HI, I'm shopping for a 21' above ground pool, to replace an older pool with a failed liner, and I feel like I am comparing apples to bananas to tomatoes. I have 4 different quotes, and I find it very difficult to compare the different products, so I thought perhaps you can help me. I plan on reusing the filter and pump, which are fairly recent and trouble free.

Quote #1, Vogue Novo pool, $200 upgrade from .020 "style" liner to .025 "style" liner, 5 year warranty on the liner, 30 year prorated warranty on structure. $4000

Quote #2, Trevi Volt, unable to obtain much information about liner other than "we manufacture all our liners ourselves, they're the best of the best", when I asked about warranty, the guy laughed and said "the only warranty on swimming pools is that there's no warranty", the uprights and top border are so flimsy I feel like I could crush them with my bare hands, $4500

Quote #3, Aqualeader Galaxy, 10 year warranty on structure, 5 year warranty on liner, $5100

Quote #4, Vogue Novo, 2 year warranty on liner, 20 year warranty on structure (first 5 years 100%, rest 15 years prorated), $4800

They all mention they will build the base according to the soil in place, and put a geotextile membrane between the sand base and liner.

I really don't like quote #2 for obvious reasons, and quote #3 seems to have the best pool, but was pretty evasive when I asked questions about the liner quality and durability. She said it's the best quality available, made of virgin vinyl, but when I discussed thickness, she said what is called .020" is in reality closer to .013 or .014". And how can the same pool (Vogue Novo) can have a different warranty at two different vendors? Is the warranty issued by the manufacturer, or the vendor?

About liners, please correct me if I am wrong, but it is my understanding that the liner often fails before the structure. I feel it is very difficult, if not impossible, to obtain useful information about liners other than "we only use the best" or "they're all made at the same place". My feeling is that a thicker liner will last longer, all other things being equal. What else matters? They all mention that they're made of virgin vinyl, but vendors 3 and 4 also said that new liners don't last nearly as long as they used to, and I will be lucky if it lasts more than 10 years.

I am debating between vendors 1 or 3, even though #1 is the lowest bidder, I feel I will have a slightly lesser quality structure but it seems to have the best durability on the liner. I also find strange that each vendor has 3 or 4 different demo pools on his floor, but only one model available in the 21' size?

What is your opinion? Thanks.