I bought a Hoover U5140-900 back in march of 2008, just the other day, it became the third vac in about 5 years to die, because as the belt broke the agitator flopped around too much, eating away at the plastic notch that keeps it in place (so any new belts you put on quickly become scrap)... This was a bag type..
I had a bissel vac at one point, bagless type (cleanview).. it suffered the same fate, and the canister was always a mess trying to empty... I also had a Hoover TurboPower Foldaway Upright (3100 widepath bagless); u5178-900, which was similar...
A friend has said to go for a dc17 dyson sweeper.. but brand new at Target (or online), they are $349 min. Refurbished, there is one out there for $198.. its bagless, does well with pet hair, but i'm not sure if it even has a hose attachment.. i'm assuming the housing isnt plastic, so maybe it would in fact last longer..
I could just go buy another hoover, for $74 shipped.. and hope to get
1.5 more years out of it.In 6 years, i've spend $250 in sweepers.. maybe not that bad...
So, is the dc17 sweeper worth it? Are there cheaper alternatives that dont have plastic where the agitator lives?
Any thoughts?
Thanks very much