Spirit S-210 Sticker Shock

[Brian B Atlanta]

If you bothered to read Webers last report container costs from China which is where they make most of there stuff went from 15k to 45k supply chain issues which are starting to moderate a bit. They and Cook are basically losing their butts since they could not raise prices fast enough they basically lost money and of course my guess is some consumers will pay up some will not. Even RC as some have mentioned is not making grates due to supply and he will have to charge a lot more if he gets the supply. Once upon a time it was cheaper to make your stuff in China but if your container costs triple how much are you really saving anymore forget the increase in the basic raw materials even in the US you can't avoid that.

I would buy this at Costco which at my store is $699 before I bought a Weber for $899 lots of 304, sear burner, stainless grates as well as aluminum lid sides and firebox sides. https://www.costco.com/kitchenaid-4-burner-gas-grill-with-searing-side-burner.product.100690365.html

How about this bargain https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-G...er-35310001/318176778?ITC=AUC-127736-23-12070

By the way if the original poster was talking about this E-210 its now $569. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Weber-Spir...mel-2-Burner-Liquid-Propane-Gas-Grill/3881657

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

If you bothered to read Webers last report container costs from China which is where they make most of there stuff went from 15k to 45k supply chain issues which are starting to moderate a bit. They and Cook are basically losing their butts since they could not raise prices fast enough they basically lost money and of course my guess is some consumers will pay up some will not. Even RC as some have mentioned is not making grates due to supply and he will have to charge a lot more if he gets the supply. Once upon a time it was cheaper to make your stuff in China but if your container costs triple how much are you really saving anymore forget the increase in the basic raw materials even in the US you can't avoid that.

I would buy this at Costco which at my store is $699 before I bought a Weber for $899 lots of 304, sear burner, stainless grates as well as aluminum lid sides and firebox sides. https://www.costco.com/kitchenaid-4-burner-gas-grill-with-searing-side-burner.product.100690365.html

How about this bargain https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-G...er-35310001/318176778?ITC=AUC-127736-23-12070

By the way if the original poster was talking about this E-210 its now $569. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Weber-Spir...mel-2-Burner-Liquid-Propane-Gas-Grill/3881657

Uhh....don't know how much more clear there is than what I posted

 

[Wes D.]

When it comes to money, this particular forum splits between those (who might even have means) who enjoy driving three hours to pick up a free 15-year-old grill to lovingly nurse back to life and those that really are the target demographic for the fancy new $899 grill.

Personally, I'm in the middle. I agree with the OP that even $510 is too much for a grill, especially considering what you get. Of course, without the new grill buyers, there is no Weber and no used Weber grills to play with.

I am the first category. Have spent a lot of $$ with Weber products, but I'm done with it for now. As long as their grills are built in China, even if they're assembled here, I'll look elsewhere to spend my money.

Thankfully I Have a good collection of USA made and assembled grills that should hold me over through the end of my days.

I bought a Genesis 2 E-610 (I believe) on clearance @ HD a few years back. Ended up paying $800 for a $1200 grill, imagine my dismay to learn it was "Made in China". Never used it and sold in on CL a couple years later for $750.

 

[Wes D.]

If you bothered to read Webers last report container costs from China which is where they make most of there stuff went from 15k to 45k supply chain issues which are starting to moderate a bit. They and Cook are basically losing their butts since they could not raise prices fast enough they basically lost money and of course my guess is some consumers will pay up some will not. Even RC as some have mentioned is not making grates due to supply and he will have to charge a lot more if he gets the supply. Once upon a time it was cheaper to make your stuff in China but if your container costs triple how much are you really saving anymore forget the increase in the basic raw materials even in the US you can't avoid that.

I would buy this at Costco which at my store is $699 before I bought a Weber for $899 lots of 304, sear burner, stainless grates as well as aluminum lid sides and firebox sides. https://www.costco.com/kitchenaid-4-burner-gas-grill-with-searing-side-burner.product.100690365.html

How about this bargain https://www.homedepot.com/p/Weber-G...er-35310001/318176778?ITC=AUC-127736-23-12070

By the way if the original poster was talking about this E-210 its now $569. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Weber-Spir...mel-2-Burner-Liquid-Propane-Gas-Grill/3881657

Manufacturing in China has always been a false economy due to IP theft, the "3rd shift" phenomenon, blantant copying of works, etc.
If Weber loses their *** there, I don't care, and won't feel bad. They could have kept making things in Illinois.
See it all the time in corporate America, let's outsource all the jobs and then wonder why we don't have any customers (hint: they don't have jobs)

 

[Bruce]

Well, Illinois or any other American state.

