Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Thought I would provide some impressions on some specific models of the above canister vacuum cleaner manufacturers/models.

I have been in the market for a new vacuum cleaner as my existing Kenmore was @ 10+ years old and really didn't suck anymore. I went online and tried to get as much info as possible about all the vacuum cleaners out there, reviews, etc. I found these to be extremely lacking, for the most part. I read a number of great reviews about Miele and decided to try them out. I found a couple of local Miele dealers and trudged out to the stores. The first dealer did not have a single Miele canister vac in the store. He carried Riccar, but only had the low end model (I wanted a vacuum with the power head and full size tools).

I drove to the second dealer who had a good selection of Mieles, Sebo's (which I only found out about through the internet), and Simplicitys, which again I only found out about through the internet. I honestly never considered a stand-alone vacuum dealer, having gone to Sears to look at their selections and not being impressed.

The dealer explained the various vacuums and offered to let me try each of the various models for as long as I liked to determine the one best for me.

I first took the Miele Calisto home (as an aside Miele's web site is incredibly slow). The vacuum did a pretty good job and I liked the fact the exhaust didn't blow dirt and dust around the house as it exhausts out the top.

However, I did have a number of issues with the Miele. The power head was pretty basic for an $800+ machine) and worse, vacuuming under the bed or other areas that required the vacuum hose to be lowered almost parallel to the floor raised the power head off the floor. The power head also tended to suck in area rugs, which was annoying, the on-board tools were the "mini" variety, and finally the vacuum itself was a little top heavy, causing it to tip over fairly frequently, resulting in "blemishes" to the too susceptible finish.

I took the Miele back and decided to try the Sebo AirBelt C3.1. To be honest, I wasn't that fond of the Sebo as it doesn't have the "flash" of the Mieles (basic white or just a little more pizzaz in the red model) and Simplicity/Riccars. However, the Sebo did a great job of vacuuming, the AirBelt exhausts through vents on the side of the canister, and the canister itself was designed with a lower center of gravity so it never once tipped over, and the power head was closer to what I would have expected in that price range. Best of all, you could lower the hose completely next to the floor and the power head remained in contact with the surface to be cleaned. The HEPA filter was great, the on-board tools were all full size, and I personally didn't perceive a difference in sound level between the Sebo and the Miele. All in all I definitely preferred the Sebo over the Miele. (Also, the Sebo never sucked up the area rugs as the Miele did.)

I took the Sebo back and decided to give the Simplicity Verve a try. The Riccars and Smiplicity's definitely have a lot more "flash" then either the Mieles or Sebos. The Simplicity had great suction and did a good job of cleaning. My perception was that it was a little lounder than either the Miele or Sebo, but it did look great. The power head was extremely powerful, unfortunately too much so as it inevitably sucked up any area rug and proceed to trip the breaker that protects it from burning out. The other issue I had with the SImplicity was the fact the power head was a lot taller than either the Miele or Sebo and "hung-up" in low areas. Finally I couldn't abide by the fact they are made in China (their uprights are made in St. James, MO, but the canisters are all made in China as of August 2009).

What to do. I did some more searching and eventually found a Lindhaus Aria Elite canister on closeout for a killer price. I tried to do some online searching for impressions and found a little on Abby's Guide but not enough to make a final determination. I decided to go for the Aria Elite - getting a new, $1,300 vacuum for $400 was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The Aria arrived last week. Everything was there, the power head, two extension wands instead of the single one that comes standard, a hard floor cleaner and the full size, on-board tools. The vacuum itself does a great job of cleaning. The hose can be lowered parallel to the floor and the power head doesn't lose contact with the surface to be cleaned plus it fits under those low hanging obstacles - kitchen cabinet kick plates, sofa, etc. The power head, like the Sebo, can be adjusted so that it doesn't suck up area rugs.

There are some issues with the Aria. First I was disappointed when I opened the box as the vacuum does not come close to looking like a $1,300 piece of equipment. The Elite has a drab, speckled white plastic finish that looks close to the quality of the plastic on those old model airplanes I used to put together. The vacuum hose itself is not as sturdy as it should be as it can kink up and completely cut off suction. It appears that Lindhaus has pulled the Arias off the market as very few Lindhaus dealers list them for sale.

