S4210 Sirius

I have the same one (S4210) in blue.

I have the same in black too

Well for starters, the white star isn't 12 years old. It's closer to 20. It would have been discontinued sometime in the 2000s. In fact, you could ask for a picture of the model number sticker underneath and it should have the year of manufacture on it. The white star, while a great vacuum in itself, is suction only. It only came with an air driven brush head originally, and wouldn't be a good choice for medium and deeper carpet piles. Unless somebody has added the electric hose and electric power nozzle, it might not be suitable for some of the homes you clean. And $250 is steep. Maybe with this information you could talk them down some.

Any miele or sebo cylinder would be a great choice. Either can be optioned with a dedicated hard floor brush with no brushbar, no wheels even. And the cylinders themselves have soft rubberized wheels. Best all around option for delicate hard floors.

Sebo or miele if you want something high quality which will actually last 15+ years and be repairable should a part wear out. They have high performance and filtration standards. The shark is fine for 3 to 5 years with decent performance. The dyson, being cordless, you should only expect 2-4 years. And it won't have the performance of the others unless used on it's highest but shortest runtime mode. Kinda comparing apples to oranges here. If you need something immediately the shark is probably ok, but if you want something to last definitley go check out miele and sebo.

I bought the cheapest bagged corded vacuum from Miele that could be found in 2010, it is still running perfectly. Now most of my appliances are Miele.

Miele S series bagged vacuums are one of the GOAT imo. Ours has lasted years and if you buy generic bags, upkeep is a minimum

Prices in Europe are more reasonable for Miele, Sebo and the Henry. Miele S series, Sebo K series and Henry would be the models I'ld be looking at.

Miele is consistently rated as the best among impartial, professional reviewers & can be bought for $300-$500 depending on the model They last a long time as well. Personally I use a Samsung Bespoke Jet, mostly for the convenience factor of having a dust station & no long cables to deal with. We also have an old Miele S series that does a good job after almost a decade (motor overheats a tad though).