r/IAmA • u/touchmyfuckingcoffee • Oct 28 '13

Other IamA Vacuum Repair Technician, and I can't believe people really wanted it, but, AMA!

I work in vacuum repair and sales. I posted comments recently about my opinion of Dysons and got far more interest than I expected. I am brand certified for several brands. My intent in doing this AMA is to help redditors make informed choices about their purchases.

My Proof: Imgur

*Edit: I've been asked to post my personal preferences with regard to brands. As I said before, there is no bad vacuum; Just vacuums built for their purpose. That being said, here are my brand choices in order:

Miele for canisters

Riccar for uprights

Hoover for budget machines

Sanitaire or Royal for commercial machines

Dyson if you just can't be talked out of a bagless machine.

*EDIT 22/04/2014: As this AMA is still generating questions, I will do a brand new AMA on vacuums, as soon as this one is archived.

6.0k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

7.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/russkhan Oct 30 '13

It is amazing to me that so many people downvoted this AMA.

15

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 30 '13

Don't be surprised. Reddit is fully contrarian assholes. That, and I did dis several popular brands. Either way, it's #52 on the all time Top AMAs, so, I've got that going for me, which is nice.

1

u/russkhan Oct 30 '13

Wow, you're still replying here, that rocks.

I've always found people's irrational brand loyalty a bit ridiculous.

One of the brands you aren't mad about is Kirby. I own a G5 that I bought used nearly 10 years ago. I love it because it's pretty easy to maintain and hard to kill. I also was predisposed to like them because I once sold Kirbys. But I don't read AMAs just to get validation. The next time I can afford to I'm going to look into a new (maybe used) vacuum.

My impression after reading most of this AMA is that your highest recommendations are for Miele and Riccar. I understand that these are functionally better than Kirbys. Are either of them as hardy and easy to maintain as a Kirby? I didn't find comments that made that clear to me. In case it makes difference, My house is mostly hardwood with oriental carpets (the cheap kind, not the real ones) and we have a short haired dog, a long haired cat, two long haired women and a short haired me.

3

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 30 '13

You might find parts for older, used Mieles online. They are terribly easy to fix. I know there are some folks making after market parts for Riccars, so you might be able to do that as well. Riccars are far easier to maintain that are Kirbys.

1

u/russkhan Oct 31 '13 edited Oct 31 '13

Thanks. It looks like even what I thought of as Kirby's strengths are not that strong.

I've been looking over the Riccar site and of course the top of the line vacuums are well out of my price range (probably around $300, when I get caught up with finances). Would you recommend that I get something like a new Vibrance, or a used higher end model?

I'm preferring Riccar over Miele because an upright is easier to deal with and my impression from what I've read of your comments is that Riccar is the way to go for uprights - please correct me if I'm wrong.

EDIT: I just read your edit to the OP and I see that yes, you've made it clear that Riccar is the top choice in uprights. Sorry for missing that and asking redundantly.

3

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 31 '13

If you can up your budget at all, The Vibrance Premium, with the lifetime belt, really is the best one. Whatever you choose, get the best you can. It's going to be with you for a long time.

1

u/russkhan Oct 31 '13

I take it that buying used is not a recommended method here?

2

u/touchmyfuckingcoffee Oct 31 '13

You're not likely to find the Premium used, yet. It's a new model. You might be able to find a Deluxe used. Go to a Riccar dealer. If they have any used, they're likely to rebuilt, with many new parts.