Well I went overboard on myself this Christmas I bought myself A brand New miele Aquarius canister Vacuum cleaner Fully loaded with the Lighted Power nozzle and Also got it free with the vacuum cleaner plus an extended 5 year warrenty on it for free and my total cost was $1132.92 which is expensive but I think it will be well worth it as I did look on ebay and was interested in some brand New mieles from the Uk but the problem was they weren't carry a warrenty on the vacuum because of the difference in our electricity but I do have a transformer that I use to run all of my foreign appliances but the seller still wouldn't have warrentied the miele which I would have gotten alot cheaper then my local miele dealer even with shipping but I started thinking it would be worth my while to spent an extra 500.00 dollars and get one with the warrenty and have local service if I ever need it. Another thing to the one from the Uk was only a turbo brush only no electric hose or P/N with it. I know Fred S. has an older one that He really likes and also Evan bought a Red velvet last year that He truly loves and Reggie just bought him a miele too that he really loves too, so I figure it came be that bad of an investment to get one. I do have a miele Art that I bought brand new last year and I really like it an awful lot, so I guess I really wanted to add a canister to my collection.Now oine thing I'm puzzled about the Red Velvet is last year's model and this aquarius is the latest model made and has everything the Red velvet has and a few more features then the Red velvet but yet the Red velvet is still 250.00 more then the Aquarius that's what I don't understand. My local dealer didn't have it in stock so It should be here tommorrow so as soon as I get it I will post pictures of it but for now I have a link with the Aquarius that I bought

Skip...

I was so close to buying one myself, but I'm a daily vacuum user and have dogs and furniture to dodge. I've opted for a Sebo Felix for now, but I'm fickle. Keep us posted on your experience with this machine. I have heard a few others say that they had problems with bags for the S5 series, but it's probably a minor glitch. I can only think of 2 things I wish Miele would work on:
1.) a longer cord.
2.) a motorized handheld brush (instead of a turbine unit).
*That reminds me: if you like to tinker with things, I found out quite by accident when I had my S342 canister that a Elux Sidekick (made for the Renny and Guardian) would fit on my Miele hose. I had to improvise with a pigtail cord and I'm not sure how you would do that with your direct-connect hose setup.

Anyway, I've always admired Miele for the fact that everything always works the way it's supposed to and also because they go the extra mile to make sure that whatever Wessel Werk makes for them in tools is proprietary. I love it when a machine doesn't look like the manufacturer just slapped some generic fit-all tools to go with it. I guess that's why IMO Mieles always seem so refreshing and original from the ground up.

HAPPY VACUUMING!

Thanks John and I'm hoping that I will really enjoy it alot. I have a Boston Terrier but she doesn't shed that much at all. but boy does Penny love to go outside and bring in the leaves from all over and come inside and shred them all over. So vacuuming dailey is a must here. I just hope too that I get my money's worth but couldn't pass up the deal that kathy made me on it. I went to miele usa and even on that site the mieles were alot more then mine excluding the p/n and the extended warrenty so I do feel that I did get a good deal.

Skip...

Blimey - That shows how much more expensive Mieles are in the US than over here- the link is to our TOL model with the large electric powerhead. The retail on this is approx £349 ($645!!!!!!)

Seamus

Oh Seamus

You should have let him down gently, I wont even follow that with the trade price!!!

Seriously, it is a super vac system, quiet, efficient and sturdy, all you want if it isnt a vintage vac...

Mike

You forget where I work- I know the trade price lol ;)

I cant see how Miele can possibly justify that sort of difference- apparently Sebo are just as bad!

Seriously tho- all things aside it is an amazing cleaner :)
Seamus

P.S Mind you, we dont have the 5 year warrenty- ours is 2yrs parts and labour, not that youre likely to need it lol!!

I know there are cheaper over there as I tried to get one from there but there wouldn't warrenty it because of the difference of electricity between here and there and I even told them that i have a transformer but they still wouldn't warrenty it. So that's why I had to end up getting one locally as I did want a brand new one. I thought for sure it would have gotten here today but It didn't so hopefully tommorrow:(

Skip...

Oooh, that's a pretty color! I loved my Miele but traded it to a friend - what a short-end-of-the-stick deal that turned out to be.

The only reason the prices are so high are the taxes on imports and Miele positioning itself as niche-market brand. It's insane what the price of a Miele is, made in Germany and shipped to the U.S. when compared with the price of a Bissell made in China. Comparing apples to oranges, I grant you, but plastic is after all, plastic ;-)

A very nice vacuum. The Aquarius is probably my favorite new Miele, mainly because of the color. But Miele makes great vacuums.

Mieles do cost a lot more here than in Europe. The wholsesale cost on the Capricorn (our TOL model) is more than THe retail on the European version.

Skip,
I'd be very interested in hearing what you think of the machine once you get to use it. I am thinking about purchasing the Capricorn (along with the mini turbo nozzle). That is going to be my Xmas present this year!

