I love all things Kirby, but the price for a new one is really high. If you know someone who's a distributor, they might sell you one for a little over cost, which is probably no more than $750 on the high end. I'm leaning more towards the $500-600 range. When I sold them back in '94(ish), my office agreed on a price to sell one to someone I knew for $750, and it included the shampooer, zip brush and turbo accessory kit (sander/massager). They retailed that bundle for $1,400 back then.
A friend of mine had a Filter Queen distributorship for years, and she told me her cost on them was around $500.
I spoke with the national Assistant Sales Manager for Hyla-USA about distributorship a while back. He told me the entry price is at least 5 machines for $785 each plus shipping, and the price goes down by volume.
I could probably get the Hyla dealer (3 hours away from me in MD) to sell me one for $1,000 because he knows I talked to the national ASM about pricing. Otherwise, he retails them for $2,495. I'm waiting for a redesign with a brushless motor (like Rainbow) before I buy one. I can't find a definite answer about that, even from the national ASM. I believe the Hyla motor has brushes. Can anyone confirm?
I did NOT have such luck with the Rainbow reps. I offered them $1,000 cash for a new one, and they turned me down. So, we're happily content with our E2 Gold that I found for $45. It needed a power switch, HEPA filter and a new cord (still have to order the cord and filter).