Was the purchase of the Aria a good investment? All in all, I think it was. It has the HEPA filtration (the Lindhaus uprights are well regarded and fairly standard issue in hospitals based on their filtration and they have been purchased by the feds for use in fighting potential anthrax threats.)

However, I would hope that Lindhaus would come out with a refined version of the Arias. Improve the finish/paint quality to that of the Simnplicity/Riccars to improve the finish/perceived quality of the vacuums (these ARE $1,300, you know) and provide a sturdier hose.

Other than that I am extremely satisfied with the Aria Elite. (I did go out and buy some Krylon metallic paint so I can personlize the Elite to my liking - the existing finish IS THAT UNAPPEALING!)

One final comment, I ended up taking my Kenmore in to the dealer who was so kind as to let me try the various vacuums out and he cleaned and serviced the vacuum so that now it is almost as good as new. I didn't realize that it was in fact made by Panasonic for Sears. Given the raps that Panasonics have taken on this site, I have to say that after 10 years, I am impressed with the machine as it's still doing what it was intended to and though it doesn't have the HEPA filtration and exhausts out the back, swirling dust and dirt, it really does suck, now.

Given the assumption that the Lindhaus are no longer being sold, I would personally rank the Sebo first and the Mieles just a tad above the Simplicity/Riccars. The Sebo provides better value for the money - the power head is much better than that of either the Miele or Simplicity/Riccars. The major drawback of the Simplicity/Riccars in my mind versus the Mieles is the fact they are currently manufactured in China. However, their power head is better than the comparably priced Miele power head.

"Given the assumption that the Lindhaus are no longer being sold"

Sunny,

I just called Lindhaus, the Aria canister is still available, and currently being sold.  If you were to revise your rankings, where would the Aria fit in??

Vernon

Hello Sunny:

Thanks for the impressions of these canisters.  Personally and professionally, SEBO, MIELE, LINDHAUS, and SIMPLICITY/RICCAR are top shelf brands.  Even the China made.  You can't go wrong with any of them if they meet your needs and budget.  The best for you and/or any user of these brands/models is the one he/she enjoys using as often as possible to do the cleaning.  Soon all the RICCAR/SIMPLICITY canns will be made in the USA just like the uprigts.  If I can make any suggestion it would be go with the dealer of the brand that you like to do business with the most.

Carmine D.

Hi

After reading your post, I stand behind the old statement that the machines are all the same,the attachments are where the differences are.Panasonic makes a very good piece,Have you noticed that your cloned sears/panasonic has all the features and cleaning that you are comparing to todays ELITE machines.

This is why im a fan of older rebuilt machines.

regards

MOLE

One of the reasons I made the assumption the Arias are no longer being sold is that none of the Lindhaus dealers in the Dallas area I was able to get information from list the Lindhaus vacuums in their inventory.

Money aside, and these days that is definitely not a consideration one should take lightly, I would rank the Sebo first and the Lindhaus second. Given that the Sebo would have run at least $300-400 more than what I paid for the Lindhaus, that decision was a no-brainer. If I had to pay current/full price for all of these vacuums, the Sebo definitely would have been my hands down first choice .

I seriously considered purchasing a new Panasonic MC-CG985 as I have been extremely satisfied with my "old" Kenmore/Panasonic and since I had it serviced, it is now running in near new condition. Since the new Panasonic models now have HEPA filters (I have two large dogs), it was a tough decision. However, the Lindhaus was a little more than $100.00 less than the lowest price I could find for the Panasonic, so that made my choice a lot easier.

I feel the Lindhaus would be on par with the Sebos if they were to: 1) bring out new models with finishes that reflect what one should expect at their price point; and 2) upgrade the hose so it doesn't kink and cut off suction.

