chanster Posted December 2, 2007 Report Share Posted December 2, 2007 i am new to this world, but my wife and i have decided to buy a spa. some particulars: we are limited to about 7 feet square. therapy is a big deal to my wife, she carries a lot of stress in her neck and shoulders. we want to be able to fit 4 adults in comfort. we live in the florida panhandle (panama city), so we don't have cold winters. we have 3 dealers in our town dealer 1 is a small franchise based out of a neighboring city. no service rep in our town, he comes over from the other city (70 miles) "as needed". guaranteed 72 hour response. they carry marquis and cal-spa. this forum speaks well of marquis, not so well of cal-spa...should they be avoided?. salesman spoke highly of HS (competing spa) and bashed vita. dealer 2 is a franchised pool-supply place that carries hot springs, tiger river, and another brand i forget. service tech is local. prices are higher than the others, no doubt because of the HS name. sovereign 7695, prodigy 6495. nice salesman with decent knowledge. are these prices sounding in line? dealer 3 is a small one-location shop that has been there as long as i can remember. salesman is the owner. tech on site. seemed very informed and helpful. he sells vita. quoted 4495 for madrid, 4995 for mirage, delivered, set up, cover, chemicals...ie very competitive prices. we will wet test tuesday. we really like the vita dealer. this forum speaks of blistering problems with vita, including one long thread where the owner had quite a run-around...but it appears that his problem was finally taken care of, with a replacement spa. does vita still have a blistering issue, or other issues that i should consider? any help would be appreciated! we hope to be soaking in a week or so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thestallion Posted December 2, 2007 Report Share Posted December 2, 2007 Sounds like you have a good handle on things. Having a good relationship with your dealer is nice. As it has been mentioned here before it can be the difference between making a good spa less than such and making a lesser spa shine. Its all relative also as brands like HS and Marquis are costing more than the Vita than they need to offer you more for your money. If you wet test and like the spa and the dealer than that's what I would go with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IL Parrothead Posted December 2, 2007 Report Share Posted December 2, 2007 Chanster, I agree with the stallion. I, like your wife, have neck problems, so when I tested spas, that was my first priority. I have never tested Vita, and I've read the same things you have about them, so I won't comment further on that. If it helps you, I'll give you my opinion (based on my testing) of the others you mentioned. In case you haven't read enough posts here, though, I will stress that you and your wife REALLY need to wet test the models you think you like. Looking at empty tubs and sticking my hand in full ones did nothing compared to actually getting in some and feeling the therapy. Marquis -- I've wet tested the Epic. It's bigger than the space you're looking for, but felt awesome on my neck. CalSpa -- Wet tested I think the SQ92. It was "okay". The neck jets weren't nearly as strong or effective as other makes. HS -- Wet tested the Envoy. Nice tub. Neck jets felt pretty decent. MotoMassage was cool. Appeared very well made. We liked it. Tiger Riger is a lower level brother company of HS. I didn't test one, but everything I've heard is that they're well mde with fewer features than comparable HS models. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivieisme Posted December 2, 2007 Report Share Posted December 2, 2007 I did a ton of research, and would have no problem buying a Vita. They were my second choice (I bought a Caldera) Nice things Vita had for Florida are the cold water misters, aromatherapy above water---if you don't use fragrance, it blows cool air at you, and some seats with tiny air holes that cooled you down. The blistering problems they had were with one particular color, 2 years ago. Vita are made in Miami, so most of the Florida dealers are factory outlets, they say. Most importantly, WET TEST, and buy what makes you comfortable. Good luck! Oh, and if you only have a 7x7 space, make sure you'll have room for access, cleaning and a cover lifter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivieisme Posted December 2, 2007 Report Share Posted December 2, 2007 I did a ton of research, and would have no problem buying a Vita. They were my second choice (I bought a Caldera) Nice things Vita had for Florida are the cold water misters, aromatherapy above water---if you don't use fragrance, it blows cool air at you, and some seats with tiny air holes that cooled you down. The blistering problems they had were with one particular color, 2 years ago. Vita are made in Miami, so most of the Florida dealers are factory outlets, they say. Most importantly, WET TEST, and buy what makes you comfortable. Good luck! Oh, and if you only have a 7x7 space, make sure you'll have room for access, cleaning and a cover lifter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingSpaGuy Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 Vita showed you the sports series of spas...which has 1 year warranty on parts and showing you one pump spas. I would atleast look at an Aurora because honestly considering that the Florida dealer wouldnt pay much in shipping costs those prices sound too high...I would try to get an Aurora Chateu (spelling?) or Nuage in Vita if you like the Vita dealer....with the Vita factory being in Miami if you had a problem with shell im sure you would have a much easier time with it...there are certain colors that last longer. I dont know of a tub HS would beable to sell you that would really work well for you, im a firm believer in that Marquis are well built overpriced tubs because even though little will go wrong with them its because they take things OUT of the tub. And I am not a fan of Cal...see if there is a D1 dealer in the area because a dream, soujurn or wayfarer might suit your needs pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IL Parrothead Posted December 3, 2007 Report Share Posted December 3, 2007 im a firm believer in that Marquis are well built overpriced tubs because even though little will go wrong with them its because they take things OUT of the tub. TravelingSpaGuy, just curious about your comment, as Marquis is one of the tubs I'm narrowed down to (along with HS and Jacuzzi). First, upon what do you base your overpriced comment? Marquis seems to follow the same price point as HS. I could see if you were talking Jacuzzi (J400 Series), Sundance (880 Series) or D1 (Bay Series), but otherwise I'm lost. Second, as to taking things out, are you referring to circ pumps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanster Posted December 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Vita showed you the sports series of spas...which has 1 year warranty on parts and showing you one pump spas. I would atleast look at an Aurora because honestly considering that the Florida dealer wouldnt pay much in shipping costs those prices sound too high...I would