RANT: trying to buy quality isn't worth it anymore

When I rented an apartment in Raleigh back in 1990, the fridge was an old Norge.
My Panasonic alarm clock with vacuum fluorescent display is still in use, purchased July 1977.
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This is kinda funny. Wife's Dyson animal died recently, brush head will not come on it's stuck in hose mode. She bought a new battery powered shark on prime day. I think it was $300 or something? I swear I spent $600 on that corded Dyson and brand new it didn't have the power this battery operated shark has in "turbo mode". I was never really impressed with the Dyson for how friggin expensive they are. The ball is neat but not worth the price. After reading these posts i'm glad laziness took over and I did not take the Dyson to a repair shop.
 
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DC Bigdaddy said:
the complaint with a Rainbow, I would like to be able to walk into a store and say I want that one, pay for it and leave without having to deal with their pyramid scheme of a sales program.
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See, your doing it wrong.

You buy good condition used models, someone else dealt with the pyramid scheme, and you get a deeply discounted good condition unit that will last decades.


I know, i know, poor people got poor ways.
 
Jayne said:
"we're so much more than a gun forum!"

the revolver obsolescence and 1911 thread is two doors down on the left. can't miss it.
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I think he was trying to say new guns suck, unlike new vaccuum cleaners apparently.
Probably insinuating they don't run reliably either, just like new vaccuum cleaners.

Or something.
 
TVs I think are a rare instance of something that got substantially better over the years as well as cheaper.

I recently bought a Ryobi vac that uses the batteries I already have and am happy with its performance on rugs and hardwoods.
 
I have a 25yr old Dyson Animal - I have replaced parts on it and taken it entirely apart a few times to clean the nasty gunk out of it but it works without issue. It actually is serviceable.. and finding parts isn't that bad.

So is my 20 yr old Kenmore washer/dryer set - no PCB board, no bullshit - there are maybe 15 parts in each, diagnose with a multi/meter - pretty simple to fix when they [rarely] break.. I have my eyes on a set of SpeedQueen when the Kenmore's finally kick - those are durable [$$] and repairable.

My coffee maker however - it is not meant to be serviced, just tossed in the trash. The steam/brew valve got jammed up with scale [I think] or it just wore out after about 3 years. I can't get parts for it and the internals aren't meant to be serviced anyway - lots of plastic in there and assemblies..


My 'new' 2011 car is the same freaking way - not meant to be serviced..
My 1997, you wanna replace the brake pads/sensors, to do the sensors you just have to unclip some wires
On the 2011 - you gotta undo like 5 plastic panels with plastic tabs [that are brittle and will break] on each side to swap out those sensors

You wanna change the air intake filter??
On the 97 - open box, remove/insert new filter
On the 2011 - take out 6 plastic 'rivets', remove cowling cover, remove second plastic cover and don't break those clips - THEN you can change the air intake filter, then you gotta reassemble all that nonsense..
On the 2011 - the battery has to be 'coded' to the ECU by the stealer, the headlight assembly too - that sh*t is insane and unnecessary -

I miss the 1997 car - shit would break, you could fix it - no problem..


All this feigned concern over the 'environment' is BS - when we manufacture everything to be disposable, literally we manufacture and buy trash.

[rant over]
 
amyracecar said:
I have a 25yr old Dyson Animal - I have replaced parts on it and taken it entirely apart a few times to clean the nasty gunk out of it but it works without issue.
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Want to buy a 6 year old one? 😂
 
GeorgeBush said:
TVs I think are a rare instance of something that got substantially better over the years as well as cheaper.

I recently bought a Ryobi vac that uses the batteries I already have and am happy with its performance on rugs and hardwoods.
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The Ryobi is the same as the Black and Decker and Craftsman ones.

My wife got a Dyson 3 years ago it was constantly getting clogged. I bought a $50 Black and Decker Air Swivel and the dang thing has so much suction it can be hard to push across a rug or carpet.
 
Replaced our 33yr old Kenmore aka Whirlpool washer and dryers, old school mechanical timers. New models Maytag mechanical as well.
Spent more to buy the old school models vs 'electronic' and no regrets.
 