Gary

In the UK and Europe Miele vacuums are regarded as TOL but are maybe not as "exclusive" as they are in the US. Judging by the ammount of bags we sell there are quite a few out there!!. Quite a few people who are fed up with "a certain major brand of bagless cleaner"!!! will buy one as they are roughly comparable in price. This is only true of people wanting cylinder cleaners tho, we dont have Miele uprights(We have the unbadged Panasonic models instead ;). If anyone wants a TOL upright its Sebo every time .

Skip- You may have run into problems with your transformer if you had gone down that route- 240V Mieles are 1000W!! more powerful than the 1200W of the US version. I believe you have to have a special type of transformer that connects to 2 outlets to spread the load??

Anyhow, thats enough waffle for now!!

Seamus

HI Gary, Seamus, Reggie and everybody

Well Do I love it yes for sure I'm totally impressed with it and does a super awsome job of vacuuming and the power nozzle seems like it is self-propelled but over all it is a very awsome vacuum cleaner, it is so quiet running and does have great suction, You can hear the dirt going thru the hose and all. So I have to admit I know the price is high but I don't have any regrets at all. Seamus boy Am I glad that I didn't in fact buy a Uk model I never thought about the wattage like You were saying. Seamus Maybe that's why my Sweden Electrolux shuts my transformer down and blows the fuse on the transformer maybe it's too much wattage for my transformer but yet I can run it on a simple adaptor and plug it in the 110 outlet and it runs fine but not at all at full capicity. I'm posting 3 pictures of my miele so You'll can see it, What a beauty it is. Gary I decided on the aqarius because of the color and I like the control panel on it. The miele website shows the wrong hose for it thou , it shows the capricorn hose with it and at first I thought they sent me the wrong hose but they didn't after all. The aquarius hose has only a off and on switch only where the capricorn hose has the 4 button control on it to work everything from the hose handle. Robert the local miele tech has some vintage luxes and some rare hoovers that he wants to sell so if anyone is interested let me know

Skip...

this is another shot of it

Skip...

here it is again

Skip...

Hey mate

Somewhere on your transformer it should have a kva rating. A kva is 1000w (so my 1kva 240-110 transformer will take 1000w).

It is possible to get higher rated ones over here but the size and weight of the unit goes up and as I only need it for vintage machines(the highest rated US machine I have is a 2100 Portable which I believe is 840w) its not worth me having anything higher.

Im guessing your Swedish Electrolux is 700w odd??

Seamus

Very nice looking machine Skip! I like the colour too. The Capricorn is silver. Have you given it a good workout? How loud is the power nozzle compared to the machine itself? Do you do a lot of above the floor cleaning with the dusting brush, crevice tool, ulphostery nozzle? Do you find the hose handle easy to manage? lightweight? That's one grip I really have with my Lux 9000 - I get a sore wrist/arm after using the above floor tools for any length of time. I'm really anxious to get the Capricorn now.

Gary

Yes I gave it a total workout and yes I love the handle grip on the Miele and it didn't make my wrist or hand tired at all.
Gary it's very quiet I find both the vacuum and the power nozzle. Gary I love that canadian Miele the jupiter Why don't You get that one. I think the jupiter is the best color of all miele's, It's the same as the capricorn. If the capricorn would have been the color of the Aquarius I would have gotten that one. I wanted a canadian jupiter but my Local dealer said he couldn't get it. So I decided on the Aquarius Which I'm 100% satisfied with it. Thanks Gary for the compliment

Skip...

I'm puzzled now because I thought My lux had the same wattage as the miele, but I still kinda of think it may have a short in it because I think the Yellow button which says max on it, smight be where my short isd because if the button is pushed down the vacuyum won't turn on at all but when it up it runs

Skip...

I sure can't type tonite Sorry

Skip...

Skip, congratulations! VERY stylish machine in my opinion, and I love the "vintage" turquoise color!

HI Austin Thanks so much I truelly love it and i'm glad that Evan and Reggie told me to get one as they love there miele's as well

Skip...

Congrats on your new machine! It is very nice looking and my local vac shop says wonderful things about the new machines.

I was wondering if you have tried any of the Miele canisters prior to the S5 line? I have the Red Velvet and the swivel hose connection on the canister is just awful, it makes it rather difficult to steer the machine around. Do you find the machine easy to steer now that the canister end of the hose does not swivel?

Happy Vacuuming!
-Steven

Hi Steven Thanks so much no I haven't tried any prior mieles at all. I wanted a Red velvet at first but then when the S series came out, I really like there style more then the Red velvet style. Yes the s series is so easy to manuver around I have no problems at all. I have been told by some who have the Red velvet that they much prefer the S Series so I guess I made a good choice after all

Skip...

Skip,
What type of carpeting do you have? low, medium, thick? I was just wondering how easy the Aquarius is to manoeuvre on higher pile carpeting?

Gary

Gary would you believe I have all 3. In my computer room I have very thick carpeting, in the Den low pile and in the bedrooms medium pile and the aquarius does great on all 3 piles

Skip...

I was thinking that the wheels were pretty small and therefore the main unit wouldn't move easily on thicker pile carpeting.

Gary