Looking At A D1 Sarena Bay

[dtherio]

Hi all,

I went to a D1/Sundance dealer today to check out what they had to offer. The Sundance models he had on the floor didn't really fit me well or only had 1 seat that fit. He had recommended looking at the Lotis Bay model based on our phone call, but that too did not fit well.

We then talked about the exercise pools (which are way out of my price range), then he mentioned that he had a brand new 2008 D1 Sarena Bay model. I dry tested it today and all of the seats seemed to fit pretty well - even the lady's seat ( fit in that except the head rest wouldn't line up for me as I am too tall, but the man set fit fine).

He is going to work up a quote for me for tomorrow. Based on my conversation with him today, I believe the quote will come in around the price of the J-375 I saw at the home show this weekend (probably a slightly higher).

I am wondering what you folks think about this tub. It is probably going to be a little higher than my original plan, however I like the depth and the extra workout stuff (I realize there are only a few exercise things you can do, everything helps).

This unit has the 2 massage seats, the light package, 1 circ pump and 4 jet pumps. I will be doing a wet test either Tuesday or Wednesday to see how it really fits.

Whatever price he offers will include the cover, cover lift option, delivery & setup, chemicals and they come out and monitor/adjust your chemicals for the first month to make sure you know how to do it.

The dealer asked me to try to find any horror stories about D1 spas (which I haven't see any on here yet, not to say they don't exist, I just haven't seen any so far in my looking around on the site).

I am wondering if anyone has any reasonable negatives about D1 and possibly this particular model. If you wish to respond directly vs. posting in the forum that is cool. Also I am wondering what you think is a reasonable price for this model. The dealer is expanding and moving to a new location a few miles down the street to a larger space, so he said he would rather put the tub on a truck to deliver vs. taking it to the new store. The moving an that it is a 2008 model, he said he is willing to give me a very good price.

Thanks for any reasonable and specific comments (please no D1 sucks replies unless you have a real example of problems).

Dale

[Roger]

Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone has any reasonable negatives about D1 and possibly this particular model. If you wish to respond directly vs. posting in the forum that is cool. Also I am wondering what you think is a reasonable price for this model. The dealer is expanding and moving to a new location a few miles down the street to a larger space, so he said he would rather put the tub on a truck to deliver vs. taking it to the new store. The moving an that it is a 2008 model, he said he is willing to give me a very good price.

Thanks for any reasonable and specific comments (please no D1 sucks replies unless you have a real example of problems).

Dale

In my opinion D1 is one of the best brands on the market and has my personal favorite tub in it's line (the Nautlis) I have serviced some very old D1 tubs that have had a long, trouble free life. I have recieved a tremendous amount of respect and help from the factory regarding service and parts needs.

I have seen that tub priced as high as 12 grand or more. It is one of there most expensive tubs. Way more than I would spend on a tub.

Good luck.

[Raegor]

I tested some D1's before buying HotSprings. They seem like good spas, I didn't like their bucketed seating however, I'm more of a fan of open bench style seating with minor bucketing. The light was pretty wimpy in the ones I looked at (@home series) but you are looking at the higher end series so I have no clue there.

The one you are looking at is very expensive...

[hottubdan]

If you can truly get it for @ the same price as the 375 you are either getting a steal of a deal or the 375 was way overpriced.

[RealDeal]

I have a 2006 D1 Sarena Bay and I love it. I just bought it used a month ago and it's been great. My understanding is they haven't had any big changes since then so you are probably looking at a very similar tub. My only complaint is that the light inside the tub is not very bright. But that's a rather minor complaint. It's a very big tub and it is very heavy. I hired a crane to lift it into my yard because D1 told me not to tip it up on its side. Luckily the crane was a lot cheaper than I thought it would be and it was fast and easy.

Note that the cover can only open in one direction so make sure you keep that in mind when you place the tub in your yard/deck.

It has a ton of jets and I like all of the seats. I'm 6'4" and can still fit in most of the seats. Obviously a wet test is critical but I think you will like it

They say it seats 7 people but you can fit 10 without a problem.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[dtherio]

Well,

I had the wet test and really like the tub. However, his offer was not as low as I had expected. The offer came in at $13,700. That is more than my budget allows for, even though I really like the tub.

In other words, I am still looking. I found a few posted on the local craigslist, but they were all sold.

[dtherio]

Well,

The dealer called me back today to talk about the Sarena Bay. They are relocating to a larger space (which I knew before this) and he said he is really looking to sell the units vs. moving them to the new shop.

I do a bit of photography and web development on the side (have been creating websites for over 15 years now and in the past made my living as a photographer), he offered doing a cash and services deal for the tub. Cash would be $10,000 with then some of my photography and web skills for the remainder.

This deal sounds good to me, although I have to admit I am really wondering if I need that big of a tub. It was very comfortable to me and I liked the massage seats. As a bigger guy, I was surprised that I fit in all of the seats.

The only downside is the the neck massage piece was a little lower than I think I would like - I was told that D1 is coming out with an extension bracket for the head piece for taller people.

I have a 2006 D1 Sarena Bay and I love it. I just bought it used a month ago and it's been great. My understanding is they haven't had any big changes since then so you are probably looking at a very similar tub. My only complaint is that the light inside the tub is not very bright. But that's a rather minor complaint. It's a very big tub and it is very heavy. I hired a crane to lift it into my yard because D1 told me not to tip it up on its side. Luckily the crane was a lot cheaper than I thought it would be and it was fast and easy.

Note that the cover can only open in one direction so make sure you keep that in mind when you place the tub in your yard/deck.

It has a ton of jets and I like all of the seats. I'm 6'4" and can still fit in most of the seats. Obviously a wet test is critical but I think you will like it

They say it seats 7 people but you can fit 10 without a problem.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[RealDeal]

I wouldn't worry about the tub being too big. Most of the time I have used the tub it has just been by myself or with one other person. It's great having all of the seats because each one has different jets and is good for different parts of your body. I usually sit in every seat for a few minutes each. The taller neck thing sounds cool but I think the jets might be out of the water then. I fill the tub pretty high and that also helps. I'm 6'4" and the only thing that doesn't fit me well is the neck jets. If you slouch down in the seat, then the neck jets work but the rest of the jets in your back don't line up quite as well. But I doubt anyone makes a perfectly formed, well fitted seat for anyone 6'4" or 6'5". By filling the tub a little bit higher, this tub seemed to fit me much better than anything else I tried. I haven't once thought it was too big.

I think the $10k price you mentioned sounds good. From what I've read, the best deal anyone gets on this tub new is $13k. Does that price include delivery and setup? Delivery could cost a little extra since the tub is so heavy, especially if you have to get a crane.

Make sure you wire a 50 amp circuit. If you only do 40 amp, then you won't be able to run the heater and the jets at the same time and the tub will cool off pretty fast when the jets are on. It still loses 4 or 5 degrees in 30 minutes when its 30 degrees outside but from what I've heard, this happens with all tubs. There's a jumper on the board inside the control panel where you set it for either 40 amp or 50 amp service.

I've been really happy with it so far and I really like having the extra room.

One more thing to note is on the cover tie downs. It was really windy at the previous owners place and it broke a couple of the tie down clips off. If you are in a really windy location, you may want to add a few bungee cords or a rope to make sure that the wind can't get under the top. It probably took a 60 mph gust to break the clips so I'm sure in most locations everything is fine but if it's really windy at your place, add an extra strap or something to keep this from happening.