Hi!

Because people will pay for the name. Electrolux is like a Rolls Royce
or Harley Davidson, it's a status symbol, and while not necessarily a
bad product, it's certainly not the best value if you just want
something to do the job.

Depends on...I've found a number of their 1980s or so canister vacuums on
the curb and found most of them to have no problem at all. Sometimes I even
got the accessories. (That said, I do need a set of bearings that would be
suitable for use with one of their canister vacuums. I have one that the
front motor bearing is blown on. It runs but shrieks like the dickens and
makes everyone want to hide! I haven't been able to find replacements, not
even from Electrolux.)

Some years ago I picked up a positively ancient Electrolux canister from a
church sale. It couldn't be any newer than the 1950s. For $2 it wasn't a bad
deal at all. The broken latch on the lid was easily fixed. It is still
running along today. Getting the bags is no problem, as the container they
come in says "for all Electrolux canisters 1953 and newer"...pretty amazing.

I also have an Electrolux Epic upright (!!!) that is the only Electrolux
upright I have ever seen. It was tossed into the trash at work because of a
burned out power switch that made the handle get very hot in operation.
Somehow I think it will be going long after the vacuum that replaced it has
been retired. It seemed silly to let them toss it for what took me about
fifteen minutes to fix.

I don't know if their current products still last this long or not.

William