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Hydrospa Z40 At Walmart For $3298 - Deal Or Ripoff?


Puett

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I've been trying to find a decent low priced spa in the Boise area and have had little success. I'm hoping to spend less than $4k so my options are obviously limited. Noticed that Walmart has the HydroSpa Z40 for $3298 which seems like a lot of tub and features for the price. However, can't wet test or even look at the tub before buying. Anyone have any experience with these tubs and is this a deal, or just another cheap tub at a cheap price?

Thanks!

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I've been trying to find a decent low priced spa in the Boise area and have had little success. I'm hoping to spend less than $4k so my options are obviously limited. Noticed that Walmart has the HydroSpa Z40 for $3298 which seems like a lot of tub and features for the price. However, can't wet test or even look at the tub before buying. Anyone have any experience with these tubs and is this a deal, or just another cheap tub at a cheap price?

Thanks!

For $3298 what would you expect? It is what it is, a cheap spa at a cheap price. Neither a deal nor a ripoff.

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Maybe - however, it has far more features compared to any other spas I've seen in that price range. Also, Hydrospas is listed as an approved tub by this site so I'm thinking better value rather than "cheap." Although, I am concerned that this particular model (Z40) is not listed on the hydrospa website...

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Maybe - however, it has far more features compared to any other spas I've seen in that price range. Also, Hydrospas is listed as an approved tub by this site so I'm thinking better value rather than "cheap." Although, I am concerned that this particular model (Z40) is not listed on the hydrospa website...

Advertising dollars get you approval ratings on this site. You got your answer above, it is what it is a cheap spa packed full of cheap features. If your expecting it to be as solid and have the longevity of an 8000 dollar spa you will be dissapointed. You could have 2 of them for the same price as that 8000 dollar spa!!! Problem is you may need 3 to last as long.

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Puett,

I can't speak to hydrospa, but i ordered by spa from costco.com. I paid 4k and I am happy.

Be careful of the folks who reject these spas on this board.

No need to play the underdog card; we don't outright reject these spas. We just try to infuse some realisim. Some people (and I'm not saying you) have said things like "it's got everything the XXXXX spa has but is $4k less" and that's where we tend to want to call timeout because a spec sheet does not define what a spa has to offer relative to quality and longevity. The Costco spa may be a good value, time will tell. I really can't say definitively whether that Walmart spa is a good value either. There are $8k spas out there which are good value and $8k spas which are poor value. At the same time there are $4k spas out there that are good value and others which are poor value. Value has nothing to do with price. Autoplay posts here from time to time and he tells the story how he bought a bargain priced spa because of the low $$$ not knowing anything about spas (not sure what brand) and about 4 months later he sold it out of frustration. He then researched spas, wet tested and bought another spa which had a good reputation from a local dealer and is now very happy and pretty much trouble free from what I know (or his dealer has fixed issues and he has nothing to post about because he's taken care of). I've seen it more than a few times where people buy based on price and reget it but I'm sure there are others who've bought bargain spas and have been happy or have just been handy enough to deal with their issues. In a couple years from now we'll get a better picture of the Costco spas but I'm not exactly expecting gloom because they are possibly a decent value and maybe even a good value but I'm also pretty sure the independent techs around the country will be getting a few calls from owners needing service.

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Puett,

I can't speak to hydrospa, but i ordered by spa from costco.com. I paid 4k and I am happy.

Be careful of the folks who reject these spas on this board.

No body here is naysaying the tub. They are exactly what they are "cheap" You get what you pay for. Has anyone got one of these Hydro units over a year old? I didn't think so.

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I've been trying to find a decent low priced spa in the Boise area and have had little success. I'm hoping to spend less than $4k so my options are obviously limited. Noticed that Walmart has the HydroSpa Z40 for $3298 which seems like a lot of tub and features for the price. However, can't wet test or even look at the tub before buying. Anyone have any experience with these tubs and is this a deal, or just another cheap tub at a cheap price?

Thanks!

In my opinion, you are making a better choice than to buy from Jacuzzi, Sundance, Hot Spring and Dimension One, Cal or any of the major brands sold at dealers or factory stores, because those are terrible values in my opinion. Do I repeat myself?

You have to learn about spas before you waste your money, and this is the only forum that I know of where you stand a chance to offset the BS from these screwed up, mismanaged, and unethical corporations.