try to get an Aurora Chateu (spelling?) or Nuage in Vita if you like the Vita dealer....with the Vita factory being in Miami if you had a problem with shell im sure you would have a much easier time with it...there are certain colors that last longer. I dont know of a tub HS would beable to sell you that would really work well for you, im a firm believer in that Marquis are well built overpriced tubs because even though little will go wrong with them its because they take things OUT of the tub. And I am not a fan of Cal...see if there is a D1 dealer in the area because a dream, soujurn or wayfarer might suit your needs pretty well. hey travelingspaguy, thanks for the insight. i did not realize that the vita had a sport series, but now that i look at the website, i don't see any of the models that the dealer showed us on the site. i assume that the sport series is a downmarket line? the dealer quoted warranty of 5 years on mechanicals and 25 years on structure. i will question him further tomorrow. closest d1 dealer is about 100 miles away. not going to drive that far. as the other poster asked, i would appreciate more details on your comments about marquis. many thanks chan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powernoodle Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Chanster Most Vita dealers carry the sports and reflection series spas-hot-tubs.com Some dealers will also carry the 100 and 700 series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanster Posted December 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 Chanster Most Vita dealers carry the sports and reflection series spas-hot-tubs.com Some dealers will also carry the 100 and 700 series. i am not sure if he carries the reflections. the big question is, what are the differences between the series? the main vita site just shows the 100's and 700's. chan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powernoodle Posted December 4, 2007 Report Share Posted December 4, 2007 check out.... spas-hot-tubs.com or reflectionsspas.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivieisme Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Reflection and sport are still their "lower" brands as far as I know (Like Tiger River and Hot spot are to Hot Springs). Look at the 700 series that Vita has. That is the premium Vita spa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medic Posted December 5, 2007 Report Share Posted December 5, 2007 Chanster, I have the Vita Cabaret that had all the issues. As far as the tub itself went, we loved it right up until everything went to hades. The company was a real bear to try to deal with but after six months of ____ we finally got it resolved. I have had my new replacement tub for 1 week now and love it once again. If you buy Vita, pray that you don't have major warranty issues. Do I like their tub?? Yes. Would I buy it again after what I went through? No.. Just my opinion. Good luck with whatever you choose. And most of all... Wet test, wet test, wet test!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanster Posted December 6, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2007 well, folks, here is how our testing is going so far: at the hot springs dealer, we first jumped into a jetsetter, just to check out the lounge. we aren't really considering a tub this small, but we liked it. my wife loooooves the moto massage. then we sat in a tiger springs (forget the model), it was ok. moved on to an envoy to check out the different jets and deeper lounge. lana floated in this one, and i felt like i was getting the c--p beat out of me. we are going to wet test a vanguard and sovereign tomorrow. they are asking 8295 (delivery, cover, step, chemicals) for the vanguard and 7696 for the sovereign, which comes with all of the above plus a cover lifter. these prices sound a bit high to me. the only tub that marquis dealer had wet was an epic. we loooooved it, but don't have the room for it. asking 9200. they have a 641r that we can make fit for 6900, we may wet test that one soon. i just don't see how the therapy in the 641r is going to compare to the epic. we never should have gotten in the epic, knowing that we could not make it fit! they also have a u530 in, but i did not ask price, thinking that we would not want the double lounger. our vita dealer only stocks the sport series. we wet tested an aurora, lana didn't float in it, and it was very nice, considering the price difference...6295 (delivery, cover, chemicals, ozone). i am still wary of the product, given medic's experience. on a slightly different topic...the hot springs dealer says he has a cover lifter that only needs 10 inches horizontal clearance (again, we are dealing with some space issues). however, the vita dealer said that the cover lifters with the shallow horizontal clearance designs tend to be weak and fail early. any comments on that? sadly, i did not get any brand names, other than the one the vita dealer sells, cover butler, which he said needed 19 inches. thanks for all your help... chan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powernoodle Posted December 6, 2007 Report Share Posted December 6, 2007 well, folks, here is how our testing is going so far: at the hot springs dealer, we first jumped into a jetsetter, just to check out the lounge. we aren't really considering a tub this small, but we liked it. my wife loooooves the moto massage. then we sat in a tiger springs (forget the model), it was ok. moved on to an envoy to check out the different jets and deeper lounge. lana floated in this one, and i felt like i was getting the c--p beat out of me. we are going to wet test a vanguard and sovereign tomorrow. they are asking 8295 (delivery, cover, step, chemicals) for the vanguard and 7696 for the sovereign, which comes with all of the above plus a cover lifter. these prices sound a bit high to me. the only tub that marquis dealer had wet was an epic. we loooooved it, but don't have the room for it. asking 9200. they have a 641r that we can make fit for 6900, we may wet test that one soon. i just don't see how the therapy in the 641r is going to compare to the epic. we never should have gotten in the epic, knowing that we could not make it fit! they also have a u530 in, but i did not ask price, thinking that we would not want the double lounger. our vita dealer only stocks the sport series. we wet tested an aurora, lana didn't float in it, and it was very nice, considering the price difference...6295 (delivery, cover, chemicals, ozone). i am still wary of the product, given medic's experience. on a slightly different topic...the hot springs dealer says he has a cover lifter that only needs 10 inches horizontal clearance (again, we are dealing with some space issues). however, the vita dealer said that the cover lifters with the shallow horizontal clearance designs tend to be weak and fail early. any comments on that? sadly, i did not get any brand names, other than the one the vita dealer sells, cover butler, which he said needed 19 inches. thanks for all your help... chan chanster, The Aurora is not part of the sports series, its in the 100 series Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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