Dirt isn't the only thing vacuums can suck up...
Barry wrote:
Of course, I probably ended up spending $50 or so on eBay, picking up the bits and pieces that were missing. I don't regret it for a minute though! It's a great vacuum!
I reply:
How well I know that tune! I have machines that I've bought for very little money, or even gotten for free, and then spent a ton on. I have a Kirby Heritage that I bought on eBay last winter that I ended up spending almost as much on parts as on the machine itself--and that's not including parts I already had on hand or in this case were generously given to me by a fellow member. A Legend II I bought last fall is a similar story and it doesn't end there.
I feel like I got off pretty easy on this Diplomat, spending only about $30 on it and almost half of that being for consumables. I try my best to keep that in mind when I look at machines to purchase, asking myself how the cost of repairing/refurbishing it compare with the cost of acquisition. Of course, trash finds are much more of a grab-and-go proposition. Evaluation can wait until I get home and decide whether it's worth fixing up or I've just gotten myself a pile of parts. Truth be told, I usually err on the side of fixing it up. The most ironic thing, now that I think about it, is the trash finds consistently end up being among the least expensive projects while the eBay purchases end up being the most expensive, even not including the purchase price of the machine. At this point, I'm thinking I need to make a note to myself, especially considering the number of vacuums I have, to stop looking for whole machines on eBay or any other online source and limit any further 'vacquisitions' to thrift shops and trash piles from here on out.