PHenry, you say you are kicking yourself for missing this buy, is that because you were wanting a second lift or that you were unhappy with your mid rise and wanting a 2 post? What are your thoughts there?
As much as I use the Mid-rise, there are times when it does get in the way. For example, because it has to stay in place, I can't do tasks under the car where it is in the way. Also, because of the ramps that I use to park over the lift on a nightly basis, I can't just lift the car with a jack for quick stuff.
I would probably have bought the MaxJax unit and held onto the Atlas for a while and if I never used the Atlas, then I could have sold it. Unfortunately, having both in the garage at the same time might have been an issue, even if they were in different "bays" within my single-door, 2-car garage.
My only other complaints about a mid-rise is that despite being able to work around the lifting portion to do some driveshaft/exhaust work, it can still be a pain to have to work around it. Also, it can be time-consuming position the car perfectly on the ramps to lift the vehicle from appropriate & safe lift points in a symmetrical manner. Since lift points for all cars are different, I spend a lot of time playing with the right/safe points to loft one of my 4 cars, my parents' 5 cars, or those of other people who stop by for me to do something on their car. Once I know the safe points, it is a simple 2-minute task.
So where I was going with that was that as much as I use the mid-rise, I would use the MaxJax more. When I bought the mid-rise I had no idea how much I would actually use a lift so I was hesitant to spend the ~$2200 (at the time) for a MaxJax. After a year I can say that I use a lift often enough to justify having bought one, and that had I spent the additional money to go with a MaxJax unit in the first place I would have come out ahead (assuming depreciation of the TD6MR). With the cost of this group buy (and given that my car "slush fund" was adequately stocked to buy one when the buy was going on) I probably should have bought it and sold my Atlas.
A lift is (or can be) a 1-time purchase. If I never get another lift, I always have the TD6MR. But had I spent more on that "1-time" purchase, I would get more use and more ease of use for a nominal additional investment.
And that is why I am kicking myself.
I don't think that I could wait 4+ months time.
I just got off a chat on Danmar's website and Gabe (member UPSHIFT) is no longer employed there.He has not posted on GJ for about a month and that is when he got done at Danmar.Do a search and you will see that he was one of the most helpful reps here
.A Danmar sales rep is going to contact me directly about group buys in the future...we'll see how that pans out.