According to Artesian, the Sure Grip fittings and tubing is not cheaper than the old way of glue and clamp. I am sure it's faster than straight glue and clamp. Artesian is still glue and clamp in areas where the Sure Grip fitting won't work. It's not a new system in the industry, it's just new to Artesian. Marquis uses this system as well. The warranty hasn't changed so they are confidant that they are as equal or better than the old way. Artesian is not the only top manufacturer that uses them. I'll be less than honest if I didn't say I have a concern also about the change but another poster has communicated directly with Artesian and their response did make me feel better.
My first tub, close to 30 years ago, was a LPI product (yeah, I know. In my defense, the available info just wasn't there when I bought it). The plumbing was only glued to standard barb fittings. The only leak I ever had was where a brass fitting into the heater broke. No clamp would have stopped that from leaking. I had plenty of other issues with it but plumbing leaks were not one of them.
Artesian does build a very solid, quality tub. I did a lot of research before I pulled the trigger on an Artesian Island Nevis, which is due in any day now. With the demand and backlog now, that sounds like a good price. I have a close friend who is getting an Island Grand Cayman, July delivery, for about the same price. What is included for that $10K? How comfortable are you with the dealer? They are going to be your lifeline and will be handling any warranty repairs. If you feel good about the dealer and their reputation, that is one large factor in deciding who to buy from.
I suspect I know what website is knocking the plumbing change and while that site does have a lot of good information, it is also a shill for Master Spa. Master has it's list of issues also, but you won't hear about them on that site. One issue is how the factory lets one large dealer misrepresent the product and used shoddy sales tactics, another is they also have quality issues and dealer support can be hit or miss. My dealer dropped Master several years ago due to the amount of warranty claims they were getting.
