Sundance Optima

[Dee Dee]

We were looking at sundance and hot spring spas at a fair last week.  An older lady comes up to us and tells us she has a brand new Sundance Optima - (850 series) that has only been used a few times because her husband has died and she wants to sale it.  She wants $5,500.00.  I sent sundance an email asking if the warrenty is transferable, and they said the warrenty is not transferable.  What would you do?  The tub looks brand new and has been kept inside.  The date in the motor area said 12-21-05.

[Gomboman]

Sounds like a good deal if the Optima fits you. Have you wet tested one before? Does it come equipped with a stereo and ozone? The Optima is a very nice spa. Did you go to her house to look at the spa? If so, it sounds like it could be legit.

You would have to weigh what you think the warrantee is worth and also include delivery charges. It could cost you $500 or so to get it in your backyard by a reputable mover. I would probably offer her 4,500 or 5,000 and take my chances. If she's stopping strangers on the street it could be gone by now. Let us know how it turns out.

[Brewman]

Assuming all things are in order, and you like the Optima, that is a pretty good price.  New ones go for as high at $10K in some locations possibly more.  
If it's got the stereo installed, $5K is a really good price for what appears to be essentially a demo model.
You'd be saving possibly 5K over the cost of a new one- so for that you could stand to pay for a repair or two out of pocket in the next four years.
 Like goboman said, factor you moving costs into your offer- the Optima is one heavy sucker.  
 Never hurts to counter offer with the person.  

Our Optima is 3 years old, and we've needed service once so far, for the circ. pump.
It was paid for on warranty- I suppose the the repair costs to me would have been a couple hundred bucks- otherwise the spas been reliable.  

[Dee Dee]

There is no radio, but there is an ozone.  We have never wet tested a sundance, but we have wet tested many different spas and this is the style we were looking for, with the foot dome, open seating, the color's we want, etc.

Is it legit, I looked up her husbands obiturary.  It was pretty sad actually.  He was the one that wanted the hot tub.  He built a nice sunroom off of their bedroom and they finally bought one.  He was going out back to cut some wood, but it was going to rain, so he was hanging a sheet of paper to keep track of the chemicals he added to his new hot tub and had a massive heart attack.  The hot tub had arrived with a ripped cover, two days after he died the new cover arrived...  He died in Jan. of 2006.  I think she had the hot tub emptied and never touched it again.  

So when she approached me at the fair I was kinda excited, but at the sametime, I did not to take advantage of her.  We did go to her house and look at it - its a totally legit deal, her son doesn't want it and she really wants to get rid of it, so in a sense we are doing her a favor.  She is the one that said $5,500.00, so I don't feel like I am taking advantage of her.  My mom died 2 years ago and she was a "shop acholic".   She had lots of pants that cost over a hundred dollars that she never wore and my Dad was giving them away for free.  So, I know what it is like to feel the need to move on.  I think she wanted the money to buy furniture for the sunroom.

As far as disconnecting it, my husband is an electrician and as far as moving it he has 7 guys that will help him to move it.  My Dad is the one that has me all worried about the warrenty and after I found out that it isn't transferable I guess we started second guessing ourselves.

Is there anywhere online to buy parts/ the armotherapy things for a sundance spa?  Just curious as to how much they cost.

Thank you,
Dee Dee

[gores95]

Sad to hear of the woman's loss but I would JUMP on that (especially with your hub being an electrician!).  I would also try to get her to include the subpanel box as well.! I would call Sundance directly to ask about future servicing.  I would offer her $5000 cash though.  It couldn't hurt to haggle.

I am sure someone on this board will have a clever comment regarding how the guy died trying to keep track of his hot tub chems.  I never thought it would be THAT hard!!!  

Marc

[Chris_H]

Dee Dee,
You will be able to get service from the dealer that the original customer purchased the spa.  I would recommend getting the sales slip from the original owner if you decide on the spa.
Chris

[Brewman]

Is there anywhere online to buy parts/ the armotherapy things for a sundance spa?  Just curious as to how much they cost.

Thank you,
Dee Dee

There are a couple places to buy Sundance parts online.  The trick though, is to know what part you need.  That's where the services of a qualified technician come in.  If you get a FLO error, for instance, it could be caused by several things- from a faulty flow switch, bad circ. pump, or just clogged filters.  Knowing what part needs replacing will prevent you from replacing unecessary parts.

There should be a Sundance dealer assigned in your area.  You can find out by contacting Sundance directly.  They are pretty good about returning emails.
My Sundance dealer has left the spa business, so I asked Sundance what to do about service should I need any.  They promptly forwarded me the contact information for an authorized service provider in my area.  

The aromatherapy thing is essentially a plastic cage of scented plastic beads you put in the special compartment- scent is (supposedly) added via of the blower.  Not very effective as far as I'm concerned.   In my opinion there are better methods of aroma- and you should be able to find products at any spa dealer.  If you have a Jacuzzi dealer nearby, they might be able to service Sundance and get you parts too- the one up the street from my office did.

[Gomboman]

Yep, I would buy this one in a heart beat. Is it still available? You will never make up the difference of 4k with the warrantee.

[Dee Dee]

Well, my husband and his friends went to this ladies house today and picked up the hot tub.  It is now in my back yard.  I still can't believe it.  It happened so fast, considering how long we have been looking for a hot tub, (since atleast Feb).  It is filled with water and it is hooked up to electric.  We had one problem so far, the FLOW error keep coming up and the water wasn't heating, so we took the panels off and checked out the flow switch.  The flow switch was sideways, so he turned the flow switch, so it was in the direction of the water and what do you know, it worked.  The water was 75 degrees and now it is 80 degrees.  We are so excited!!!  We did pay $5,500.00 because that is what she wanted and we really didn't want to take our chances that she might find someone else to buy it from her.    Also, when I looked up the warrenty information on the internet, it let me enter the serial number and register the hot tub?  Who knows, maybe they never registered it?  Oh well, thank you for all your help and I just can't wait to be sitting in a hot tub in my backyard today!!!

[SpaGirlAZ]

WOW, congrats! What a great deal for a barely used Optima! I gave my Dad my old 2000 Marin, and it gets used all the time and he loves it. My bro has a 98 Optima and he loves it. Neither have had any problems. It mostly depends on how it was taken care of prior to your ownership, and at less than a year old, I'm sure it's in top condition.   How exciting!

[gores95]

Well, my husband and his friends went to this ladies house today and picked up the hot tub.  It is now in my back yard.  I still can't believe it.  It happened so fast, considering how long we have been looking for a hot tub, (since atleast Feb).  It is filled with water and it is hooked up to electric.  We had one problem so far, the FLOW error keep coming up and the water wasn't heating, so we took the panels off and checked out the flow switch.  The flow switch was sideways, so he turned the flow switch, so it was in the direction of the water and what do you know, it worked.  The water was 75 degrees and now it is 80 degrees.  We are so excited!!!  We did pay $5,500.00 because that is what she wanted and we really didn't want to take our chances that she might find someone else to buy it from her.    Also, when I looked up the warrenty information on the internet, it let me enter the serial number and register the hot tub?  Who knows, maybe they never registered it?  Oh well, thank you for all your help and I just can't wait to be sitting in a hot tub in my backyard today!!!

How about some pics?  

Congrats on a great deal and a great tub!

[Gomboman]

 Also, when I looked up the warrenty information on the internet, it let me enter the serial number and register the hot tub?  Who knows, maybe they never registered it?  

Dealers, does the warrantee typically go through if the original owner never bothered to send it in? I'm assuming this will only work on a very new transaction. Just curious what the probability of her warrantee going through is?