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First purchase advice


superg

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We are looking at purchasing our first spa have narrowed down to two,  Marquis Hollywood or Vita Prestige.  I think I have entered "information overload" and wanted to get some advice.  I was under the impression that Marquis was more of a premium brand and Vita was middle of the road.  But looking at them the Vita seems nicer with more jets.  I have been lost in the metal vs wood, full foam vs removable insulation, etc...   Both dealers have been around for awhile and get good reviews on Google, etc.  

 

Can anyone share their opinion on these brands?  Or offer something I should consider.

 

Thanks

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Wood rots, metal rusts. Full foam supports plumbing until it shrinks and tears it apart, but leak repairs are a PITA. Removeable insulation offers no support and less insulation but leak repairs are easy. It's a tie in my opinion. 

Wet test, wet test, wet test. You don't know which one you like until you sit in it.

A reliable dealership is probably the biggest factor in your overall happiness with your spa. You will be dealing with their service department for years, so pick a good one.

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I would consider Marquis to be a more premium brand than Vita.  I'm not a fan of Vita's insulation, or lack there of and Maax, which owns Vita, is a pain to deal with which means from a dealers perspective I would choose Marquis all day every day.  I also am not a fan of a steel framed hot tub, give me wood or polymer any day.  As RDspaguy said, the dealer is important so factor that into your decision as well.

To an extent, number of jets and size of pumps is irrelevant.  How the hot tub is plumbed (engineered), the type and placement of the jets and the comfort of the shell design are all more important than specs.  Also have to factor in price.  If the Vita meets your needs better, the dealer is reputable and the price is fair, I would not fault someone for buying one even though I feel the Marquis is the better product.

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Thank you very much for the responses,  they were very helpful.   I went into the purchase wanting a Marquis and didn't realize the rest of the US is buying hot tubs also right now and there isn't any available inventory.   We have two big dealers in town, both with good reviews,  one sells American Whirlpool & Vita and the other Marquis.  There is only one Marquis available now (2019 Hollywood) and a couple options for the American Whirlpool and Vita.  As for the a wet test,  I do not see how that is possible COVID.  Neither place has an unit available for wet test, for that matter Marquis's showroom is closed.  We are interested in a hot tub, have been thinking about it for years,  I'm thinking either of these hot tubs is better than no hot tub.

I have no problem not buying top tier or premium I just don't want to buy bottom tier.  If Vita is middle of the road,  I'm fine with that.

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  • 7 months later...

My personal opinion is long term to stay away from full foam. Sometimes you get lucky and may never have a leak for years to come other times you buy a full foam spa and within the first year have costly repairs. Most full foam dealers don’t cover labor but will cover parts. Now with that said I’m in a hot and cold environment with drastic weather changes. The Maax spas I have less problems with and they cost a lot less labor to repair, parts might be a little more then some of the other brands however you generally get what you pay for. In my area Maax hands down holds up well and works very well through both the extreme heat as well as cold winter spells

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12 hours ago, Kollin said:

Sometimes you get lucky and may never have a leak for years to come other times you buy a full foam spa and within the first year have costly repairs. Most full foam dealers don’t cover labor but will cover parts.

My Hotspring Highlife is full foam.  My dealer includes five years free call outs for labor and service on most items (longer on the shell itself) - both main techs on payroll service Hotspring spas exclusively all day long for multiple HS dealers around the state.  I know my dealer's techs use an electric hot knife to slice through the multi-density foam like butter, although some old school techs still rip out the foam by hand (which is definitely not the easiest method to handle repairing full foam insulated tubs IMO).  

It really comes down to who you plan to repair your hottub - I'm not a plumber and I don't have time to DIY repair my $10k hottub.  I'd much rather pay a professional who knows what they're doing to properly service my spa if/when it needs repairs.  But sure, if you're a DIY weekend warrior trying to save $$, I get it - full foam tubs suck.

@castletonia How many years does your dealership include parts/labor for Hotspring Highlife tubs on repairing leaks with full foam insulation?  Pretty sure it's five years for most components

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12 hours ago, Kollin said:

My personal opinion is long term to stay away from full foam. Sometimes you get lucky and may never have a leak for years to come other times you buy a full foam spa and within the first year have costly repairs. Most full foam dealers don’t cover labor but will cover parts. Now with that said I’m in a hot and cold environment with drastic weather changes. The Maax spas I have less problems with and they cost a lot less labor to repair, parts might be a little more then some of the other brands however you generally get what you pay for. In my area Maax hands down holds up well and works very well through both the extreme heat as well as cold winter spells

Not wanting to start a debate, but staying away from full foam to me is just ignorant.  Making a purchase decision based on the potential of a leak is crazy.  In 20 years i've sold non-full foam hot tubs and full foam.  Non-full foam are louder to operate, cost more to operate and tend to have more leaks as the product ages.  But, to each their own.

8 minutes ago, ratchett said:

My Hotspring Highlife is full foam.  My dealer includes five years free call outs for labor and service on most items (longer on the shell itself) - both main techs on payroll service Hotspring spas exclusively all day long for multiple HS dealers around the state.  I know my dealer's techs use an electric hot knife to slice through the multi-density foam like butter, although some old school techs still rip out the foam by hand (which is definitely not the easiest method to handle repairing full foam insulated tubs IMO).  

It really comes down to who you plan to repair your hottub - I'm not a plumber and I don't have time to DIY repair my $10k hottub.  I'd much rather pay a professional who knows what they're doing to properly service my spa if/when it needs repairs.  But sure, if you're a DIY weekend warrior trying to save $$, I get it - full foam tubs suck.

@castletonia How many years does your dealership include parts/labor for Hotspring Highlife tubs on repairing leaks with full foam insulation?  Pretty sure it's five years for most components

Labor is whatever the manufacturer's warranty is.  Highlife/Limelight 5 years parts/labor and Hot Spot is 2 years part/labor.  Regardless of what the issue is, my dealership charges a travel fee after the first year for warranty work and if there is an actual in-foam leak we do have a fee for bringing the hot tub back to our shop if necessary.  Over the last 4 years having been a dealer for Hot Spring, Caldera, and Marquis and having sold over 500 full foam hot tubs I have only had 2 in foam leaks.  One was a new Caldera that Watkins replaced and the other was a Marquis that had a few leaking jets.  No cost to my customer with the Caldera since they covered all costs since it was a new hot tub and with the Marquis they covered parts/labor and customer paid the travel fee.  

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3 hours ago, castletonia said:

a purchase decision based on the potential of a leak is crazy.

🤪 All spas leak, usually in the equipment area. Plumbing leaks tend to have a cause, such as freeze damage or long term bad maintenance.

3 hours ago, castletonia said:

Non-full foam are louder to operate, cost more to operate and tend to have more leaks as the product ages.

Full foam tubs are less likely to leak but more expensive to fix. There have been a few nightmare scenarios over the years, such as 96-97 Sundance glue failures, Cal-spas red and blue pvc failures and safety suction switches, Hot Springs light lenses and moto jet drain barb, and D1 check valve issues. 

3 hours ago, ratchett said:

know my dealer's techs use an electric hot knife to slice through the multi-density foam like butter,

Foam isn't all a hot knife will slice through, and I wouldn't risk one for the sake of the minor convenience it may offer. Over the years I have tried all manner of different methods for removing foam, and a flat nail bar is still the best all-around tool for it. Anything that could make more leaks is a no-go in my book, especially on a hot springs. I suppose if I only worked on those and knew the plumbing layout well I might be willing to try it, but it's just not worth the risk for the few HS I see with plumbing leaks.

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