A couple of things I didn't mention in my previous post - in talking to the local Miele dealer he commented that he was refurbishing an older (@12 years) Miele canister but was having problems getting replacement body parts as Miele had destroyed some of the body molds. His comment was he couldn't understand why a company that touted its vacuums as typically lasting @ 20 years would destroy the body molds for their older vacuums. (When I first spoke with him, he ranked the Miele's number one of the three brands he carried, so I don't think he was being prejudiced against Miele - just stating the facts.)

I also noticed that not too long ago, Miele's used to have a ten year warranty across the board (motor, parts and labor), which then dropped to five years and now is only a one year warranty (parts and labor/seven on the motor). The drop to one year is apparently fairly recent as the dealer initially told me they came with a five year warranty across the board, then had to backtrack to the one year parts and labor seven motor.

Sebos are five years on parts and motor/one year for labor. The Lindhaus has a three warranty across the board (motor, parts and labor).

Hello Sunny:

Thanks for posting follow up.

Lindhaus is an esoteric vacuum brand and not readily sold by dealers and bought by US consumers.  Usually people ask for Lindhaus by name due to their outstanding filtering quality.

I suspect MIELE dropped the molds because it never had enough issues with body breakage to maintain so long.  As this dealer did with a 12 year old model.  Just a guess.

Enjoy your Lindhaus Aria Elite.

Carmine D. 

CarmineD wrote:
Do you suppose they dropped the warranty because it was costing them too much?

HARDSELL wrote:

No not at all HS.  Because the warranty is a selling meaningless feature that is not needed by MIELE/dealers who sell and repair MIELE-s.

My own opinion.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
It is however an advantage to those of us that compete with Miele dealers.  Many a Sebo and Riccar sale have been made due to the fact that Mieles warranty is less.

I was once told by a sales rep that many brands were trying to cut warranty down,  the reason being that most "defects in workmanship" show up within months of purchase. People see a long warranty and expect everything to be covered for the full term, when they find out wear and tear isn't part of the warranty it looks bad on the company. As an independent, we make sure to point out how the warranty works and what is covered.  When the customer is buying from a box store they have no idea as the majority don't give the warranty or the instruction manual a second look.

Dusty

dusty wrote:
Hi Dusty,

Doesn't that have a lot to do with price? I don't see big-box shoppers for vacuums as being overly worried over warranties as they are only expecting so much for the $250 to $300 tops that they're looking to spend. Not a lot machines pricing beyond $350, save for Dyson are found in big box stores.

Thinking on the price range mentioned, I have seen few if any vacuum makers that offer more than a year's warranty coverage and generally take it as a given that I won't find better unless the vendor tries to entice me to buy with an extended coverage plan of some sort. Just a few years, it appeared stock and trade for big boxers like Best Buy was selling extended coverage on just about everything. You gave them 30 or 40 bucks on top of the purchase price and they'd replace your vacuum with few questions asked.

On the other hand, a vacuum sold by indies at $600 or above would quite normally draw scrutiny in regard to warranty since the more the consumer spends, the more he expects. (From he who is given much, much is expected.)

Best,

Venson

BEST BUY bought into the dyson launch in 2002 in part because with the initial dyson 2 year warranty, BB was selling extended warranties for $40 a pop.  Fools, I mean dyson buyers, bit.  [Didn't HS go for the ESP!]  When dyson upped the warranty to 5 years in August 2006, BB lost the dyson ESP revenue.  Consumer Reports has it right: ESP is a money maker for the retailers.  Most people buying a vacuum from the big box retailers are not looking for an ESP.  Dyson changed that, at least for a few years.  Other vacuum makers followed suit.  They just like the heck out of dyson.  BISSELL and Healthy Home for 6 years.  HOOVER with Platinum Collection for 6 years.  Like Dusty says: What good is it if it doesn't cover wear and tear items that need replacing.

My daughter and son-in-law bought one of those new and better Japanese models for top dollar that HS always raves about here.  In less than 2 years the rear brakes went.  $250 out of pocket.  At least the German brands cover brakes in the warranty [as well as wiper blades and more].  Sure you may pay more and that's the reason.  Like HS always says you get what you pay for.

Carmine D.