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I went ahead and ordered a cheaper Bissell. It doesn't have 'swivel', it doesn't let you lift the vacuum off the base for easy carrying around, it doesn't have auto-height adjustment (just a manual knob), it's about as basic as you can get. It's feature-wise identical to my old dyson that I liked. We shall see.

With the money saved vs. the $300 repair bill, I'm going to go ahead and order a case of 9mm. :)

Also, when the new one arrives I'm going to write the purchase date on the unit itself so when it fails I'll know exactly what sort of longevity I got out of it.
 
We had one of these growing up. One. They had it before I was born and I took it with me when I moved out. Probably still works - I have no idea what happened to it. Wonder it they are still that good?

filterqueen.com

Vacuum Cleaners | HEPA Vacuum | Surface Cleaner | Majestic | FilterQueen

Clean Air, Clean Homes. Since 1928. Meet the Majestic Surface Cleaner. Because a vacuum cleaner just isn't good enough. The Majestic has bagless cyclonic action made to clean hardwood and tile to furniture and bedding, the Majestic is much more than an ordinary vacuum cleaner.
filterqueen.com filterqueen.com
 
Jayne said:
Today I get the call, and the 'circuit board' has failed and it's $300 to repair. WTF? A 'circuit board'? Why the hell would a vacuum cleaner have any sort of circuit at all, it's an AC motor with two switches.
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Exactly right. It's got a micro because it *can* have a micro, not because it needed one.

My wife was amused that I spent a couple hrs fixing her old Hoover (from the 60's...I think it was her parent's ). It's a big heavy metal thing that they probably sold a million of. It was a PITA to get apart but it turned out there was an open between the switch on the handle and the motor in the floor part of the unit.

I fixed the open, cleaned the thing , put a new cord on it and it'll probably run another 50 yrs.

Along these lines, ( mandatory complexity ) the best microwave oven I ever had, had 2 dials and a START button. The top dial was the heating rate ( high for boiling and burning things, and oh....about 30% for warm-ups) and the lower dial selected the time.

That was it. No "beep beep beep" pecking in all the information. No need for a manual .. it was simple. If I could find one like it, I'd buy it, but I've never seen another so straightforward.

It's easy to make things complex, it's much more of a challenge to make them simple and workable.
 
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Me. said:
I’m trying to think of a situation they would compete.
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On their own, which would you rather have a spoonful of?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Me.
I guess I'll bring this back from 2023.

What's the best vacuum for the money in 2024??
My Dyson is acting up some...still works.. but wife and I never liked the hose function that was in the handle.

We need a vac with a hose...as we use it often. Been looking at sharks at Costco. ... .but not too impressed..they just look ok.

Thoughts??

DS
 
The Shark vacs are plastic and seem like they're cheaply made, but they do work very well.
If not the Shark go straight to Meile, but expect to pay $600
 
Become less enamored with Shark. I just had one crap out that was less than 3 years old. Turned it off, and would never turn on again. It's replacement doesn't seem anywhere near as powerful, nor does it have as many features.
 
Jayne said:
We can put a 1970s supercomputer on our wrist for $50, but we can't make a 121 year old "thing that sucks junk into a bag" tech for the same that lasts. Something wrong about that.
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It's not an issue of "we can't", it's that the folks making those items don't want to and they feel quite strongly about the matter.

Mathieu18 said:
My wife wanted this done too. Reinforces why I will do it myself (eventually).
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In the middle of that myself...
 
We're having great value with a factory refurbished Meile. Was 1/2 the $ of new.
Been 5 years, no issues. Can't say the same for the Orecks we had.
 
rdinatal said:
We're having great value with a factory refurbished Meile. Was 1/2 the $ of new.
Been 5 years, no issues. Can't say the same for the Orecks we had.
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From their website????
 
We bought a "Shark ICZ362H Vertex Pro Powered Lift-Away Cordless Vacuum" July 2023. Still going strong. Battery lasts long enough to do our house and more convenient than corded. Enough power for our hardwood floors. If you have thick lush carpet I wouldn't recommend cordless. This vacuum has power settings and you can adjust for the floor type. Our Dyson animals brushes blew dog hair around instead of sucking it up. This shark on the hard floor setting is more efficient.

