If this really is your budget limit and you want a premium quality hot tub, consider buying a refurbished tub from a good dealer that will warranty their work. This is much like buying a lightly used certified used car, the body style may be a little out of date, and it may lack some of the latest bells and whistle, but if it has been throughly serviced and had the major parts replaced (heater, pumps, etc.) and comes with a dealer warranty of any significant length (6+ month ) it may be worth considering at around half the price of new. Just be aware the definition of refurbished can mean anything from we hosed it down, to a near complete rebuild, so get details of the work that was done, was it just testing, or was it replace all worn parts. In the upper level tubs built in the last 5-10 years or so most of the differences you are likely to see are really bells and whistles, they tend to be things like sound systems, color changing lights, color changing back lit control panels, etc.
