First timer for a hot tub, looking at Sundace Optima

[Jac-470]

I'm very new at looking a hot tubs, but kids are out and wife and I enjoy hot tubs as we've enjoyed them many times on vacation. But buying one is a different story. I don't mind spending $$ if I can get a quality hot tub. We did a wet test on Sundance Optima, Cameo, and Chelsee, at the dealer. Liked them all, but my wife and daughters floated on the lounge in the Cameo. So that was ruled out. The Chelsee was also nice and was the basicly the same size as the Optima, but didn't have the nice features. The Optima was just great in every way. So we choose the Optima. The dealer had a floor model 2012 Optima with the stone looking skirt and stairs, stereo, and the helper arm for the top. They would sell it to me for $8800 OTD delivered, and said I would get $500 back from Sundance for there promotion. So $8300 for the tub. So should I take it, or should I still shop around as I've heard good things from Hot Springs and Jacuzzi which are the same distance from me. I just don't want to wish I shopped around, but also don't want to loose the floor model as it was there last one in that syle as all there 2013 just showed yesterday. I have no idea the prices on tubs as none are listed, but they make it sound I'm getting a good deal. So that should mean others would also give good deals, right?

[bimmerdog]

I just bought a Optima today.  I can say you are getting a great price.  Does it have the sound system?  If so you are getting an incredible price.  The reason I bought it was it was the only spa that we tried, Hot Springs Vanguard and Aria and Sundance Cameo that my wife could stay in the seat with the jets on high.  The foot rest on the Optima gave her a place to push against to keep herself in the seat.  I am assuming you will be getting the full warranty?  If my dealer had the color my wife wanted as a floor model at that price you are getting I would have not left the building till I paid for it.

[Jac-470]

Yes, it has the JBL sound system. In fact that was the showroom music coming from the tub. We really liked the Optima as my wife could sit and not float away. It has the nice dark blue tub, but the stone skirt look I don't know how it would look in my yard. They said it's a $1300 option, but I would not buy it for that much. Yes it has the full factory warranty with set up.

[Spatech_tuo]

So should I take it, or should I still shop around as I've heard good things from Hot Springs and Jacuzzi which are the same distance from me. I just don't want to wish I shopped around, but also don't want to loose the floor model as it was there last one in that syle as all there 2013 just showed yesterday. I have no idea the prices on tubs as none are listed, but they make it sound I'm getting a good deal. So that should mean others would also give good deals, right?

I think you kind of answered your own question. Sundance, Hot Springs and Jacuzzi are all very good options so if you have them all in your area why not check out all 3 and then decide. I expect there is a very good chance the floor model will still be there if thats what you ultimately decide but its always best to shop around to some degree even if its just to make you feel better later knowing you didn't just take the first deal you saw.

[Jac-470]

Checked Hot springs and Jacuzzi today. The top HS tubs were very nice, but there prices were just way to much more then the Optima. Heck there Vanguard with no stereo, floor model was $700 more then the Optima I was priced, and they were not willing to budge as they say there the #1 selling Hot tub out there. They might be, but they were not worth near $3000 more. Then Jacuzzi. Very nice dealer and very knowlegeable about all makes but never belittled them. They will sell me a brand new 2013 J-470 in my choice of color, stereo, shock assist top helper, stairs, chemicals, and full set up and delivery for $9500. They will have a 465 set up for wet test this week. I think I may take that dip as the 470 looked like a sweet tub. Discisions, disicions.

[bimmerdog]

Checked Hot springs and Jacuzzi today. The top HS tubs were very nice, but there prices were just way to much more then the Optima. Heck there Vanguard with no stereo, floor model was $700 more then the Optima I was priced, and they were not willing to budge as they say there the #1 selling Hot tub out there. They might be, but they were not worth near $3000 more. Then Jacuzzi. Very nice dealer and very knowlegeable about all makes but never belittled them. They will sell me a brand new 2013 J-470 in my choice of color, stereo, shock assist top helper, stairs, chemicals, and full set up and delivery for $9500. They will have a 465 set up for wet test this week. I think I may take that dip as the 470 looked like a sweet tub. Discisions, disicions.

You are doing it the right way by checking out the other hot tubs.  Price was a part of my decision but more important to us was how the tub worked for my wife and I.  Once the wife got to wet test the Optima it was a done deal.  If she would have been as happy with the Hot Springs tub we would have bought that.  I am glad we just didn't buy the first place we went to.  You learn a lot about spas by trying a few different ones.  The price on the Optima that you are looking at is really good. 

