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So from what I've been told, dealer cost is about $8,000 even for a J-480 if it's a high volume dealer. With a Stereo which is completly worth it (and at first there was no way I was going to spend that much on the stereo, especially considering that they are only warranted for one year) dealer cost is still under $9,000. I've looked everywhere, online and in person in Northern California and Colorado. At first, I wanted a Sundance and almost bought one for $11,000 out the door for a new Cameo with Stereo after serious negotiations. Then I found a large dealer that had both Jacuzzi and Sundance in stock and both hot tubs filled for testing. After experiencing the J-480 jets, they were somewhat stronger than the Sundance Cameo or Maxxus which closed the deal for me because of my back pain. Both Sundance had stronger foot jets if that more important to you.As to my dealer search, I didn't buy local in town because 1. he only carried Sundance and wouldn't order Jacuzzi and 2. he kept going back and forth with the price giving me all sorts of stories. He was $1,200 more for the Cameo that a dealer 40 miles away and told me that I out to be supporting local in town businesses. When I found the Jacuzzi dealer at a home and garden show and showed him my spreadsheet with cost, options, and out the door cost from over 15 dealers on Jacuzzi, Sundance, Hot Springs, Artic etc, and told him that I was in a position to pay cash (actually I put in on my credit card for cash back) and that I was offered $11,000 for the Sundance Cameo or $13,000 for the Sundance Maxxus (2013 models ordered to my specs), he told me that he was having a truck load event in two weeks. He flat out told me his cost was $7,999 for J-480 and that he had received this one for free, so he would sell it to me for his normal cost. He stated that he could order a new one w. out radio for $9,100 and still make $1,100 on the deal.I'd be really careful with the dealers you visited, as they seem like unethical used car salesman. Just be honest and offer them what you think your willing to live with and what's included in the deal. Personally, there's no way cost has gone up between 2012 or 2013 models. That's pure BS. If it sounds stupid, it probably is... Most of these guys will do anything to get you to pay premium price. If it was me, I'd have them "order" your specific shell and cabinet color you want w. radio and tell them you want the Covermate III, all taxes paid and delivered for $11,000.00 for the first pitch. Raise it to no more than $12,000 and tell them you will walk and let everyone know how overpriced they are. Be nice and firm, and make sure your talking to the owner and not a salesperson. Don't get anything but the Covermate III for the J-480 unless you have it sitting in a deck. They must make a specific bracket for the J-480 since it's so big. Don't worry about the steps, they going to give you something that's plastic and worth about $50.00. Just go buy your own on Amazon. Basically, make it a very simple transaction for them and they just made some money for about an hour's time plus delivery cost. No one charges delivery cost if it's within 50 to 100 miles. I paid a $300.00 delivery cost since I was over 100 miles. Be warned, never pay with a check or cash. Always use a credit card (not debit) in this industry so if you have a problem, your protected and can get your money back by the bank. Don't get pressured into anything.Check Facebook webpages for both Sundance and Jacuzzi Corporate pages. They list the truckload events on it and on the corporate websites. I'd be more focused on the price that the "service" your going to get later on years down the line. Check out http://www.hottubworks.com/HotTubChemicals/ for your chemicals. During sales, they are normally 50% cheaper than the local stores. http://www.google.com/search?q=Sundance+Cameo&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#pq=%22sundance+cameo%22+%2B+reviews&hl=en&sugexp=pfwl&cp=15&gs_id=5z&xhr=t&q=sundance+cameo+reviews&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=%22sundance+cameo+reviews&aq=0&aqi=g1&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&fp=5bd145500fad8bd6&biw=1916&bih=906&bs=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&cad=b&sei=eX62UYOtBNXk4APN2oCICghttp://www.google.com/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=Jaccuzi+J-400+reviews&oq=Jaccuzi+J-400+reviews&gs_l=hp.3..0i22i30.2056.10875.0.11091.25.23.2.0.0.0.104.1260.22j1.23.0...0.0.0..1c.1.16.psy-ab.JCLpwj7Dhi8&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dmg&fp=5bd145500fad8bd6&biw=1842&bih=963http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&q=Jaccuzi+J-480+reviews&oq=Jaccuzi+J-480+reviews&gs_l=hp.3..0i22i30.48432.50442.1.50634.11.10.0.0.0.0.169.665.7j2.9.0...0.0.0..1c.1.16.psy-ab.z-NL5u50zaI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dmg&fp=5bd145500fad8bd6&biw=1842&bih=963http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&q=Jaccuzi+J-480+price&oq=Jaccuzi+J-480+price&gs_l=hp.3..0i13j0i22i30l3.17883.20126.2.20421.14.11.3.0.0.0.163.830.10j1.11.0...0.0.0..1c.1.16.psy-ab.gCmQp5R8IdI&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.47534661,d.dmg&fp=5bd145500fad8bd6&biw=1842&bih=963
Dealers that sell for $1000 over invoice won't be around long. The only way to make any money would be to sell 500 tubs a year. Not to mention having to do any warranty work on the tub which you always lose money on. I'm all about getting the best deal and if you only paid you $8k for that tub then you either got a once in a lifetime deal, the dealer is an idiot will be going out of business soon or he was so hard up for cash flow he just gave the thing away. Most dealers I know in my area are fair but we are also looking to feed are families, pay are employees and to make a little money. Believe me we are not getting rich
i woud think one of the most important points in thinking about buyng a tub (or anything else one buys) is the price..but if was a dealer i could understand y dicussing prices paid could be annoying..