you might take advantage of this user reference doc I've been pulling together for the 470, as the majority of it applies to 480.  It's nothing fancy, but it's a start. 

Good luck!

[TdiDave]

Just really having a hard time spending this much money. Funny how is easy by comparison to spend twice as much for a car.

Question: as I have been shopping I keep gravitating to the high end models. How many people who purchased a lower or mid level tub wish they would have just upgraded? 

[JohnnyK45]

How many people who purchased a lower or mid level tub wish they would have just upgraded? 

I think opinions are going to be all over the place on this question, depending upon the make and models one bought, and perhaps also on the customer service they received, etc.  Also, "upgraded" in and of itself is a bit subjective I think; upgraded with respects to what? (i.e. size, number of jets, HP, number of seats, warranty offered, control mfg, extras, etc.?)

I think I'm in the minority from what I've seen on this forum in terms of what I paid for our tub, but we bought a round tub for $2700 by Viking Spas and love it; no regrets at all and we use it about every other day.  The mix of jets are powerful, ample flexibility in seating arrangements, easy to maintain, etc. For our needs and with two younger children, I didn't care about a lounger and instead, wanted something that was more barrier free (if you will) and I had no interest in paying for "extras" like waterfalls, LED lights, stereo, etc. - those things are fine, but they just weren't "must haves" for us - I just wanted a great solid hot tub without the extras.  I chatted with a few friends and my cousin who have tubs to get their take on how often they're still using it, any regrets, etc.  All said that most often, the tub is used by 1-2 people at a time in their family; very rare that they have their tub loaded with everyone, or that they have some big "hot tub" party.  My friend in Seattle regrets the size of his tub and said he would "down-size" to something smaller when he decides to get rid of his current tub.  Finally, after spending a fair amount of time looking around at different models, features, doing research and even talking to the mfg direct a few times, etc., we made our choice. 

I'm also not one to go into debt over a "luxury" purchase (or almost any purchase for that matter).  I would not take out a loan and do any kind of financing to buy any hot tub (I think that's insane, but that's just me); I wrote a check and paid for our tub in full when I bought it.  Could I have spent more on our tub?  Sure, but I found the tub that had the features I valued most and it just happened to be less than $3,000.  No regrets whatsoever thus far over the tub we bought, the honeymoon period is still just as strong as the day we bought it. 

Good luck in your search and buy the tub that has the features and flexibility YOU want and that YOU value as important; do that and you'll be happy with whatever tub you purchase.   

[jonnyboy2807]

If I had to buy all over again, I'd skip the stereo, the waterfall, and the fancy lights (I only use the darkest red but my wife prefers no lights at all). To be clear, I detest that "waterfall."  I have no regrets on the larger tub size but that's because of my height. If I was 6' or less, we'd probably have gone to a smaller tub.