My father has a Kirby, he bought it new for around $900 many years ago. It’s built like a tank but I found it’s performance to be very unimpressive. Like have to go over the same spot 20 times to pick up a piece of lint. The Kenmore picked up everything on the first pass.
Sears still uses top brands to build their equipment. In the past three years we bought a name brand mattress, a Kenmore dishwasher, and a Whirlpool clothes washer at Sears. I believe the dishwasher is made by Whirlpool. We bought the Whirlpool clothes washer because it was on sale for less than the identical Kenmore unit that Whirlpool built. I consider all three to be top quality items. I did my research befor purchase.
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Agree, I also have one. It works well, but not well enough to justify it’s cost over other brands. I will say this though, I’ve had mine for around 7 years and nothing on it has broke, I haven’t had to replace a belt or anything.
True about the Kenmore brand. But Sears Kenmore did have pretty high standards for products at one time. They were a Big Dog in appliance retailing and commanded a quality product. Often better than the competition. My mom’s 50 year old Kenmore vacuum was built like a tank (heavy as one, too) and would not die!
The GM division I worked for built Craftsman bench grinders up into the middle 70’s to Sears’ specifications. The grinders were quite good quality back in the day but I think we’ve all seen the decline in Sears line of products from Kenmore to Craftsman and more over the last 30 years or so.
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We are still using a Eureka upright vacuum cleaner I bought new 40 years ago in 1977. I can still get bags and drive belts at Wal-Mart. I did put new brushes in the rotating drum and put new carbon brushes in the motor, but that is all. However, as an upright, it didn’t have much section for the tools. I was walking through Sears and saw a canister vacuum priced at $19.95. I thought the price was great and then found that the tools had been lost and all that was available was the canister and the hose. I bought it reasoning that the tools from my upright Eureka would work. I was right. Two days after I made my $19.95 purchase of the Sears vacuum cleaner, I could get an extended warranty for only twenty dollars year for the next three years. I declined this great warranty. My guess is that that type of extended warranty conforms well to what the auto industry does.
The Kirby salesmen use the exact same sales tactics as the worst dealer you could mention, I had 3 guys standing in my living room giving me the hard sell on a $1,800 sale. I gave the next sales guy that stopped by a year or so later a real piece of my mind. I stopped answering the door to any sales people after that.
If I don’t recognize a person who rings my doorbell, I don’t even bother to open the door.
Everyone with whom I am familiar, and with whom I do business, knows both my landline and my cellphone numbers. If someone whom I do not recognize shows-up at my door without first phoning me, he/she/it will not get the courtesy of a response.
And, the manic barking of my dog- coupled with his looming presence at my front windows–is enough to scare most people away if they are not legitimate.
The one persistent person who did not get scared away by my dog’s barking was convinced to leave when I asked–through the front door–if he wanted me to release my dog. He RAN away very quickly at that point. That pest was probably not a thief, but even if he just wanted to try to scam me into buying a solar panel system, I think that he got what he deserved.
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We have a ’ No Soliciting ’ sign on our front door. Not complete answer but it does help.
It’s debatable whether those actually work, but i haven’t seen much of any sales people in the neighborhood for awhile.
Not great reviews for the Dyson so far, hope the car is better.
We have an Oreck my wife likes, we have a screened in porch that is carpeted, we keep a crappy vacuum out there. The old hoover fell apart, bought a hoover wind tunnel with a bag, and all the attachments for $10 at goodwill. I did not realize at the time a wheel set was missing, near doubled my cost as a new wheel set was $9. I cannot believe the prices of vacuums, and LED bulbs, no 100 watt cfls, 4 led similar light output as100 watt light output bulbs Near $14, yikes. Good for 10,000 hours, guest the old ones estimated 1,000 hours, will reoup cost if I do not move I guess.
She likes it better than the oreck, but like her new car I rarely ever use it.
I never see sales people at my door, all I get are the religious people. I’ve learned never to engage them in any conversation beyond casual chit-chat or they never leave and keep coming back.
I dunno, I don’t like the guys doing roofing work in the area knocking on my door but how can you refuse a couple kids selling discount cards for the high school band? Its only $20 and I used to do the same door to door for choir. So far haven’t found a coupon I can actually use though.
I also have a Eureka upright commercial model that I bought years ago. Its like new. Doesn’t everyone wax their vacuums and appliances? I’ve had to replace some items like the 25 foot cord, brush, fan and so on but the parts are cheap and it does a good job. I put new motor brushes in it a couple years ago and found the old ones were hardly worn. So what if the wife doesn’t like it-I do all the vacuuming.
Beware of the new appliances though. They are not what they used to be. I’ll admit I like some features but I noticed the sheet metal on the range is quite a bit thinner than the old one and really not much to it. The dishwasher though is super quiet but because of the energy efficiency, it takes over 3 hours to complete a cycle and the appliance guy says not to expect the same life span as the old stuff. Still you have to replace the stuff sometime, like it or not.
Back to cars. I still wish I could find a decent replacement for my G6. V6, pull a trailer, all the normal options, small, etc. I suppose like the last time, when I’m forced into it, I’ll make a decision in a couple days.
