DC04 and below are absolutely buy it for life. Powerful, infinitely repairable and built tough out of thick ABS. Then they moved production out of the UK and cheapened every thing.
Their modern vacuums are absolute e waste crap now. Thin and brittle plastic, bespoke batteries and more filters that you get locked into buying. They're trash. Suction power after a few years will be a fraction of what it was, even with maintenance.
If you want BIFL, get a Henry Hoover.
Don’t do it, get a corded. Don’t let the convenience fool you. I went down this road and ended up buying 3 Dyson DC04s and making one extra powerful one. Don’t do that (took a whole weekend, no warranty, parts are all ancient), but what I’m saying is a vacuum from 2002 works so much better than any cordless vacuum sold today, so imagine what a new corded vacuum can do for you, even a cheap one.
Dyson is a good call. My Mum has a DC01, still going strong after 30 years, and aside from the usual filter replacements I've only had to do a couple of cable repairs. It's a little heavy for her now, and I've been trying to convince her to buy a stick vac, but she's holding out. I also have a 25 year old DC04 and that's subjected to regular abuse, sucking up sand, cement, plaster. It's no longer the daily driver, but only because my wife wanted something lighter, but repair wise, I've replaced the brush once, otherwise strip, clean and rebuild when it becomes uncooperative.
My family has a Dyson DC04 and we've had it for as long as I can remember, if not longer than I've been alive. Its only ever had small issues that have been fixed easily with new or reused parts from a local store that services all sorts of vacuums. We've replaced the belts, tubes and even the chamber (mainly because I snapped a handle off of it by trying to pick up the whole thing with a clearly unsuitable handle) but the main thing works flawlessly. Service your vacuum cleaner correctly and it will definitely last you for life.
Same here, the Dyson DC14 is getting long in the tooth.
I have tried a Shark - Worked well for 2 years then fell apart.
Tried a Vax - Same thing.
Tried a DC50 - Flimsy pile of shit, sucks ok but nowhere near as good as the DC14.
DC41 - Same issues as DC50 and was stupidly hard to push because of the stupid ball.
DC14- The king, had it for 20 years and still works like new, except it has a very strong burning smell.
DC04 - Was good, but not as good as the DC14 and fell to pieces after a couple years.
Flimsy-River8