Here are your choices. Pay some ridiculous amount for a spa from a dealer, because you are not sure about getting any service. If you pay $6000 for a piece of junk from a Dimension one dealer as an example, you get warranty service that is worth about $500 per spa. These are facts.

If you buy a $4000 spa from Costco, you need to make friends with a service tech, or have mechanical abilities. Even if you pay $2000 over a 5 year period for service you are still ahead of the game in value. The odds are the Hydo will not have a lot of problems, but if it does don't get pissed off. You are still ahead of the game by $2000

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Be aware that not everyone shares the opinion posted above.

B)

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In my opinion, you are making a better choice than to buy from Jacuzzi, Sundance, Hot Spring and Dimension One, Cal or any of the major brands sold at dealers or factory stores, because those are terrible values in my opinion. Do I repeat myself?

You have to learn about spas before you waste your money, and this is the only forum that I know of where you stand a chance to offset the BS from these screwed up, mismanaged, and unethical corporations.

Here are your choices. Pay some ridiculous amount for a spa from a dealer, because you are not sure about getting any service. If you pay $6000 for a piece of junk from a Dimension one dealer as an example, you get warranty service that is worth about $500 per spa. These are facts.

If you buy a $4000 spa from Costco, you need to make friends with a service tech, or have mechanical abilities. Even if you pay $2000 over a 5 year period for service you are still ahead of the game in value. The odds are the Hydo will not have a lot of problems, but if it does don't get pissed off. You are still ahead of the game by $2000

So the choices for spas are Wallmart, Lowes, Home Depot, Coscto, FreeFlow or if you want Quality, your only choice is Haven or second best is Arctic.

Coming from someone with the longest record of lying and cheating and downright stealing in the indusrty, this should feel good for those who choose to use this opinion for anything more than toilet paper.

It's to bad a solid company like Arctic has to be approved by a crook like Jim

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The issue of it's quality aside. I don't think I would get a hot tub with a double lounger without being able to wet test. If you float or don't find the lounger comfortable you are loosing half of the space in your tub.

As important as it is to wet test a tub I think it is even more important to wet test a tub with a lounger becuase of problems like floating.

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I appreciate all of the replies - some good information and suggestions. I decided against the Hydrospa after looking at a used tub that was in the classifieds this weekend. I bought a BullFrog 552, about 1.5 yrs old, for $3500 from the original owner. By coincidence I had actually stopped by the Bullfrog dealer the day before and looked at that same model. Seemed to be destiny that it was in the paper the next morning. Anyway, at less than half of what the dealer was asking for a new one, figured it was a decent deal. Looks like it's been taken care of and the owner seemed considerably more trustworthy than the majority of dealers I've met (no offense intended). Now I have to figure out how to get it to my house;-)

Thanks again! As a newbie, I'm sure I'll be posting more questions soon regarding electrical connection, chemistry, etc.

Mike

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I appreciate all of the replies - some good information and suggestions.... I bought a BullFrog 552, about 1.5 yrs old, for $3500

It sounds like you found a unit you like at a price that suited you -- and isn't that the goal of every spa shopper?

Congratulations and happy hot tubbing

Tom

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If you buy a $4000 spa from Costco, you need to make friends with a service tech, or have mechanical abilities. Even if you pay $2000 over a 5 year period for service you are still ahead of the game in value. The odds are the Hydo will not have a lot of problems, but if it does don't get pissed off. You are still ahead of the game by $2000

I bought a $4k spa from Costco and have not needed any mechanical abilities nor do I know any service techs. Spas, any spa, are very simple things. Basically a big tub of water with pumps and piping. If you can change the oil on your car, you can do just about anything the tub will ever need in the way of service in my opinion. The only 'service' that my Hydrospa 'Platinum Elite II' has needed in the 7 months that I've had it is to change the filters out. I bought a spare set and just swap them out every so often. I also add chemicals to maintain the water quality and I do routine daily 'test soaks' to be sure that the water temperature is good. I can't imagine how anyone could pay $2,000 for service over a five year period unless they don't want to take care of the tub themselves and want some spa service outfit to come by every day or week or whatever.

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I bought a $4k spa from Costco and have not needed any mechanical abilities nor do I know any service techs. Spas, any spa, are very simple things. Basically a big tub of water with pumps and piping. If you can change the oil on your car, you can do just about anything the tub will ever need in the way of service in my opinion. The only 'service' that my Hydrospa 'Platinum Elite II' has needed in the 7 months that I've had it is to change the filters out. I bought a spare set and just swap them out every so often. I also add chemicals to maintain the water quality and I do routine daily 'test soaks' to be sure that the water temperature is good. I can't imagine how anyone could pay $2,000 for service over a five year period unless they don't want to take care of the tub themselves and want some spa service outfit to come by every day or week or whatever.

