I will just leave this here


 
When you take into account all the costs of freight and shipping that behemoth from China then across the US, it really makes me wonder why someone enterprising right here in the US could not produce something similar at similar pricing. It should not be that hard to produce it here.
Trouble is everything here is geared to sending production over there in search of higher profits. With the changing political climate there and here, that cannot hold out much longer.
I have a lot more to say on some of that but I am afraid it will verge on derailing this thread and I really don't want to do that
 
I agree Larry. It just seems that something like that could be fully manufactured and assembled here in the US and still make a reasonable profit. You could have one manufacturing plant that makes all the parts via mass production. Then ship them out in large lots to regional centers around the US and have them assembled and distributed from there to area retailers. Or they could box up each grill in parts for shipment to the area retailers and let them sell them as is or have some guy assemble them at the stores for an hour or so in wages.
 
In a previous job, there was an old construction estimator that first told me about the cost estimation paradigm:

Fast, cheap and good- pick two…
 
Bruce said:
It does look like the vast majority of the grill is stainless. However, I suppose there are some clips, brackets, screws and other parts that are not. If something does rust and fail, at least it would likely be fairly simply and inexpensive to replace.

Also, keep in mind that not all stainless steel is Non-magnetic. While the magnet test is used to differentiate between "high" 300 series and "low" (400 series) quality stainless, it is not always 100% and for many grill parts, the lower quality 400 series stainless is just fine. Even 400 series stainless isn't going to have a rusted out cabinet in ten years.
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The only caveat i would add is that I have seen some Weber Spirit grills with “stainless” side tables speckled with at least some kind of corrosion. 400 series - or maybe something even lower grade - I don’t know. And I do think it still would hold up a good bit longer than painted steel. Still, I think for larger areas of exposed panels it is important that the stainless be high grade.

That’s one of the impressive things about my 25 year-old 1st generation Summit where the acres of 304 stainless cabinet and shelf parts have withstood the test of time and not always the best of conditions.

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Jon Tofte said:
That’s one of the impressive things about my 25 year-old 1st generation Summit where the acres of 304 stainless cabinet and shelf parts have withstood the test of time and not always the best of conditions.
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Jon- those 1st Gen summit gas grills are really nice in my opinion, despite some of their inherent problems.

Do you happen to know what year and the suggested retail price was when new of your grill?

Was that @LMichaels grill originally?

I am interested to know what that grill would sell for in 2023 dollars.
 
John_NJ said:
Jon- those 1st Gen summit gas grills are really nice in my opinion, despite some of their inherent problems.

Do you happen to know what year and the suggested retail price was when new of your grill?

Was that @LMichaels grill originally?

I am interested to know what that grill would sell for in 2023 dollars.
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It was. Bought when the next generation behind it was coming out. More belles and whistles but crudely and cheaply made in comparison. But Weber was soon finding out "flash brings the cash". But this one was on closeout. I don't recall retail on it at the time. Don't even recall for sure what I paid LOL. But IIRC was around $1300-$1400.
 
John, I think we kind of calculated the price of an older Genesis vs new Genesis price and actually the modern Genesis grills were very similarly priced in todays dollars vs a dollar back in the 90's, maybe a bit higher.
 
The 4- burner like mine - purchased from @LMichaels - had a list price of $2,400. My understanding is that this translates into about $4,500 today.

That compares to $2,649 for a black 4-burner Summit today. I think it is like Larry said and that they reduced costs and lowered the quality.
 
Jon Tofte said:
The 4- burner like mine - purchased from @LMichaels - had a list price of $2,400. My understanding is that this translates into about $4,500 today.

That compares to $2,649 for a black 4-burner Summit today. I think it is like Larry said and that they reduced costs and lowered the quality.
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Thanks.

All the talk about the Chinese grills with all bells and whistles I wanted a reality check of what grills were selling for before the Communists started sell us rope.
 
Jon Tofte said:
Probably. But there are some collectors out there who go for that "Mid-Century" stuff. The nice appearance and Kenmore name are both big positives, I would think.
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Agreed. I doubt anyone will buy that and actually cook on it.
 
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