soak4life

Beachcomber & Master Spas (on certain series) I believe sell an extended Warranty. I've always said that if you want an "Extended Warranty" put that $400 or $500 in a seperate bank account and don't touch it. If your spa needs to be fixed after the warranty is over you have the funds ready. However, when your extended warranty expires and you never had a problem...you still have the money in the bank.

Coast Spas is a Canadian manufacture so there isn't a lot of dealers in the USA compared to how many USA manufactures have dealers in their country. At the moment the Cdn. $$ is on par...that hurts to import and to manufacture product to ship to the USA. Many hot tub dealers have jumped around to different manufactures...it comes down to what can i get for the price and after a few years of selling whatever brand, you find out if you get the support from your manufacture you expected. Years ago you could be different from other brands...today most manufactures use Balboa or Gecko controls....waterways jets, synthetic cabinets, Sloan LED lites..tech tubing and so on. Who rates the Spas to say that they are a 5-Star in the Consumer Guide.....the manufactures pay for that listing. Heard that Coast Spas took away a dealership from a dealer that had been doing business for over 10+ yrs. and gave it to another dealer in the same town (2 weeks notice to take down the sign). Same thing happened to another dealer in Sask. (just purchased the dealership 1 or 2 yrs. ago)and was told they could not sell Coast anymore...gave it to a bigger dealer in that town. I realize there are 2 sides to every story but it shows that Coast Spas has no loyality to their dealers. Coast Spas keeps their margins and doesn't give their product away like some other brands with less quality....at the end of the day we need good competitors to let the customer decide what's best for them.

There is one person in particular who responds about his "less than positive" experience with this brand but otherwise there aren't really many "Coast haters" here but then again before a couple months ago they weren't discussed very often here anyway.

There is one person in particular who responds about his "less than positive" experience with this brand but otherwise there aren't really many "Coast haters" here but then again before a couple months ago they weren't discussed very often here anyway.

I guess I have lots to learn as I've only been in the industry for 20 yrs. When a warranty reads "Structural" this means the fiberglass structure and not the wood framing. Marquis only offers a 5yr. Warranty on it's "Structural"...Not sure where you got Lifetime. If the Marquis exterior cabinet is made of Cedar...there is "No Warranty". Beachcomber has "Lifetime" on structural...it states the fiberglass/resin part of the shell. I called a Beachcomber store and asked...there is No Warranty on the wood framing. Coast Spas offers "Lifetime Warranty"...Structural only...no coverage on wood framing. Dimension One (one of the most expensive Spas)has Lifetime on it's Ultralife material...once again, this is the structural part....not the wood framing. D1 also mentions that it's wood cabinets have No Warranty. Call the manufactures and ask them what "Structural" Warranty covers...They will tell you that it covers the SHELL'S ability to hold water. The Wood Cabinet contains the wood framing and is not covered under Warranty. If the wood framing does not use "Pressure Treated" wood...it isn't going to last.....I have seen many hot tubs over the past 20 yrs and have seen the damage. Maybe another person on this blog can tell me different.

Beachcomber, Marquis, Great Lakes, Emerald, want more? No need for apoligies you need to be around the industry for a lot of years to disect the warranty spin game. I've disposed of a lot of tubs and have only seen one that the frame was a problem but it was NOT the reason the tub was disposed of. I know it happens if the base the tub sits on is not done properly and it is one of the reason why the RIGHT base for your tub is uber important.

Forgot to ask....do you have the name of the manufacture's who give a Lifetime warranty on Wood Framing.....I was not aware of this and apologize if I'm wrong. Who ever they are, they must build a quality cabinet....with all the manufactures trying to cut their costs somehow to stay competitive...usually quality gets hit first.

how much of an up-charge is it going to steel vs. wood?

There is no up-charge....it is a standard feature on the model. If you were to compare other brands at wholesale costs with similar pumps, jet package etc. wood frame, you would find the prices similar.

how much of an up-charge is it going to steel vs. wood?

Yes, I would be interested in knowing the manufacture's name who have a lifetime Warranty on the wood framing (are you saying that it is only 7yrs. as well). What about termites....do they like wood or Steel? I'm not here to bash wood frames, I was only mentioning why I chose to go with the steel framing. Yes, there are cheesy cheap metal frames out there....do we judge every frame the same just like you are talking about wood frames. What brand do you sell because it is obviously wood framing.....how many manufactures use a true "Pressure Treated" wood for the framing....I see it on the base sometimes. If designed right and engineered to exact tolerances I'm sure both will work. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff....it's only a Hot Tub.

Trex decking is not used for the frame on a hot tub! We are comparing a thin cheesy riveted metal frame to a solid 2x4 treated wood frame on a hot tub. And anyone who thinks metal frames for a hot tub are better than a wood frame must have looked at a crappy brand that had 2x2 or 1x2 framing that was not treated. And anyone who thinks metal framing will last longer has been missguided. All Quality hot tub brands have a lifetime warranty on the frame. Go look for yourself unless you truely want me to name a few. You mentioned that a metal frame was better and won't rot. That is not true,, in an ocean invironment the thin metal used in a hot tub frame will rust faster and deteriorate quicker than a good quality wood frame. I have seen it and will continue to see it. But your welcome to believe what you want. Oh and we do build bridges out of wood. Some of them are still standing after hundreds of years. While the current life span on the bridges built today is 50 years. That's also a bad analogy. There's other reasons wood isn't used for bridges. Spans, cost, load limits. Metal has it's place and is a good product. But there are way to many variables to say it's better than wood. Take a metal framing stud and run it over with your car, do the same with a wood framing stud, tell me which survives? Set a treated wood stud outside in a wet area, set a ungalvinized metal stud outside in a wet area and see which lasts longer. Do you know exactly how good of a job or how thick and strong the galvinizing is on the metal in a hot tub frame? Because I have seen galvinizing dip tanks and it can be done cheap and it can be done right and anything in between. I would guess the hut tub manufacturers have a galvinized coating that will last for 7 years because that is a life time in warranty speak. Metal is fine for a hut tub frame if it is done correctly. I have seen to many loose rivets, rusted frameing and screws to say it's better. I have also seen 20 year old wood frames with no sign on deterioration. If you want to talk composite or plastic look at Great Lakes and then come talk.

Are you saying that maybe we should make BBQ's out of wood because it will last longer? If you have gone through 3 BBQ's I question the quality of BBQ's you purchased and what guage and quality of steel were they? I have had the same one for over 20 yrs (I bought quality the 1st. time). Maybe we should build bridges out of wood because the rivets should pop out also. A BBQ you are heating to over 400 degrees...I'm not cooking food inside my Steel framed hot tub and I hope it doesn't reach 400 degrees inside the cabinet. I'm not aware of a manufacture who gives a "Lifetime" Warranty on a wood cabinet...can you name a few because that's a great warranty. My point of going with a Steel Frame (it is Corrosion Protective) was because where we live near the ocean and with all the rain we get, the moisture is hard on all wood products....Why do you think they came out with "Trex" decking....why do so many manufactures offer Synthetic vinyl cabinets or the Slate rock look? It's not a Sales Spin because the manufacture also offers hot tubs with wood frames as well...it's the customers choice...let them make the decision. Next time use a better analogy besides a BBQ.