Looking to Buy a new Vacuum

[Chetlaham]

I currently have a Kenmore Intuition 116.31100902 Vacuum and I love it. I want to buy a new one of equal quality and performance but absolutely unsure what to buy. Are these Kenmore vacuums equal to my old one Intuition? And who is now making the specifications and selling these Kenmore vacuums now that Sears is no longer in business?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075DZY7FR

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M36B5JZ

 

[centralsweeper63]

Why do you want to replace it. It may be an easy fix.

 

[cheesewonton]

I currently have a Kenmore Intuition 116.31100902 Vacuum and I love it. I want to buy a new one of equal quality and performance but absolutely unsure what to buy. Are these Kenmore vacuums equal to my old one Intuition? And who is now making the specifications and selling these Kenmore vacuums now that Sears is no longer in business?


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075DZY7FR

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M36B5JZ

Kenmore's current upright vacuums are not as nice as your Intuition. Today you would have to spend $500 or more minimum to get as nice an upright as your Intuition. But Kenmore's canister vacuums, especially the 600 Series are, I think, the best canister vacuums Kenmore has ever sold.

So in it's entire history Kenmore never made anything. Their business model since day one was to hire other appliance manufacturers to make products to Kenmore's specifications. The first three digits of a Kenmore appliance or Craftsman power tool model number is the manufacturer's code. Your Intuition was made by Panasonic at their plant in Monterrey Mexico. Over the decades Kenmore vacuums have been manufactured by Birtman Electric, Whirlpool, Singer, Eureka, Panasonic, Electrolux Group ( the Swedish company ), LG, Sanyo, and a company owned by Casio wrist watches who's name escapes me. Currently all Kenmore vacuums are made by Suzhou Cleva Electric Appliance Co Ltd in Suzhou China, an hour and a half drive from Shanghai ( it is a resort area along Lake Tai ). Circa 2016 Panasonic decided to exit the North American vacuum market and wanted to offload their Kenmore vacuum business. Suzhou Cleva was already making shop vacs for Craftsman and were selling shop vacs under the Vacmaster and Armor All brand names so taking over the Kenmore vacuum biz from Panasonic was a natural step. They have done much to improve Kenmore canister vacuums but their uprights are sort of chasing Shark and Diesoon in terms of style, features and light weight, but they are not as durable or repairable as the old, sober but solid Panasonic made Kenmore uprights.

 

[centralsweeper63]

If you love it why would you replace it?

 

[Chetlaham]

Thanks for the knowledgeable replies everyone!

If you love it why would you replace it?

The plastic underneath is broken and getting caught up on the carpet. In addition to that the height adjustment wheels are getting stuck. Pushing the vacuum backward and forward has become impossible. The suction is excellent and hose wand is still working like new. I absolutely LOVE this vacuum with all my might and to be honest it is one of the best I have ever owned. However I just can't vacuum carpet any longer and cleaning hardwood has become a workout.

 

[eurekaprince]

The current Kenmore Elite Direct Drive upright is an excellent carpet cleaner and is top-rated by Consumer Reports. You can shut off the brush roll to vacuum bare floors safely. It’s made in China by the Cleva Company which bought all the vacuum designs from Panasonic when Panasonic stopped making vacuums in the USA.

 

[Chetlaham]

How is the quality of the new Clava Kenmores vs the old Panasonic Kenmores?

 

[cheesewonton]

The current Kenmore Elite Direct Drive upright is an excellent carpet cleaner and is top-rated by Consumer Reports. You can shut off the brush roll to vacuum bare floors safely. It’s made in China by the Cleva Company which bought all the vacuum designs from Panasonic when Panasonic stopped making vacuums in the USA.

That flavor of the Intuition has the same direct drive brush roll as the Elite but honestly the Intuition is a much nicer vacuum to use.

 

[cheesewonton]

Thanks for the knowledgeable replies everyone!





The plastic underneath is broken and getting caught up on the carpet. In addition to that the height adjustment wheels are getting stuck. Pushing the vacuum backward and forward has become impossible. The suction is excellent and hose wand is still working like new. I absolutely LOVE this vacuum with all my might and to be honest it is one of the best I have ever owned. However I just can't vacuum carpet any longer and cleaning hardwood has become a workout.

I have to run to the doctors right now but I bet the part you need is either on ebay or maybe someplace like eVacuumstore has one.

 

[panasonicvac]

How is the quality of the new Clava Kenmores vs the old Panasonic Kenmores?

Quality wise, I honestly can't tell the differences. I even bet that if Cleva was still selling the 31069 that it'd be the same, that was in my opinion the last good Kenmore upright. But if I wanted to buy a Kenmore upright today, I'd get myself a SEBO who once made vacuums for Kenmore. Anyways, hope you'll enjoy your new Kenmore I just noticed you bought on the other forum. You can still buy a Sanitaire if you wanted to as a second vacuum you've mentioned about or just fix up your other Kenmore. Honestly, I prefer living in a place where there's more than one vacuum to use (that's one of the reasons why I collect vacuums). Makes it rather less boring to vacuum in my opinion, one can be a spare if the other is put out of service, two people can vacuum at once, one can help clean the other vacuum out for maintenance, or do some fun comparison tests.

 

[centralsweeper63]

What about a cirrus/prolux/airway upright, aren't the very similar to this kenmore machine.

 

[panasonicvac]

Not really, this Panasonic Optiflow MC-UG787 was more similar to that red Kenmore but even better.

https://vacuumland.org/threads/the-top-panansonic-mc-ug787.21678/

 

[centralsweeper63]

I know that was more similar but if the OP wants a new machine it is very unlikely they will find one of those. If they did that would be a good option.

 

[panasonicvac]

Chet already bought a new machine.

https://automaticwasher.org/threads/new-kenmore-vacuum.99831/