[goose973]

I think the $8300 price for the optima is very good. When I tested an optima, it was around $9000 with no stereo.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

Checked Hot springs and Jacuzzi today. The top HS tubs were very nice, but there prices were just way to much more then the Optima. Heck there Vanguard with no stereo, floor model was $700 more then the Optima I was priced, and they were not willing to budge as they say there the #1 selling Hot tub out there. They might be, but they were not worth near $3000 more. Then Jacuzzi. Very nice dealer and very knowlegeable about all makes but never belittled them. They will sell me a brand new 2013 J-470 in my choice of color, stereo, shock assist top helper, stairs, chemicals, and full set up and delivery for $9500. They will have a 465 set up for wet test this week. I think I may take that dip as the 470 looked like a sweet tub. Discisions, disicions.

Optima is a direct apples to apples comparison to a Limelight Pulse..same size, depth, near the same gallons, same size pumps, jet count, warranty, etc. and there is no way it is anywhere near $3k more than an Optima

[bimmerdog]

Checked Hot springs and Jacuzzi today. The top HS tubs were very nice, but there prices were just way to much more then the Optima. Heck there Vanguard with no stereo, floor model was $700 more then the Optima I was priced, and they were not willing to budge as they say there the #1 selling Hot tub out there. They might be, but they were not worth near $3000 more. Then Jacuzzi. Very nice dealer and very knowlegeable about all makes but never belittled them. They will sell me a brand new 2013 J-470 in my choice of color, stereo, shock assist top helper, stairs, chemicals, and full set up and delivery for $9500. They will have a 465 set up for wet test this week. I think I may take that dip as the 470 looked like a sweet tub. Discisions, disicions.

Optima is a direct apples to apples comparison to a Limelight Pulse..same size, depth, near the same gallons, same size pumps, jet count, warranty, etc. and there is no way it is anywhere near $3k more than an Optima

It is kinda funny. I heard the same thing from my Hot Springs dealer when I told him I was buying the Sundance Optima.  The dealer gave me the basic speech that Sundance was an inferior product to the Hot Springs.  Remember I have wet tested the Vanguard and Aria.  Liked them both but my wife did not so we went and tested others.  We tested the Sundance Cameo and all of these spas she could not stay in the seat with the jets on high.  We then tested the Optima and that was the one that worked for her.  We then went back to the HS dealer to tell him our decision and he said that we should have tried out the Limelight Pulse.  So we got back into out suits and did another wet test. 

I guess all HS dealers have the same play book because he said all the same things that the Pulse was the same as the Optima but a much better price.  As a customer not a SALESMAN they may look the same on paper but once in the water it was not even close.  The Optima is a lot more comfortable. The jets are better as in how they feel on the body.  You feel that you have more room in the Optima.  The over all look of the Optima is much better.  Is it worth the extra money over the Pulse?  To me the answer is they are not in the same class and I will and did pay more for the Optima. 

To many people get so caught up with what is printed in a brochure and never test the other product but can tell you how poor it is. To me that is a poor salesman. 

Just one customers opinion.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

Checked Hot springs and Jacuzzi today. The top HS tubs were very nice, but there prices were just way to much more then the Optima. Heck there Vanguard with no stereo, floor model was $700 more then the Optima I was priced, and they were not willing to budge as they say there the #1 selling Hot tub out there. They might be, but they were not worth near $3000 more. Then Jacuzzi. Very nice dealer and very knowlegeable about all makes but never belittled them. They will sell me a brand new 2013 J-470 in my choice of color, stereo, shock assist top helper, stairs, chemicals, and full set up and delivery for $9500. They will have a 465 set up for wet test this week. I think I may take that dip as the 470 looked like a sweet tub. Discisions, disicions.

Optima is a direct apples to apples comparison to a Limelight Pulse..same size, depth, near the same gallons, same size pumps, jet count, warranty, etc. and there is no way it is anywhere near $3k more than an Optima

It is kinda funny. I heard the same thing from my Hot Springs dealer when I told him I was buying the Sundance Optima.  The dealer gave me the basic speech that Sundance was an inferior product to the Hot Springs.  Remember I have wet tested the Vanguard and Aria.  Liked them both but my wife did not so we went and tested others.  We tested the Sundance Cameo and all of these spas she could not stay in the seat with the jets on high.  We then tested the Optima and that was the one that worked for her.  We then went back to the HS dealer to tell him our decision and he said that we should have tried out the Limelight Pulse.  So we got back into out suits and did another wet test. 

