I've gone through FOUR vacuums in the past two years.
Brands I will not use any longer:
Bissel
Eureka
Hoover
I've gone through two Bissels, a low-end and a very high end one.. a mid-line Eureka and a high-end Hoover. They all sucked, or rather, haven't sucked hard enough!!
I've had problems w/ an engine catching on fire, holes in the covering of the electrical cord, and most recently, the high-end Bissel that I JUST BOUGHT two months ago, the spring that lines the suction hose collapsed, so every time the vacuum was turned on, the suction would close off in the hose and it couldn't suck anything up.
I realize that I just cut out three of the major brands, really limiting my options, but if anyone has a vacuum that they've had FOR YEARS that they've NEVER had problems with.. when I was growing up, we had the same vacuum for at least 10 years that I remember.. the handle was duct-taped on, but that sucker always worked with no problems! I want one like that!
I'm not that rough on vacuum cleaners, I swear
My husband is ready to kill me.. we've spent like $600 on vacuums in the past two years!