 

[Tony-Chicago]

You already make your state's quota

 

[Brian B Atlanta]

Uhh....don't know how much more clear there is than what I posted

I saw the first post for $510 missed your updated picture post with the $569 my bad take pity on an old man you will be old some day also.

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

I saw the first post for $510 missed your updated picture post with the $569 my bad take pity on an old man you will be old some day also.

... already am

 

[Greg Part]

That Weber Spirit E-210 that I saw at Home Depot in February for $510 is now $570!! That's right....$570. Right next to it were Nexgrill 4 burner all stainless (albeit lesser quality stainless) with a side burner for $300.
I'm sure many folks will ask," Am I getting twice the grill for almost twice the cost?" A fair question.

That’s criminal! If it isn’t, it ought to be!

 

[Greg Part]

Manufacturing in China has always been a false economy due to IP theft, the "3rd shift" phenomenon, blantant copying of works, etc.
If Weber loses their *** there, I don't care, and won't feel bad. They could have kept making things in Illinois.
See it all the time in corporate America, let's outsource all the jobs and then wonder why we don't have any customers (hint: they don't have jobs)

After Weber acquired Ducane (or parts, thereof) didn’t they use it as their ”test rabbit” for overseas manufacturing before committing to potentially tarnishing the Weber brand? Hence, the emergence of the Spirit line of grills?

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

After Weber acquired Ducane (or parts, thereof) didn’t they use it as their ”test rabbit” for overseas manufacturing before committing to potentially tarnishing the Weber brand? Hence, the emergence of the Spirit line of grills?

Good question. I owned a Ducane made by Weber. It didn't last long but Weber supported the warranty. The firebox rusted through in fairly short order. It wad porcelain coated sheet metal. They shipped a new one. I installed it and sold it and bought a Spirit which held up as well as any in the Weber line that had sheet metal cabinets.
I ditched that one and went with a Broilmaster.

 

[Jon Tofte]

After Weber acquired Ducane (or parts, thereof) didn’t they use it as their ”test rabbit” for overseas manufacturing before committing to potentially tarnishing the Weber brand? Hence, the emergence of the Spirit line of grills?

That’s my understanding. Weber used the Spirit name before that, but when they brought out the 300 series Genesis they offloaded and dumbed down the Silver A/B tooling to China for manufacturing of them there, and they put the Spirit badge on the results. Around that time other Weber accessories also started being made overseas. Now it’s pretty challenging to know exactly what is done here vs across the Pacific. We have an active member who currently works at Weber, and he has assured us that a significant amount of manufacturing is still happening in Illinois.

 

[Bruce]

Good to know Jon.

 

[Greg Part]

That’s my understanding. Weber used the Spirit name before that, but when they brought out the 300 series Genesis they offloaded and dumbed down the Silver A/B tooling to China for manufacturing of them there, and they put the Spirit badge on the results. Around that time other Weber accessories also started being made overseas. Now it’s pretty challenging to know exactly what is done here vs across the Pacific. We have an active member who currently works at Weber, and he has assured us that a significant amount of manufacturing is still happening in Illinois.

Yes. I believe, from what I recall from researching, Weber used Ducane to experiment with manufacturing an “entry level” gas grill at a price point that was less expensive than the older, pre-2007(?) Genesis models, as Weber didn’t really have a gas gill they considered “entry level”. Ergo, they used the Ducane name to experiment with the manufacture of a less expensive gg model specifically intended as entry level and explored outsourcing the manufacture, of which, without putting the Weber brand in potential jeopardy.

I remember being quite interested in Ducane gas grills in 2007 when starting to research the possibility of owning a gas grill. Once I saw the 2008 Genesis at our local base, however, I bought it right then and there (2008 Genesis E-310 in green, already assembled) on sale for less than the Spirit models depicted in this thread.

 

[JSaus]

I went to Lowes today and took my first look at the new Webers. I think the new Genesis looks better in person than in the pictures. They still seem to be pretty well constructed and at $899 on the floor (now $999 of site), the base model that includes the sear station is not unreasonable. You add in a couple unnecessary options and they get crazy expensive. I loved the size of the side shelves and the taller lid. It still seemed pretty well built and more substantial than any of the cheap grills they carried. When you consider they want $819 for the Spirit E330 with sear station and side burner, it seems a bargain if you can do without a side burner. I think a lot of people will be quite happy with this grill.

