Vermont Castings uses 409 grade SS which may develope minor rust after several years if you don't use the cover. 304 SS will never rust if left outside and is the type of Stainless used for comercial kitchens. When I looked for a grill, I narowed mychoice between VC, Weber, and Ducane. Weber bought out Ducane several years ago. I ended up with VC simply because it was the end of the season and they gave me the best deal. This time I went with natural gas (NG) instead of propane (LP) since I got the rotisere and the side burner. The NG model is usually between $50- $100 more depending on the options and the NG itself is cheaper, burns cleaner, and since my house in on NG I never have to worry about running out.
The NG and LP models have different orifices, regulator and hoses.
PS, place a magnet on an Stainless Steel if it grabs it's not 304 grade.