We get the same over here - I think the vacuum cleaner must be the most neglected appliance in most homes - people just cant be bothered maintaining them. I mean, what would happen of you just bought a car from new, and just drove it every day, never serviced it, never checked anything for wear, never cleaned it etc? exactly, it would break down, and its the same for vacuums, they are machines with moving parts - and I cant understand someone spending £300 on a brand new Dyson, and then running it into the ground with no thought for its wellbeing, and then moaning and groaning that Dyson are crap, its the worst cleaner ever, when it stops picking up, or the motor starts arcing after just a year or so!
On the Dysons I buy to refurbish, so many of them have clogged brushrolls, and the filters are just heavily clogged its a chronic problem. I cant beleive what some people sell off for just a few pounds for the simple reason that they are ignorant to their cleaner's needs. I bought a Kirby Ultimate G in poor condition that the seller on Ebay was selling just because it kept switching on and off when she was hoovering with it, and because the body was heavily tarnished from lack of any polishing - with a bit of work, it was near perfect again - that seller owned it for just 8 years and it cost her over £1200, but she never maintained it properly and lost a hell of a lot of money on it.
Just another symptom of our throwaway society nowadays.
This pic is of a DC04 I recently bought for just £5 - the seller was selling it as it didnt work any more - its a rare limited edition model, and I rushed there to fetch it back. With a lot of work and a replacement power cable it is perfect again, but it was absolutely filthy inside and out:
