The adoption is complete. I got the machine! I must have really wanted it because I drove 45 minutes each way and had to wait 30 minutes (the lady was running late).... I usually don't even leave the apartment on my day off! It only came with an upholstery nozzle, so I still need to get a bare floor tool, crevice tool, dusting brush, and sidekick. I really want the sidekick.... all my other small nozzles with spinning brushes are turbo nozzles driven by suction, and I want an electrically powered one. Maybe I will get one when I finally find a Kenmore Progressive canister. I will check Ebay, but I don't know if they will have any that match. I got bags and filters for it at the Lux dealer (the new Luxes are so ugly!)... 50 dollars for 24 bags and 2 filters! That's crazy. I asked about belts and they said 13 dollars. I said screw that! Those belts almost never go bad, and are much cheaper on Ebay. No major problems to speak of... There is a cut in the cord, about 6 inches long, but none of the wires are missing their insulation. The bulb in the power nozzle was burned out, but I found one at Lowes (not in the vacuum section, in the bulb section, listed as an appliance bulb) of all places. I really like the headlight lens on this thing. The whole vacuum (body and power nozzle) was practically covered in white paint splotches, so I just spent an hour with a microfiber cloth, some alcohol, and a magic clean eraser making it look spiffy again. I also shined it up with armorall, and while not perfect, it looks 100 times better than it did when I brought it through the door. The brushroll was covered in long hair, heavy string, what looked like dental floss or fishing line, and thread. I cut it all off, and inspected the belt to make sure it was fine.... it was, no stripped teeth or anything. The experience wasn't without incident, however. When I took the power nozzle apart to replace the bulb, I couldn't get the silly reset button back in right. I spent about an hour trying to do that, and finally got it about 2 seconds before I was going to march the whole ensemble out the the dumpster and hurl it in. It was frustrating! Then, I got to do a little more vacuuming than I'd planned to. When I was bringing the cleaner in from the kitchen to the living room, I accidentally knocked over the bucket of water I was using to clean it with.... it went all over the carpet, even into the pantry... so I had to break out the Hoover Steam Vac and call him to duty. I had to take out my 2 ice cream makers and 2 food dehydrators from the pantry floor to get all the water up.... it was a mess! Oh yeah, before that, when I was posing the machine for the "after" picture, the hose began to fall... remembering your warnings about how delicate and expensive those electronic hoses are, I quick as a flash, dropped the digital camera on the hard tile floor and DOVE to save the hand grip/hose from a certain violent death... the camera missed the bucket of water by inches. I did save the hose though! The camera still worked, but I figured it was worth the risk... it's a 99 dollar camera, while a replacement hose is significantly more.
First impressions. I really like it! It sounds great and has a ton of power. So much quieter than my Diamond Jubilee. The electronic finger tip controls are in a good place, easy to reach, but not easy to accidentally activate (wish I could say the same for my LG made Kenmore Iridium). At first I didn't get the wheels on the cleaner base.... swivel in the front and back and fixed on the sides... but they really do help when spinning the cleaner around. I can't for the life of me understand why they didn't just do what Miele did and leave the two middle wheels off and just have swivel casters on the outside. The new bags aren't 4 ply anymore like my old yellow Germgrabber C bags are for the Diamond Jubilee, and they feel inferior. The machine and power nozzle are both quieter and more powerful than the DJ. Plus, the power nozzle has fixed wheels instead of "spring loaded" ones like the DJ. I think I'm really going to enjoy this machine. Here are some before and after pictures.... Oh yeah, the machine is a lot darker than the Craig's List picture indicated. Very utilitarian in gray and I would have preferred the more whimsical and playful blue and white Guardian, but as I said, for this price, I'll take it.
Thank you for all your help and advice!
) Been a while since I got a new machine 
