Opinions on the new RICCAR R25 D and 25p?!

[johnsmith96]

So yesterday I went up to the vacuum store because I was sick of waiting to see when my Felix brushroll would ship on eBay. Plus I didn't buy any bags yet which would have taken more time for them to come too. I ended up going to a vacuum cleaner store that also sells riccar and Miele. the New riccar series machines caught my eye. I know that they aren't brand-spanking-new, and have been out for a few months but there's very few videos online of them. Really the only videos are from stores trying to sell them. They look like they've added some cool features like the low and high speed brush. I kind of look at it like a "sebomeilux". It has the drop-in bag design like an Electrolux upright. Miele S7 swivel casters. And the dusting brush mounts on the handle like a sebo as well as sebo's new X7 and X4 series with the headlight and the shape of their nozzle. It also has some slight thought in my head from orecks elevate series having three models and all a hundred dollars spaced apart. Someone mentioned to me that these are made in China, I'm not sure if that really bothers me. It looks like a lot of RICCAR say so is put into the design. the pricing seems pretty good too. And what I like the most is you're not really losing anything from the premium down to the deluxe except for the dirt sensor and a slightly longer warranty.

Any thoughts?

 

[blackheart]

They're ok

Admittedly when they first came out I was less than thrilled, they were doing away with the time tried simple design of the vibrance for these machines. The BOL R25S carries a 1 year warranty and sells for like 500 I was like...a machine in that price range from a premium company should stand behind their machine more than that. Especially when the BOL Vibrance sold for 249 and carried a 3 year warranty.

I figured with the long airpath they'd have low airflow. I've not tested that yet but I've seen a baird meter pull about a 3 for them though which would put it around 70 cfm at the hose. Which is definitely on the low side.

I have stopped into the shop to see them in person and it's better than I expected it to be. It seems like the nozzle may be well sealed because while the flow wasn't that strong at the hose it produced decent agitation on a rug. So it makes good use of the power it does have. I don't think I'd look into buying one unless I got a great deal on it but it's an okay machine.

 

[dysonman1]

It's totally made in China. There is a lot of people who 'used' to work at the factory before the decision to make everything except the ultra lite line in China. I do not feel that they clean as well as other Riccar uprights. Some dealers seem to have quality control issues, which the Chinese machines always had. I would have reservations about buying one.

 

[singingrainbow]

I have one

I actually bought the deluxe model a few months ago from a local vac shop.

Generally I like it, it does everything I need and is relatively compact given the features. I think I prefer it over the vibrance series (in most ways). So far no quality issues to speak of, it seems well thought out and designed. I'm not happy with the move to china. If this machine didn't have certain unique features I wouldn't have bought one. I'll try to do a bigger write up on it soon.

I hope they continue making the lightweights in the USA at least, I'll have to consider getting one while that's still the case.

 

[johnsmith96]

Oh man

Now I'm not sure if I should buy one or not haha. The vibrance is kind of pricey also for the TOL model. Not sure if I want to spend that much haha

 

[vacuumdevil]

@dysonman1

At this point in time is there really any advantage to buying a Tacony machine over just buying a bagged TTI/Hoover equivalent?

 

[dysonman1]

@vacuumdevil. I see absolutely no value in buying any of the Tacony vacuums. The perfect canister from Nationwide sales and service easily beats the horrible Prima. Much more reliable power nozzle, easier to change bags, better attachments, and far more suction. The perfect ultralight upright is a far better maid machine than the freedom or the Rice Car Supralite. Especially when you consider the price of the repair parts and the cleaning ability of the machine. I would far rather have the Nationwide onboard tool upright then any of the Tacony machines. That’s my personal opinion, of course, I worked at the factory and saw the horror stories. I have talked to the ex employees, as they are almost universally still my friends even if they are now out of a job. The company is basically a warehouse for Chinese products.

 

[rainbowd4c]

Hey Dysonman1.

I see that Maytag dropped the vacuum line. Any idea what that was about? LOL

 

[vacuumdevil]

@dysonman1 Thank you for the reply!

 

[mvpdude]

@johnsmith96

Honestly, I think it comes down to whether or not you want one. I know that the price range at my local vac shop was $249-$449, and at $249, I think it's a perfectly good machine.

Personally, I appreciate that all models have a brushroll kill switch vs. the clutch style on the Vibrance/Symmetry vacs.


At the end of the day, if I someone asked me to recommend and upright, but not one that's too expensive, I'd pick the base R25 over any big box store machine for them.

 

[myles_v]

I think they look interesting, but I wouldn't buy a new one. I'd snatch one up for a good price used I suppose.

Their quality is disappointing to me, and I don't appreciate the shady claim about their machines being "assembled" in the US. I have a cordless Simplicity Freedom that I adore for the price that I paid simply because I had been looking for a bagged cordless upright, but if I paid what they typically sell for then I would feel ripped off. Their machines are very overpriced for the quality. I used to have whichever top of the line tandem air model they were selling under the Simplicity brand a couple of years ago, I paid $80 for it. I couldn't imagine dropping $1600 on one of them, the quality and performance just wasn't there and it wasn't a very pleasant machine to use.

 

[dysonman1]

The only model 'assembled' in America today (from all chinese parts) is the ultra light weight models. Because there are so many different names it's made under. All the rest (like the 25 series) are completely made in China. Even the plastic, which used to be injection molded in the US, is made in China now. Probably not in Wuhan, but who knows? Once they decimated the factory, and got rid of almost all their factory employees, the China-built stuff took over. The 'factory' is really a warehouse for the China-vacs now.

 

[s2_82]

From many people that I've heard, the only clean air machines that were trully successful were the 8000 series, the 8955, 8900 or Simplicity 7 series, and they were made for many years before finally discontinuing them which I'm unsure why they did.. however they decided to keep the R20sc The newer R25 series to me look like they took several steps backwards.. they just look cheap.. many similarities to the Electrolux/Aerus machines

 

[jo]

You may be interested in this...

Someone selling an Aerus Lux Legacy purchased new in October 2018 for just under $500 on eBay for less than half of what they paid new. Saw it this morning. They are nice machines made in the U.S. and will be serviceable by Aerus forever but rarely do they need it. I love my Electrolux and Aerus products, been using them all my life and have yet to find anything I like as much and I’ve tried a LOT of different vacuums.

Jon

 

[ajr2993]

Tacony is basically the new Dirt Devil in terms of awfulness.