I guess all HS dealers have the same play book because he said all the same things that the Pulse was the same as the Optima but a much better price.  As a customer not a SALESMAN they may look the same on paper but once in the water it was not even close.  The Optima is a lot more comfortable. The jets are better as in how they feel on the body.  You feel that you have more room in the Optima.  The over all look of the Optima is much better.  Is it worth the extra money over the Pulse?  To me the answer is they are not in the same class and I will and did pay more for the Optima. 

To many people get so caught up with what is printed in a brochure and never test the other product but can tell you how poor it is. To me that is a poor salesman. 

Just one customers opinion.

a ploy to compare models with the same exact specs? yup you figured out are dark secrets  ....and for every-time a customer said they like product X better, just remember there is the exact same customer saying they like  product Y better, so the fact that YOU and wife were  comfortable in one spa more than another has absolutely nothing to do with the fact they share near exact same specs and therefore are an apples to apples comparison....its no ploy its called being trained on your product and knowing exactly what is a good comparison.  Do you think a good BMW salesman is comparing his cars to the Kia dealer across the street? or is he comparing them to Mercedes? and by that I'm not saying Sundance is Kia, I'm just saying he was doing exactly what he was trained to do

[Jac-470]

I will have to agee with bimmerdog. The Pulse was the same size, but to me it looked like a middle class tub compared to the Optima. To me the Optima was in the same class as the Envoy as far as size and style. The Pulse just looked plain. IMHO

[bimmerdog]

sorry this post was two small to read.  The same post is below.  This is the last time I let a post go through the wash.....it shrinks

[bimmerdog]

A Ploy?  Dark secret?  Here is the funny thing. I would have bought the HS Aria if it was just me but there were two of us that needed to be happy.  Funny you say the BMW thing.  I own the 335i BMW and I remember another dealers saying "on paper our car is as good as theirs".    Last I checked you don't drive on paper and you don't buy a hot tub on paper. 

Here is the important thing to remember. I am the one that pays your bills. I am the consumer. Having a salesman telling me I'm making a mistake buying a Sundance as I'm walking out of his Hot Springs store tells me a lot on how he was trained.   

You are exactly right I might like Y and some one else like X but the store also is a big factor in what I like.  Again just my opinion but the Hot Springs sales person needs to be trained more on how to deal with a customer and less on degrading another product.

I raced MTN bikes for 20 years. I retired when I was 46.  I would go and help sell bikes at the store that sponsored me.  I would of course tell a customer about the bikes we sold but I also would listen to the customer on what they wanted.  Some times our bikes were not right for them and I would send them to a competitor to look at their bikes.   I had ridden all the competitors bikes so I knew where to send them.  It was just not looking at a piece of papers with specs.  The store owner of the store I was at said he had never seen anything like what I was doing. He was getting calls from his three competitor saying that they were getting all this feed back about our store and how we were sending people to their stores to buy a bike.  All four store owners got together and set up a program to work together and have no more bad blood.  By the way our store sells went up 28 percent the time I helped out.

So where I'm going with this is simple. Hot Spring may be #1 and Sundance may be #2 or #3 or #33 but when a sales person of a Hot Springs store is trained the way this person was it tells me a lot about a company I am very glad I bought a Sundance.   

And back to the OP (original poster) the price on the Optima is still great 

[Spatech_tuo]

The Optima is a lot more comfortable. The jets are better as in how they feel on the body.  You feel that you have more room in the Optima. 

If you wet test 2 spas and one is a much better fit for you that has no bearing on the quality of either. What is means is one fit better than the other for you. Someone else could have the exact opposite experience in their wet test. There really is an implied "IMO" when you make these statements so you really can't say who is right or wrong.

[bimmerdog]

The Optima is a lot more comfortable. The jets are better as in how they feel on the body.  You feel that you have more room in the Optima. 

If you wet test 2 spas and one is a much better fit for you that has no bearing on the quality of either. What is means is one fit better than the other for you. Someone else could have the exact opposite experience in their wet test. There really is an implied "IMO" when you make these statements so you really can't say who is right or wrong.

Well since you quoted me I have to agree with you.  If you read all my statements I never said the quality of one was better then the other. In fact it was the HS salesman that did that for me.  After all my research (Internet is a great thing sometimes) I was very happy to buy either a Hot Springs or a Sundance.  It's like Chev Vs Ford.  If you own a Ford then Chev sucks  kind of a thing. 

The really funny thing for me was  NEVER ONCE did the salesman at Sundance have anything but good things to say about Hot Springs.  He explained to me why he thought his spa was better but he also told me I could not go wrong with either one.  Did he do this because Hot Springs is better? I have no idea but he talked to me not down to me like the HS salesman did. 

Oh and SunOptima it is still a good price