who has a kirby vacuum?

[look 171]

Traveling sales man sold my wife a Kirby vacuum yesterday. This damn thing was 1900 bucks. Are they that good? I am all for spending money on good appliances, but a 2000 dollar vacuum? That's freaking nuts.

[Hugh R]

I have one, but with hard wood floors, now I only use it to vacuum the cars. They are excellent, but I inherited mine. 30+ years old and is as solid as you can get. IIRC, you can only buy bags for it at a dealer. I'd buy an extra belt while you are at it.

[vonsmog]

My wife has one, as real men don't vacuum! and you can buy the bags and belts on Ebay. Also the fans will brake when sucking up coins from under the car seats, don't ask me how I know!

[cgarr]

I got one for my Wife when we were married 24 years ago and still have it. (and the wife) We got another one used a few years back for the down stairs so she didn't have to lug it down.

[Tobra]

good, but not that good, can do a lot with them though, attachments to clean carpets and stuff

[Hugh R]

Originally Posted by vonsmog

. Also the fans will brake when sucking up coins from under the car seats, don't ask me how I know!

Yep, when you pull the vacuum head off, you are looking at what looks like a 911 magnesium fan. Imagine tossing a few coins in your 911 fan when its running. A 911 tune up is cheaper.

[Bob Goding]

And--that turbine/fan is left hand thread. [Ask me ,howI know!]

[MotoSook]

I sold Kirby vacuums for a few weeks when home from college one year. They are good machines but I would not buy one. Too much money and you really only use it as a vacuum.

As it turned out my wife had bought one before we were married, and we used it until this past winter. The thing died and I never got around to troubleshoot it. We bought a new Hoover (with a small canister for small jobs) for about $275. The Hoover does a great job and the little canister companion is perfect for the kitchen and dinning room floor.

Anyhow, today's electric motors are damn good and there are lots and lots of choices for vacuums....I just can't see spending $1900 for a Kirby.


I remember every day the guy who owned the Kirby dealership would get us in a room and give us a pep talk ending with a group sing along. Old school salesmanship selling an old school product.

[Mark Howard]

Had one, hated it, POS broke all the time, worse buy I ever let my wife talk me into. Got rid of it after a couple years. YMMV.

[cgarr]

Left hand thread? My wife if left handed Ill let her do it..

[MBAtarga]

$1900????

are you kidding me? I hope it swallows as well as sucks!

[nostatic]

I'll take my $350 Miele. My parents had a Kirby when I was growing up. The thing was pretty much indestructible.

[Reg]

I think you can paint a car with a Kirby. What about a Dyson? They're ~$400ish and supposed to be great.

[stomachmonkey]

In my experience Kirbys have a longer shelf life than Twinkies.

Don't own one now and could not imagine shelling out for one in the future.

[Mr.Puff]

Yikes on the price! Dyson is even having a $120 off promotion.

Dyson special offers - official site | Dyson.com

[Scott R]

Mine is a hand me down that must be 25 years old, (Legend 2 or something) every few years it takes a new fan, or a bearing, but they are easy to get parts for and easy to work on. I doubt I would have purchased it new, but it's probably going to outlive me.

[Laneco]

Until we bought a Kirby, we went through a vacuum cleaner every two years max (many only lasting a year or so). Always bought cheap vacuums, that along with a fair amount of abuse contributed to poor performance and a short life span.

I bought a Kirby about 12 or 13 years ago. Can't kill it, and it performs as good as the day I bought it.

Overpriced, but very good machines. Much less expensive than the previous regular failures and replacements of the cheap vacuums. If they could get a Kirby down to about $400 or $500, with the same durability, they would put everyone else out of business.

angela

[rusnak]

My new favorite vacuum is my 5gal. Fein wet/dry vacuum with the rotating power brush head attachment. Total man-vacuum that cleans as well as the $2,000 Electrolux Aerus, which kicks the snot out of the Kirby or Miele.

[Danimal16]

And I thought my Wap Alto was expensive.

[GH85Carrera]

We have a central vacuum system. 100% of the dust goes out to the garage and up into the attic. Best vacuum on the market.