Electrolux or Aerus Consumer Reports?

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ronni

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Just wondering if any Electrolux or Aerus machines (vacuum cleaners, shampooers, etc.) have ever been rated in Consumer Reports--favorably or unfavorably?

I also wanted to mention that Aerus acknowledged to me that their human resources in the main office are limited. I am wondering if they will pull through after the Great Recession; as that is often an indication of financial strain (along with the fact that Aerus's presence is less widespread than Electrolux's). In addition, their record-keeping seems sporadic; as they are able to provide information on only some of their previously-manufactured machines--and some if it has been inaccurate (by their own admission).

I mentioned that I would pass the word along about their limited resources, so those of us that are involved in Vacuumland won't put additional burdens on them.
 
Yes Ronnie:
Communist Reports has rated the Electrolux favorably through the years, only recently (after Aerus) have they been somewhere in the middle and not at the top of the ratings. Wondering what "burdens" you are talking about putting on Aerus? The Vice President of the Company is a very good friend of mine. I speak to him at length about the 'glory days', but it really doesn't matter to the company about what they "used" to do, only what they are 'going' to do. The past is the past, only the future is changeable. Electrolux history is very easy to find out, Charles Lester has a fantastic website devoted to that one subject. I hope no one on Vacuumland would be calling up Aerus to find out information they could get from Mr. Lester's website.
 
Thanks Tom.

To clarify, I wanted to know about the commercial vacuum cleaners (which are not completely covered on the product history chart) and machines that are just grouped together on the chart without years of manufacture. While Charles' website is very thorough it is limited to the canisters before, during, and right after Electrolux USA was a subsidiary of AB Electrolux (Model 1205). Doug Smith does have a more inclusive history, but it too has gaps. As a result, I thought going to "the source" was most prudent.

The aforementioned machines routinely show up on eBay, so I wanted to know more about them. I have heard that the motors of the Marquise and later 1521s were problematic, so I would have to guess that other canisters made during that time had the same motors.

I would have thought my requests were easily retrievable from a computer database, so when Aerus told me that they were unable to locate the information due to limited resources I felt that I was burdening them. I just wanted to spread the word; as I figured others did not know the situation.

Yes, it would be great if all could afford the prices of current Aerus products. Unfortunately, that is not the case which is why researching used machines is necessary.
 
ronni:

Electrolux was always a "class" machine, not a "mass" machine, and Aerus is simply maintaining that market positioning.

In the early '70s, I used to work a few doors down from an Electrolux agency on Piedmont Avenue in Atlanta, and found the window displays very tempting. At the time, the latest and greatest machine was the 1205. The salesmen of that agency had buffed and waxed the display model until its aluminum parts looked like sterling silver.

I went in and inquired about this dazzling machine, and found that it was over three hundred dollars, an amount of money which would buy you a older, serviceable used car at that time.

So, it has always been that way. Electrolux did work very, very hard with consumers to help them afford the machines; they financed, they would sell the canister and the power nozzle separately, and they would let you trade up. But they still weren't giving the vacuums away.
 
In the late 1960's, I remember that Consumer Reports rated the Electrolux 1205 as the top-rated canister primarily due to the effective carpet cleaning offered by its power nozzle. The year may have been 1968....can't remember for sure which year the 1205 was being sold.
 
I have a 73 Consumer Reports

And it does indeed rate the 1205 at the top, the L just under it, It said the Electrolux was the equal of the top rated uprights in carpet cleaning.
 
One

of the tests they do is using wood flour. The combo of wood(sawdust and flour) to test cleaning. they always say Aerus /Electrolux would prematurely stop while testing and not pickup as good as some others. The bags were getting sealed with the flour like soot and shutting off due to lack of airflow.
 
In many Consumer Reports magazines they have been reviewed. Just about every one as a matter of fact. One only has to go to the library and read back thru the editions to see as far back as the magazine goes I guess. They were always check-marked as recommended at least for most of that history. The 1205 was ranked #1 or #2 for several years in the late 1960's-early 1970's. Through the 1980's Consumer Reports began to focus on price. They have hardly ever ranked the higher priced models better than the cheaper brands. I read the edition in 1991 or 1992 when the Epic 6500SR was reviewed. They ranked it "very good" on carpet, "excellent" on bare floor, "good" on noise, "fair" on hose airflow, and "very good" on filtration. The review had an asterisk with a side note that stated the Epic 6500SR shut off before the test was complete. This was around the time they started using talcum powder I believe. This causes Lux machines to shut off quickly due to reduced airflow. The Guardian Ultra was rated "Good" on carpet and "excellent" on bare floors. They never rank very high in Consumer Reports testing and neither does Rainbow or Kirby or Filter Queen.
 
