Walk in knowing what you want, ask six questions, and check the seats, the jets and the cover in person. That gets you straight answers and a dealer who takes you seriously.
In this lesson
The questions that show a dealer you've done your homework
What to check on a display tub in a few minutes
The red flags that mean walk away
How should you act at a hot tub showroom?
Like someone who's going to buy, because you are. You know your seats, what fits your yard, 120V or 240V, and your three numbers. Say so in the first few minutes: “I want a six-seater on 240V, delivered this spring. I've narrowed it to two models.” A salesperson who hears that skips the tour and takes you to the tubs that fit.
What questions should you ask a hot tub dealer?
The pool and hot tub trade association tells buyers to bring a checklist of questions. Here's yours. Each one shows you've done the work, and each answer is one you can check.
Ask the dealer
Is the shell self-supporting? Is it full foam?
Are the hoses glued and clamped? Are the pumps, heater and controls standard parts?
How long on the shell, the equipment, the plumbing and the labor? After year one, who pays the technician's travel?
Who services it, and how far away are they?
Is this the current model year, or a floor or show model?
How long until delivery in the shell and cabinet colors I want?
The last two move the price. Hot Spring and Caldera say how soon you get a tub depends on dealer stock, colors and options, and Master Spas says a customized tub takes 6 to 8 weeks to build and ship. Jacuzzi suggests asking whether floor models are discounted. If you take one, check that the full warranty still applies.
What should you check on a hot tub in person?
A spec sheet can't tell you how a seat fits you. A few minutes on a display tub can.
Sit in each seat you'll use. Ask where the water line would sit on you.
Lie back in the lounger. Do your feet reach the end?
On a running display tub, feel the jets in your seats with the back of your hand. Turn each one down and back up.
Listen to the pumps with the jets on high.
Lift the cover, or try the lifter, and use the steps the way you will at home.
If a seat doesn't fit you in the showroom, it won't fit you in your backyard.
What are the red flags at a hot tub dealer?
Walk away, or at least slow down, if:
There's pressure to sign today on a quote that isn't written down. A real price survives being put on paper.
The “sale” is thousands off a price nobody published. 262 of the 390 hot tubs we track have no price on the maker's site. Bullfrog says thousands off should make you ask what the starting price was.
Labor and travel after year one are vague. You read why in lesson 7.
Nobody can say who services the tub, or how far away they are. At a show, Jacuzzi says make sure a traveling vendor can still be reached afterward.
None of these means the tub is bad. Each means you don't have what you need to decide yet. All of it is on one page in the showroom cheat sheet.
Next: the price. Why dealers don't post it, which buyers get the best deal, and the offer that works.
Remember this
Walk in knowing your seats, size, power and budget, and say what you want.
Ask about the build, the warranty after year one, who services it, the model year and the wait for your colors.
Sit in your seats, lie back in the lounger and feel the jets with the back of your hand. Dry is fine.
Never sign on a quote that isn't written down.
Check yourself
3 quick questions. Tap an answer.
You lie back in a display tub's lounger. What tells you it fits?
A salesperson offers “$4,000 off, today only” on a tub with no published price. What do you ask?
Which question tells you the most about owning the tub after year one?
Want more on this?
Each of these goes deeper. They open in the library; the course will be here when you come back.
8 more lessons: how a good tub is built, what it really costs, what to ask at the showroom and how to get the best price, then your showroom cheat sheet. It opens right away.