I think you should let the dealer do that. You are still under warranty and have looked for issues that would not be covered (loose fittings, drain plug). The dealer says the panels are a design flaw, so it seems to be totally unrelated to your leak. If you have logged the leak problem with the dealer, you are covered. He can't wait to address it and say " Oh sorry your warranty ran out while I was waiting for a tech to get there."....I am sure Marquis will take care of this, the tub is an '09!