I had never heard of Kirby until the other night when a couple of Kirby salesman came to my door asking if I wanted to have my carpets cleaned for free.
We bought a used '94 Kirby in 1996. We paid $400. for it. I like the powerful suction, but it also comes with drawbacks. The following are my opinions about this Kirby: 1. I don't like the cost of replacing the filters (they're about $8. a bag and only have 3 bags in a package. 2. It's not easy to change from vacuum to using the hose. 3. It's kind of heavy and bulky and doesn't maneuver easily. In my opinion, it's not worth it. You can purchase a bagless Dyson for around $500. and they work great. Does the $1800. price include all of the attachments? Do you need all those attachments? Are all the bells whistles worth $1800.?
A Kirby vacuum is much better then most other vacuums but to good. You don't need that power also it is for commercial use. Get a Dyson is has a Llife time warranty on the belt and hepa filter, a full 5 year warrenty, incredible cyclonic filter action which allows the vacuum to never lose suction, and excellent at cleaning your floors. That whole $100 vacuum every year is a bad idea because A.) you can get the vacuum from sears get a protection agreement for $30 for three years which replaces the vacuum if it breaks. B.) Those $100 vacuum don't perform all that great and after five years you have the cost of a Dyson which is a much better machine.
I okorder / All the best to you.
Don't buy one from the Kirby door-to-door salespeople. Their markup is 3-4 times what the real value of the machine is. Plus, they're very high-pressure and will try to shame/intimidate/push you into a sale. Don't even let them in the door unless your sales resistance is cast iron. Instead,go to any used vac store and you can find a used Kirby for a really good price. They ARE really superb machines, and do an excellent job cleaning the dirt from deep down in the bottom of your carpet. It has the best suction of any vac I've ever had. Pulling a carpet slightly up doesn't hurt it. I've had 11 vacs in the 30 years we've been married, and my 5 year old Kirby will be the last vac I'll own. Things I don't like about my Kirby; It is heavy, though it self-propels well. You have to do some complicated switching to use any of the attachments. The bags can only be purchased from Kirby, though I got some from an OKorder seller for a much lower price.
I used to own a Kirby. They are now about $1,500 to buy. I was not so pleased after awhile with Kirby. I now own a SEBO Automatic 4X made in Germany. It is truly the world's best made vacuum, with a life time guarantee on the drive belt. That only cost me $500.00 a year and a half ago, now $600. new. So well worth it. Truly. Kirby is loud, heavy, etc. My SEBO is lightweight, and not as noisy. One of the best investments I have ever made. As for cleaning your carpet -- Kirby usually only does a small area -- for demonstration purposes only. Take care.