Well that may be true these days kirbyloverdan. I've not read it in so long I wouldn't know. Kirby didn't used to rank high. Going back to the 1950's they ranked them rock bottom. For 40 some years they ranked Kirby "below average" in performance. They have never recommended them to my knowledge.
 
It's primarily because Consumer Reports has devoted themselves to convincing the public that the cheaper Walmart Bissell's, Eureka's, Dirt Devil's, etc. that last 2 years are just as good and usually better than the high-end machines which last 50 years sometimes. They "prove" this by highly unscientific methods to see which one sucks up more talcum powder and sand. Everyone knows fine powders like that are murder on most machines and starve clean air systems of airflow. I pay them no mind.
 
Regarding Aerus' survival-I think they will. The Lux Guardian Platinum machine is by all accounts a runaway success. People on Aerus Facebook pages are raving about it and love it. Many Aerus outlets are reporting sales far exceeding their wildest projections and having huge waiting lists.
 
Christopher

that's OK I do NOT like CR at all and being a vacuum professional common sense tells you their testing is garbage . They need to try real world dirt NOBOBY vacuums up talc (wood pulp) while cleaning on a regular basis that right there shows they know NOTHING . Plus they are VERY unfair leaving out MANY brands and they continue to test OLD vacuums never replacing belts or filters as needed.
CR is a book for those who haven't got a clue about products and need help to decide on a purchase .

Dan
 
So what is it about the cheaper cleaners that effectively suck up the wood flour or talcum powder? And, if Consumer Reports is partial to them, is there another company that tests vacuum cleaners in a more impartial way?

Have the Carpet Beautifiers, Floor Beautifiers and Floor Pros ever been rated?

Yeah, it seems like the Lux Guardian Platinum (Lux Intelligence overseas) is the modern equivalent of the Model XXX. I wonder if it will have as long of duration? If they're smart they'll keep the name and just change the model ids as they make changes and improvements instead of changing the names of the machines and model ids like they did with the 1205 over the years. That will help put Aerus on the map for sure.
 
Kirbyloverdan you really hit the nail on the head in your assessment of Consumer Reports and it's methods. I'm glad I'm not the only one that can see through them.

Kevin, it's not that the cheaper brands suck it up better in all cases. Consumer Reports takes many considerations into account when they rank them. Price, noise, filtration, ease of pushing, airflow at hose (they feed machine talcum powder and see how long it takes it to reduce), pet hair, and how much sand/talcum powder it picks up. They then rank which ones work best for the greatest "value" (best buy). Aerus vacuums have NEVER ranked "poor" in cleaning performance. They've never even ranked "fair" in cleaning. The primary issue is with the powder used which clogs Aerus/Lux bags rapidly. The airflow is thus reduced to the point they don't pick up anymore. Having said that, they always perform well despite the fact that their bags seal up with talcum powder and the airflow falls off rapidly (see Epic 6500SR results above). Aerus is well aware of this and often performs the same tests during demonstrations. The thing to remember about Consumer Reports is that it is price-based. Good performance for a good buy is what they are about. Many of their machines won't be performing nearly as well after 2 years as they did out of the box whereas Kirby and Rainbow will be working 30 years later.
 
Very interesting

discussion. I'm not at all worried about the quality or performance of the older models and the now newly launched beautiful 90th anniversary units. I've seen them in action and they are quite nice. I only wish the Platinum Guardian had the tools fastened to the canister in lieu of the wand. Anyone know if that's on the horizon??

That said; the GA / FL Aerus store network seems to be contracting and/or on austerity. Near my folks on the south east coast of Florida, there is a tired store with all old stock on display and no Platinum Guardian. While traveling in Atlanta, the Buckhead Roswell/Paces Ferry Road (read very high dollar wealthy neighborhood & zip codes)has recently closed and the Tucker GA location is gone too. The Sarasota FL location moved from a nice conveniently located storefront to a out-of-the way run down area.

I'm thinking about getting an Aerus cleaner for my folks and kind of getting the itch for another for us, but just a little concerned with where things are going. The competition is fierce and as previously mentioned certainly the economic downturn did not help. That said; there seems to be enough Miele dealers around and they seem to be the default premium recommended brand--- whether you are interested or not!

Why doesn't Aerus do some advertising, expand their dealer network and update their business model??

Just askin' and sayin'

-L.P.
 
Re Consumer reports..

I love to read the old ones, but you can tell they didnt know what they were doing half the time...in the 60s they rated a Norge washer as good, but a Wards terrible......they were the same machine!!!
 

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