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Hello,Like many who come here, shopping for our first hot tub and pretty overwhelmed. Which brand? New vs used? We initially looked at Sundance as our town has a dealer, and after reading a bit sounds like they make a great product and by all accounts the local dealer is fantastic as far as customer service goes. But also on a budget and thinking used is the way to go for us. My main question is about hot tub life expectancy. Obviously, many many factors involved with that. I've been combing Craigslist pretty hard within a 3-4 hour radius. There's a 2009 cal spa right in my town, don't know exact model, seats 6 and is in excellent condition, I think it's a Cancun. Sounds like cal spa doesn't have a good reputation around here, and the closest dealer is an hour away and they have awful reviews. Selling for $2K. Not far from us another seller has a 2013 Sundance Edison asking $4K (seems high for used?) and I've also located a 2005 Sundance cameo that looks immaculate' seller asking $1K. But it's 11.5 years old. So how old is too old to buy used? And what has actually changed between say a 2005 and a 2017 Sundance cameo? I'm so torn!
thanks Beck. I really think we will go used for the first go round.The Cal Spa option seems to make the most sense for us. It's local, it's affordable, it's super clean and well maintained and the exact configuration we are looking for. But all this hate for Cal Spa on this site has me worried. And the closest Cal Spa dealer is an hour away with horrible reviews. Anyone want to expand on the Cal Spa hate? Should we pay $2K more to get Sundance in similar condition, albeit a few years newer?
Buy the cal spa as long as it has no leaks and everything works. Cal spa as a company kinda sucks but the tubs are fine. Any tech worth a dime can fix cal spa they run balboa you can find parts online easy enough. Are they as good as sundance or some of the other top brands no. We consistently work on cals that are 20 years old. They need tlc just like the rest. btw we sell used tubs all brands as well as cal spa. Make sure a good local dealer will work on it you don't need to go to a cal spa dealer necessarily. jmho