Be aware of new lawnmowers too, wife was cutting the grass and said stuff was blowing out all over the place, craftsman mower maybe 8 years old, with a honda engine, there is a 2 inch hole rusted out by the front right wheel.
Never had a mower deck rust a hole, last lawnmower was 20 years old, no rust, hit a tree stump while cutting an elderly neighbors grass, "Thank you neghbor please take this ($5 bill call it charity) broke something in the engine, pull and no turn. So New mower, any patch tips?
No I never clean the grass out.
@bing, here’s a list of rear wheel drive vehicles for the 2016 model year. I’m sure that the 2017 list is similar if not identical.
http://www.rearwheeldrive.org/rwd/rwdlist.html
If you want a Detroit 3 car, the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger and Chevy SS stick out. Check the towing capabilities if you are interested. The SS appeals to me most, but it’s a $40,000 car. The others are probably less expensive. I have to admit that the thought of a tow hitch on a Chevy SS is amusing. If it works for you, though, that’s all that counts.
Naw want FWD.
As far as the mower get the wire feed welder out and just weld a patch. Or without welding, pop rivet a metal patch. I don’t think something like fiberglass would hold from the grass blasting. Then fill, sand, paint, wax, and change oil.
I was thinking about trying some of the aluminum welding rods that work with a propane torch, and a piece of aluminum, maybe even a pop can, I got them years ago at a county fair, anyone ever use them? Probably similar to these.
I chaired the house committee at my church and we had to buy a vacuum cleaner for the custodian. A couple of members of the committee said we should have a Kirby, so I purchased a factory reconditioned Kirby from an authorized dealer. I was always taking it back for a repair at $50 and up a whack. I then went to Big Lots and bought factory reconditioned vacuum cleaners at $49.95. These vacuum cleaners were of different makes–Hoover, Dirt Devil, etc. They would last about three years and croak, at which point I would go back and buy a replacement at Big Lots. All was fine until a new minister came along just as one of the $49.95 reconditioned specials gave out. The minister was convinced we should get an expensive Royal vacuum which I believe is made by Kirby. I was then getting repair bills on the vacuum of $125 and more. It was far cheaper to buy the throwaway vacuums at Big Lot.
If the vacuum cleaner companies get into making cars, I hope these companies make inexpensive cars and when one is replaced under the factory warranty, it is fixed if it is salvageable and sold at a store such as Big Lots at a cheap price. I would then drive a throwaway car at Big Lots.
If the deck is aluminum, sure. I’ve used the rods before. But everything has to be super clean and the rods are more like solder, not welding rods. So it’ll all stay liquid until the heat is removed and will become liquid again if heat is applied again. It melts before the aluminum does (what somewhere around 1500 or so?) but still have to be careful you don’t also melt what you are welding.
@bing I think that automobiles have improved both in reliability and longevity. However, I am not sure the same can be said for household appliances. I spent $275 last January having a shaft bearing replaced in a 25 year old Maytag washing machine. One of the reasons I had it repaired is that Mrs. Triedaq hates to go shopping and the technician did the job in our house in two hours. I have also heard horror stories about the new front loading machines. Our dishwasher and range are 28 years old and still work perfectly. The refrigerator is 22 years old, never had a repair and keeps on doing its job. Our freezer is still going after 36 years. I don’t see the need for new equipment.
The biggest problem I have with old equipment is that parts are no longer available or at least aren’t readily available. I have a 25 year old push type lawnmower. It has a cast aluminium deck that hasn’t rusted out. I replaced the short block about ten years ago. I have gone through a couple sets of wheels. Unfortunately, mower blades are no longer available. The mower has two blades mounted on the engine shaft perpendicular to each other and the mower does a.great job mulching. However, if I put a new short block on the mower and then damage the blade, I am out of luck.
I like to get something new if it is really an improvement over what it replaced. I think the big, flat screen television is vastly superior to the cathode ray tube set it replaced. We gave away a very good console CRT TV when we bought the new technology TV. I am just not convinced that a new range, refrigerator, dishwasher, or washing machine would be enough improvement over what I have that would warrant spending the money.
As far as the mower is.concened, I bought a cordless electric Black and Decker mower from a friend three years ago. The mower is now probably six years old and yet there are a lot of parts that aren’t available. I put in new batteries last year and have only gotten two seasons of use and now the batteries have to be replaced again. I could have purchased quite a bit of gasoline for the $70 I paid for new batteries. Mrs.Triedaq is doing research on the lifespan of a goat to see if the goat would be a feasible replacement for the mowers.
I want the electric car to have a battery unit that you don’t own. I want to go 200 miles and pay a fee to rent a charged battery for the next 200 miles. Three minutes to remove and replace it and you’re on the road again. Just like at a normal service station. $15.000 for the car and $15 to rent the battery. $25 if you’re near Barstow but not quite there.
The dealer can try to up-sell the lock or you could buy a $40 model from Home Depot. The specials at service stations could include battery roller lubrication and corrosion check.