I ended up purchasing a Seekins PH2!! Hoping for the best and feeling optimistic, still in my CA 10-day pickup wait period haha but excited to get out there with it. Especially after having my questions answered immediatelyy upon calling the Seekins customer service number.
As a fun update...
Thanks a ton that's great to know!! I totally realize the lemons are possible with any manufacturer, I just want to at least lower my odds of it haha and you're the second person today to mention good things about Seekins. I'll do more research on em. Thx!