No Dealer in Area, How to get price

[TubbinSoon]

There are several brands not represented in my area such as Marquis, Artesian, LA, Artic, Beachcomber etc and the dealers are more than an hour away and in different directions.

If I wanted a reasonable quote, will a remote dealer quote best price over the phone? I would be more interested in going for the wet test if I knew the package was priced attractively. Driving over 60 miles to five different dealers and then finding out the package is out of site doesn't seem to be effective.

The next difficulty is that there is no local competition on most of dealers represented so if I know there is a better deal up the road, can I get an out of town quote?

 

[Brewman]

You can try anything you like.  It's up to each dealer to choose how to serve you.  
Brewman

 

[KC-SWO]

My wife and I went through the same thing.

We planned road trip days.

Stopped by at hottub dealers that were out of town,
caught some flea markeys, farmers markets, different
restaurants etc, along the way.

Makes for a nice trip, with a few hottub shopping stops
along the way.  I think it was worth doing.

We did not wet test on our first trip.  We just got a feel
for the tubs and dealers that we liked, talked about
what we were interested in, and called back to arrange
wet-tests with the ones we thought were worth testing.

Just repeat the trip for the wet-tests.

Good luck!

 

[windsurfdog]

I bought my LSX from a Master Spas dealer about 200 miles away--the closest MS dealer to me.  I visited, wet tested, then did the rest of the wheeling and dealing over the phone.  We faxed the contract back and forth, inked the deal and installed the tub.  This took several weeks of wheeling and dealing as we were very far apart on price initially.  At the same time, I was also wet testing other models.  After many phone calls and telling the salesman that I was continuing to wet test other manufacturers, he finally offered a price that was in my budget which I accepted.  I've yet to find out how service will be since my tub has been flawless since install (7/11/04).  I referred another friend to this dealer who bought a tub and the dealer offered store credit for the referral which I turned into a complete extra set of filters and some dichlor--bonus!  I believe, in my case, working with a remote dealer paid a dividend.
8)

 

[rocket]

Talk to the owner or sales mgr. and just be honest about what your are looking to do, where you live, and what you want.  I thnk that most people will be honest with you.

 

[Mendocino101]

Rocket...

I agree....I think that sometimes people make things to difficult....Simply tell the person who you are dealing with what you need.....be straight and honest with them....and they "should" also be with you....it has always served me well to do so.....

 

[Zoo]

Hi Tubbinsoon,

I agree with the other posts you received. Make sure that you let the dealers know where you live and then check if you will be charged a travel charge or service charge if warranty stuff comes up. Some dealers a little further away from me have said that there will be a charge, some said that there wouldn't.

       Good luck, and have fun researching and wet-testing!

            Zoo

 

[Vinny]

I don't know where you live but an hour's drive shouldn't be a big deal to most dealers or to you. Heck, I drive 16 miles to and from work and that takes me at least 40 minutes in rush hour!

Seriously, I have been to different dealers around an hour away and they didn't have a problem. I did contact them first and asked if they would sell to me - I was being honest with them and I wanted to see if they would cross another dealer's territory if that was the case and they always said yes.

You may not want to deal with them over the phone on the initial contact as you want to see their operation and get a feel of their sincereness. But most dealers after you made the initial effort to see them will talk pricing over the phone. The only thing about that is they have to know who you are - walking in and being anonymous and walking out isn't going to cut it.

The other bonus is that you may come across a genuine bargain that's sitting in the showroom. I once walked into a dealer and he had 2 tubs sitting there that were about $3200 ( I think they were Master Spas tubs) and he had a list price on them of $7000 - $8000. I was there to just look, no where near buying a tub and if I liked the color (don't think I did) and was close to buying - it would have been hard to pass up.

In less congested areas ( I live in New Jersey) there will be less dealers and I would imagine that they would be used to selling products to people not around the corner from them.

As others have said - be honest with them and it will turn out OK.

Good Luck!

 

[huh]

Depending on the dealer of course...You will not get his lowest price on the first try.  Think about your budget and what you are comfortable spending, go to his showroom and find what will fit you best, ask for his price.  If it is out of the ballpark, offer what you previously decided on.  He can either make the sale or "walk you".  Be sure to leave him you phone number as he might get desperate come end of the month.  Thats what I would do.