We bought one of those Bissell power mop vacuum things at the same time. Haven't decided how I feel about that thing yet.
 
I have a Philips Magnavox alarm clock, vintage 1998, still works.
 
Our Miele is about six years old. Has survived in a house with large dogs and two young boys - no issues other than me crushing the metal wand nozzle (lost grip on couch while cleaning underneath).

Replacement part was not cheap, but it was available through local dealer. And again, it was my fault.

It shows no signs of significant wear, so I expect to get at least a decade of total service out of it.
 
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DirtySCREW said:
I guess I'll bring this back from 2023.

What's the best vacuum for the money in 2024??
My Dyson is acting up some...still works.. but wife and I never liked the hose function that was in the handle.

We need a vac with a hose...as we use it often. Been looking at sharks at Costco. ... .but not too impressed..they just look ok.

Thoughts??

DS
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It's a matter of how close you are to an actual vacuum cleaner store and how much you're willing to spend for something that you won't have to throw away.

The first part is key, as ANY vacuum you buy from conventional stores is by economic definition engineered to a production cost that is needed to sell at a mass market price point. The second part is also key, as that mass market price point will NOT get you what you seek.

We have one each Miele, Riccar, and Sebo. The Riccar is US made. We do NOT have vacuum cleaner issues here, ever. I cannot tell you how old these devices are ... the Miele is probably the eldest and they don't make that model anymore, if I ever found another I'd buy it in seconds.
 
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I shall refrain from commenting on the status of my vacuum or refrigerator lest I invoke the wrath of the Appliance Fates.

But yep, they just don’t build ‘em like they used to:

https://tinyurl.com/46yrsInSpace

"Engineers can't determine with certainty what caused the issue. Two possibilities are that the chip could have been hit by an energetic particle from space or that it simply may have worn out after 46 years."

https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/

https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/orrery/#/sc_voyager_1
 
I have a ~1932 E.L. Mustee gas water heater in the shed. Might hook that up. Nothing to go wrong on it. Want hot water? Light the burner. Since there's no safeties, just make sure you turn it off when you're done.
 
Mr. Bggs said:
Wife was thinking about redoing the bathrooms. Had a guy come out to quote us on ripping out the old tub and replacing with a shower only unit.

I said i know this thing is old so we thought it might be time. His response was- "you'd be surprised but we actually change out more tubs from houses that are 5-10 years old than we do on older houses(20-40 years old) . Those things were built to last."

The quote for the cheapest basic shower only unit they had was $14,977... if i paid cash that day it was $11,000.
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That's not plumbing, that's robbery! Maybe I should unretire.
 
Beef15 said:
Yeah everything is disposable. 15/20 years ago a friend of mine whose wife ran a cleaning service said Dyson was trash. When I did environmental services we ran some loud metal thing that looked out of the sixties. At home, Shark, solid function and don't bother fixing anything not obvious, they last 5+ years.
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I bet that "metal thing" was a Kirby. those things were tanks!
 
We have had a few Dysons. They break. Replacement parts are very expensive. Christmas time I bought a Hoover on sale from Amazon for $99 usually $189. Great suction, a little loud. A little plastic protruding nob that holds the handle wand in place broke after two months. Replacement part is $75... It now has duct tape holding it on. Once it completely dies Ill get one of those lightweight Orecks the cleaning people at work use. They seem to work well and weigh nothing. It's all the cheap plastic on everything which they know will break and the replacement parts is where they make the money. Eventually we will have descent 3d scanners and and printers at home to make these replacement parts. That will be the game changer.
 
Timfoilhat said:
The Shark vacs are plastic and seem like they're cheaply made, but they do work very well.
If not the Shark go straight to Meile, but expect to pay $600
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That's vastly different than my experience. We've had three Shark vacuums and none of them has lasted longer than a year. The current cheap Black and Decker that i posted about last year is the only one that my wife's hair hasn't killed.
 
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