Isn't that exactly what I said. The dealers spas are not much better than the Costco spas, not $2000 better.

Even if you had to pay $2000 to a spa repair company over the five years, you would come out even. Pretty much a worst case scenario.

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Isn't that exactly what I said. The dealers spas are not much better than the Costco spas, not $2000 better.

Even if you had to pay $2000 to a spa repair company over the five years, you would come out even. Pretty much a worst case scenario.

Thre very well could be good values available at Costco in hot tubs. But I have not seen one over about a year old, either in real life or from any posts. No one can say they re a good value until 5 years or more comes around!!

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Thre very well could be good values available at Costco in hot tubs. But I have not seen one over about a year old, either in real life or from any posts.

Well now you have, my Platinum I turned two in November. No problems and still very happy with it, but as in all things Electrical/Mechanical whether you pay $3400 (mine), $8000 - Buy it from a dealer or a warehouse, YMMV. :)

NightRyder

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I bought a $4k spa from Costco and have not needed any mechanical abilities nor do I know any service techs. Spas, any spa, are very simple things. Basically a big tub of water with pumps and piping. If you can change the oil on your car, you can do just about anything the tub will ever need in the way of service in my opinion. The only 'service' that my Hydrospa 'Platinum Elite II' has needed in the 7 months that I've had it is to change the filters out. I bought a spare set and just swap them out every so often. I also add chemicals to maintain the water quality and I do routine daily 'test soaks' to be sure that the water temperature is good. I can't imagine how anyone could pay $2,000 for service over a five year period unless they don't want to take care of the tub themselves and want some spa service outfit to come by every day or week or whatever.

I had a much different experience and got a spa that has taken six months to get working. I disagree. I have solid mechanical abilities and spas are simple only if they work the way they're supposed to. My current problem is that one foot jet is not working -- and no NW it's not because I didn't turn on the jet. At this point, Hydrospa is being more responsive, but if you buy a Hydrospa anywhere other than Costco, you run a great risk. So ultimately its a $4000 spa. Time will tell as to whether these hold up.

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Well now you have, my Platinum I turned two in November. No problems and still very happy with it, but as in all things Electrical/Mechanical whether you pay $3400 (mine), $8000 - Buy it from a dealer or a warehouse, YMMV. :)

NightRyder

Our local Marquis dealer has Great Lakes and there @Home line available from 2295 to 5100 in 11 different configurations and styles and colors with options to numorous to list, all with 100% dealer backing and support. And free delivery and set up.

And nightrider, you need to get that thing back to Costco and get the new PE3, after all it won't cost you nothing.

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I bought a $4k spa from Costco and have not needed any mechanical abilities nor do I know any service techs. Spas, any spa, are very simple things. Basically a big tub of water with pumps and piping. If you can change the oil on your car, you can do just about anything the tub will ever need in the way of service in my opinion. The only 'service' that my Hydrospa 'Platinum Elite II' has needed in the 7 months that I've had it is to change the filters out. I bought a spare set and just swap them out every so often. I also add chemicals to maintain the water quality and I do routine daily 'test soaks' to be sure that the water temperature is good. I can't imagine how anyone could pay $2,000 for service over a five year period unless they don't want to take care of the tub themselves and want some spa service outfit to come by every day or week or whatever.

I think we are confusing "Service" with "Maitenance". Most of the posters here when they refer to dealer service are speaking to repairs; (Pumps, heaters, ozone units, logic errors on the board, leaks), not the weekly maintanice of keeping the water clean and washing the filters. Every tub requires that. IF your tub requires service, sure most folks could swap a pump out, or fix a leaking union but there are some things that are beyond a backyard mechanic, not to mention the cost of parts and time. A quality, worry free unit that last for years is worth more. A unit that could drop out at any time can be at best an annoyance, and more than likely a nightmare not worth the time and money invested in it.

You said that you "do routine daily test soaks to ensure the water temp is "good"

Huh?

Do you have significant concerns that your tub isn't keeping up to temp on daily basis? This shouldn't even be a concern. I'm confused by that statement...what is your concern? Is the tub in an extreme situation?