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

Yes. I believe, from what I recall from researching, Weber used Ducane to experiment with manufacturing an “entry level” gas grill at a price point that was less expensive than the older, pre-2007(?) Genesis models, as Weber didn’t really have a gas gill they considered “entry level”. Ergo, they used the Ducane name to experiment with the manufacture of a less expensive gg model specifically intended as entry level and explored outsourcing the manufacture, of which, without putting the Weber brand in potential jeopardy.

I remember being quite interested in Ducane gas grills in 2007 when starting to research the possibility of owning a gas grill. Once I saw the 2008 Genesis at our local base, however, I bought it right then and there (2008 Genesis E-310 in green, already assembled) on sale for less than the Spirit models depicted in this thread.

I believe I bought the Ducane at Lowes. It was Natural gas and of course it was offered in LP as well and I assembled it myself and transported it to our newly purchased beach house...that was April 2010. It lasted 3 years before the firebox rusted through.
It was this one and I believe I paid $300 for it at the time. The lid was Weber all the way with cast aluminum end caps...everything else was sheet metal. It cooked well and got up to temperature quickly. Those side shelves did not fold down but they were a textured, powder coated grey and were very sturdy.
Not a Weber but significantly better than the CharBroils or anything else available in the big box stores short of Weber's offerings.
So I'd say Greg Part's research is quite accurate and Weber discarded the Ducane brand name and never looked back. In their pre-Weber days, Ducanes were excellent grills.

 

[Greg Part]

I went to Lowes today and took my first look at the new Webers. I think the new Genesis looks better in person than in the pictures. They still seem to be pretty well constructed and at $899 on the floor (now $999 of site), the base model that includes the sear station is not unreasonable. You add in a couple unnecessary options and they get crazy expensive. I loved the size of the side shelves and the taller lid. It still seemed pretty well built and more substantial than any of the cheap grills they carried. When you consider they want $819 for the Spirit E330 with sear station and side burner, it seems a bargain if you can do without a side burner. I think a lot of people will be quite happy with this grill.

It’s great to hear encouraging first-hand feedback on how the new Genesis looks and feels!

 

[Greg Part]

I believe I bought the Ducane at Lowes. It was Natural gas and of course it was offered in LP as well and I assembled it myself and transported it to our newly purchased beach house...that was April 2010. It lasted 3 years before the firebox rusted through.
It was this one and I believe I paid $300 for it at the time. The lid was Weber all the way with cast aluminum end caps...everything else was sheet metal. It cooked well and got up to temperature quickly. Those side shelves did not fold down but they were a textured, powder coated grey and were very sturdy.
Not a Weber but significantly better than the CharBroils or anything else available in the big box stores short of Weber's offerings.
So I'd say Greg Part's research is quite accurate and Weber discarded the Ducane brand name and never looked back. In their pre-Weber days, Ducanes were excellent grills.

That’s the style of Ducane grill I was really interested in. I just really liked the way they looked and with the long-time Ducane brand, I figured it’d be a good balance between quality, cost and performance. In retrospect, I’m glad the Genesis bumped into me and said “take me home” (although I had really wanted the blue color, but when you shop on base, many items are often limited quantity and colors, so you gotta grab what’s available or be SOL).

 

[Jay D in Jersey]

That’s the style of Ducane grill I was really interested in. I just really liked the way they looked and with the long-time Ducane brand, I figured it’d be a good balance between quality, cost and performance. In retrospect, I’m glad the Genesis bumped into me and said “take me home” (although I had really wanted the ocean blue color, but when you shop on base, many items are often limited quantity and colors, so you gotta grab what’s available or be SOL).

For sure you ended up with the better grill. The design of those Ducane models were very good. The materials fell short. Weber did stand by the warranty and the environment that mine sat in for three years on our deck 30 yards from New Jersey's back bay is pure hell on anything but aluminum, brass and quality stainless steel. That environment is why I love my Broilmaster P3....The base and side shelves are 304 SS and the lid and firebox are heavy cast aluminum. They won't win any beauty contests but they cook great and are built to last.

 

[JSaus]

Back about 2000, a friend and I were in the market for grills. He bought a Ducane pedestal grill with an "S" burner. While it was a nice grill, I ultimately went for a Weber Silver B. He got about 5-10 years out of his and I was still using mine 20 years later. Of course, I had replaced virtually everything inside over time but it still performed well. Last year, I replaced it with a Spirit E-330 because it was the same exact size cooking area and had a sear burner. IMO, it performs a little better than my Silver B and the sear station is a big plus. Weber still makes a quality product. The concerns of rust bother me, but I take care of my stuff, so we will see. The only thing that rusted on my B was the grease tray and the rails that held it. I was lucky enough to be able to buy a new one. The new tray on the Spirit is better designed, but thinner. Will see how it fares.