Riccar R-40 P2 Upright - good/bad?

[kitra]

Hello, We inherited a Riccar R-40, like the Title says. It looks perfect, hardly a mark on it. I think they were too weak to use it much since it's heavy. The local Riccar Dealer told us the used value to them is only around $45. They claimed the "P2" revision had lots of issues.

Is this Vacuum really problematic? I looked it up and it was a lot of money ($1500) when new. I restore Vacuums as a hobby and sell "some". My Hobby is completely out-of-control as I have too many Vacuums. I'd like to fix any issues with the Riccar R-40 but the Dealer wouldn't comment what they are. I don't want to sell it to anyone IF it's a lemon. It seems to work really well for the little time we used it.

 

[panasonicvac]

I used to work for vacuum shops. The R40 in my opinion are overrated. The predecessor models that came before them (known as RAD) were better machines reliability wise. The R40 has some user improvements over the RAD but made them more complicated underneath the hood circuitry wise. I later learned that when we had more R40 machines come in for technical repair. And now I can no longer recommend them, they're just not worth it at least for the price that is. I think I'd agree that $45 is fair enough as once it breaks, good luck trying to get it fixed as the parts are super expensive and you have to deal with getting them shipped from Asia when they're out of stock.

 

[kitra]

OK, I guess I'll sell it to them? My Neighbor just gave me $120 for a Simplicity 7850 Series 7 and $50 for a Riccar 8900. I should not have sold the 7850 because it was one of our favorite Vacuums. It (7850) seems quieter than the others we own. It is in perfect shape since we never peeled the plastic off the lower cover when we bought it. He uses it for his Day care Business.

The Wife is currently using a Simplicity Cordless Upright. I bought it for $20 with a dead battery. I bought new 18650 Cells and spot-welded up a battery pack with higher capacity Cells. Does a good-enough job.

 

[panasonicvac]

Both the 7850 and 8900 were great machines, one of my personal favorites as well. You can still get similar machines to those today under their commercial brand called CleanMax. Or there's a company that makes clones of those machines called Cirrus.

 

[cheesewonton]

Both the 7850 and 8900 were great machines, one of my personal favorites as well. You can still get similar machines to those today under their commercial brand called CleanMax. Or there's a company that makes clones of those machines called Cirrus.

Din't forget Titan. Pretty sure they are made for the Titan brand by Tacony. I actually think some of the Titan models are better than what Riccar is selling now, which is sad.