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I think we are confusing "Service" with "Maitenance". Most of the posters here when they refer to dealer service are speaking to repairs; (Pumps, heaters, ozone units, logic errors on the board, leaks), not the weekly maintanice of keeping the water clean and washing the filters. Every tub requires that. IF your tub requires service, sure most folks could swap a pump out, or fix a leaking union but there are some things that are beyond a backyard mechanic, not to mention the cost of parts and time. A quality, worry free unit that last for years is worth more. A unit that could drop out at any time can be at best an annoyance, and more than likely a nightmare not worth the time and money invested in it.

You said that you "do routine daily test soaks to ensure the water temp is "good"

Huh?

Do you have significant concerns that your tub isn't keeping up to temp on daily basis? This shouldn't even be a concern. I'm confused by that statement...what is your concern? Is the tub in an extreme situation?

Yeah that sounds like some doubt. When I go into a tub it's to soak not test it out. I would test it out before I would buy it. Good luck with that one.

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Our local Marquis dealer has Great Lakes and there @Home line available from 2295 to 5100 in 11 different configurations and styles and colors with options to numorous to list, all with 100% dealer backing and support. And free delivery and set up.

And nightrider, you need to get that thing back to Costco and get the new PE3, after all it won't cost you nothing.

Why would I want to return a product thats been trouble free and that I'm happy with? :blink:

As far as Marquis goes, if I want one I'll take my trailer and drive 45 minutes to the factory during their yearly clearance sale and pick up a full featured/sized spa for less than half the retail price. Personally I have no use for a dealer, I'm not knocking them or anyone who chooses to purchase a spa through one, in fact some people shouldn't buy a spa without one, but they are irrelevant to me.

NightRyder

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I think we are confusing "Service" with "Maitenance". Most of the posters here when they refer to dealer service are speaking to repairs; (Pumps, heaters, ozone units, logic errors on the board, leaks), not the weekly maintanice of keeping the water clean and washing the filters. Every tub requires that. IF your tub requires service, sure most folks could swap a pump out, or fix a leaking union but there are some things that are beyond a backyard mechanic, not to mention the cost of parts and time. A quality, worry free unit that last for years is worth more. A unit that could drop out at any time can be at best an annoyance, and more than likely a nightmare not worth the time and money invested in it.

You said that you "do routine daily test soaks to ensure the water temp is "good"

Huh?

Do you have significant concerns that your tub isn't keeping up to temp on daily basis? This shouldn't even be a concern. I'm confused by that statement...what is your concern? Is the tub in an extreme situation?

I was including both 'repairs' and 'maintenance' in 'service.' I would expect to have to replace the heater at some point in the future due to corrosion (maybe 5 years based on my neighbors experiences) although a lot of heaters probably fail prematurely because people let the ph get too low too much of the time. I would expect that the circulation pump would need overhauling in 5 years since it is a pump and it runs 24/7 although it has a pretty good life for a pump pumping warm water at a steady pressure with no stops or starts to speak of. I would be surprised if the jet pumps ever need anything because they are pretty high quality units and they really don't run that much in a year. I would expect the tub and piping to last for maybe 20 years unless they freeze or something. I would expect the controls to last indefinitely unless there is an electrical surge or something like that. Replacing the heater would probably cost a couple of hundred dollars and a couple of hours of time is my guess although I have not looked into it. Overhauling the little recirc pump would probably take an hour or so plus maybe fifty bucks for parts if the parts are available. If not, a new recirc pump probably costs a hundred dollars and would take maybe an hour to replace. Just my guess but two grand seems pretty steep. If it needed two grand, I would probably go down to costco and get a new one.

p.s. i also exercise all of the jets and pumps during the routine daily test soaks to be sure they are all in working condition. Same for the stereo. just completed another test cycle and everything is okey dokey.

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New NW,

I hear you. There's probably $1200 in parts that in a worst case scenaro (short of the plumbing having a catastrophic failure) would likely fail and need replacing in a typical spa (heater, circ, 2 large pumps, o3, control panel, blower). So on a strict cost anaysis I understand your position. Placing an actual value on reliability, service and quality can get to be a bit more difficult.

You keep using the word "Test soak". Did I miss something with your tub/situation? Why are you "test soaking" all the time, as opposed to just "soaking"? Your use of that phrase is throwing me off. How are your daily "test" soaks different than just good ol' soaks?. Is there a written exam after these test soaks? ;)

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