Wow! I need some specific advice!

[SterlingDiver]

Hi All,

I have been reading threads here and at other sites and about any other infromation I can get my hands on for the last several weeks and thought I was ready to purchase some regulators for my family of seven. I had settled on ScubaPro MR2+/380's with a 3 gauge combo, concluding that they are durable but still affordable. Remember I have got to purchase for alot of folk.

Anyway, I got a feel for prices online and also checked out ScubaPro's website. At their website I saw the dealer locator and found a LDS within a few blocks of my home that is an authorized dealer. I visited there today hoping to give them my business and purchase the first four regulator sets for X-mas. First thing the dealer did is tried to talk me out of the 380's and go with the more basic 190 series saying they actually breathe easier. Of course he only had 190's in stock. When I looked at the 190's I was amazed at how large they are. I imaged it would be like putting a softball in front of my face. He also quoted me at first, full retail prices ($1200 total difference than at LP) settling on about a $400 diference. He has offered to let us tryout the 190's in the pool but I am thinking that I would never be happy with them because of their shear size.

I have looked at the last two years of Rodale's regulator shootout and found this year's especially suspect.

With that said, any ideas of a good quality, contempory style regulator setup at a modest price?

Can anyone give me some specific practical advice and recommendations??

Thank you,

SterlingDiver

 

[redacted]

Inside, the 380 & 190 are the same and will perform that way. IMHO, the size difference will have a much bigger impact on your wallet than your comfort while diving. It would be nice to support your LDS but $100.00 each difference is too steep. With you outfitting 7 divers, I'm surprised he isn't matching LP prices. Let him think a little about that $1000.00 plus profit he will miss if he makes you take your business elsewhere.

 

[cstreu1026]

Persoanlly I would think that only $400 difference from you local scuba pro dealer is pretty good considering that you are only supplying 7 divers. :wacko: (I hope the sarcasm comes through in that statement) I think there is a trend in not such great discounts from authorized dealers, and I know there is a great deal of price control in place from scuba pro but I would think they would find some way to match their prices. I was happy that I got 5% off my regs locally despite spend $1300 as the time. I have since reconsidered purchasing anything else from that local dealer becuase I got less than premium service for paying that premium price.

 

[Boogie711]

That's just a good rule of thumb to live by. I've found the advice I've picked up here by using the magical search button far, FAR more useful than the inconsistent crap Rodales puts out.

Now, that being said - the Scubapro's are a good quality regulator.

 

[SterlingDiver]

........I think I am going to go ahead and start purchasing the ScubaPro 380's from LP. I don't mind spending a few extra dollars for the smaller size reg.

I am not interested in spending 25%+ salestax more for what I don't want at the LDS.

Thanks again for your help.

SterlingDiver

 

[bigredbill]

one thing you need to figure into your cost calculations is that if you buy from LP you will not be covered by the Scubapro lifetime parts warranty. In a couple of years what you save by purchasing at LP could easily get chewed up in parts. All this assumes, of course, that you will be having someone else doing the maintenance on you regulator.

Here is what you can figure into the equation. You should be spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 per regulator (1st+2nd+octo) for labor to do the annual per regulator. Additional parts costs will be somewhere between $15 and $60 depending on what the shop wants to charge and whether they will try to salvage parts instead of just plugging in a new parts kit. So figure on average you will be spending at least $30 per year per reg for parts. But that is only true if you buy from LP. If you buy from an authorized dealer your parts will be picked up by Scubapro as long as you have maintained the warranty. Now what does maintaining the warranty entail? You need to consistantly have the regulator annualled sometime between the 11th and 13th month after you bought it/since it was last was serviced. If you miss a year because the reg wasn't used, the warranty goes away.

On the other hand if you maintain the regs yourself parts will probably cost you $10-20 per reg per year, buying them on the gray market - possibly much less if you salvage parts and really delve into finding cheap and appropriate O-ring supplies. Of course, you need to put a value on your time to learn how to service them correctly.

The dealer is obligated by his SP contract to discount only so much - but he is allowed to discount combination packages much steeper. Perhaps you can tell him what you intend to do if he does not move his price, but tell him also that you will buy something else you need at the same time to let him meet the terms of his contract, if that helps him. To be fair to the dealer, you really shouldn't expect him to meet the LP price. LP does not have to keep a show room, pay someone to stand around and be nice to you, pay someone to be on staff to be able to service the equipment, etc., so don't squeeze him too hard. If you went into the store to see this gear in person and you asked questions of his staff to inform your decision about purchase, perhaps a good citizen would understand that there is some real value in that.

It is to your benefit to have a healthy local dive shop just a few blocks from your house. After all, as far as I know LP does not do hydros, visual inspections, fill tanks, or teach courses.

Just my $1.95 worth.

P.S. - I have purchased from LP myself when the LDS was being pigheaded, or if what I wanted wasn't available locally, so please do not take my statement as putting down buying from LP.

 

[Scott M]

Sterlingdiver,

With that large of an order LP will discount the order further than on the web site. Usually not much but at least another 2% to 5%.

It all adds up.

E-mail them and ask for Charlie to handle your order. He took good care of me.

Scott

 

[SterlingDiver]

........thank you for your insight. I had came to your conclusion before I had visited the LDS. Unfortunately, after spending 45 minutes of haggling there all the LDS could do is push me into regs. I didn't want at a price I wasn't willing to pay.

I am a local business man myself and I always want to support the community, but the LDS in this area are incredibly poor operators and seem to hope to almost take advantage of those who might be ignorant.

Still, that puts me in a weak position for service as you pointed out. I guess I have the weekend to sort this out.

SterlingDiver :approve:

 

[Boogie711]

LP does not have to keep a show room, pay someone to stand around and be nice to you, pay someone to be on staff to be able to service the equipment, etc., so don't squeeze him too hard.

Yes they do. I've been inside their showroom. And they do service regulators for you.

Incidentally, when you say 'keep a showroom' there aren't many lds's who can afford to maintain a showroom in lower Manhattan. LP does.

 

[redacted]

It's not worth paying MSRP for the warrenty unless you just want to be an uninformed LDS dependent diver. The annual service on a kit (primary, secondary, & octo) will run $50.00 to $100.00 for labor. Wholesale for the parts is on the order of $10.00 for Mk2 & 2x R190/380. Figure $25.00 retail but for "punishment" they may charge $50.00. So if you are planning on parts every year, then the MFGR warranty is the way to go for you in the long run. But those parts will last 2 to 5 years with good used care. So figure $75.00 labor a year for service with the warranty. And figure $100.00 (labor with punishment) and $50.00 for parts without the warranty. If you get 2.5 years service interval, you break even and the LP savings is still in your pocket. Actually you will want to spend some of that on an IP gauge and Vance Harlow reg maintenance book. That way, you will be knowledgable about your equipment and able to do some (checks & adjustments) or much of the maintenance yourself.

By the way, that difference in price is $30.00 on the octo and 35.00 on the 2nd stage at LP. That works out to 3 kits with R380s or 4 kits with R190s for the same price. If that's just "a few bucks" then maybe you should look at the Mk25/S600 (or G250). It will definately perform better. If you do decide to stay active in SCUBA you probably will end up upgrading to HP kits. Then your Mk2/R??? will make nice spares or pony regs.