Hoover C1404 A real Hoover, still made in the USA

Hoover C1404 A real Hoover, still made in the USA
I have a Hoover Elite 600 series that is officially thirty-five years old. In that time, it has needed exactly two belts and nothing else. After being dropped, kicked down numerous flights of stairs and generally abused, decided to relegate it to the garage for vacuuming up the concrete floor.

I was delighted to see that Hoover still makes the exact same vacuum cleaner and that it is still made in the USA. We had bought the top rated Hoover Windtunnel Bagless three years ago and it's been in for repairs five times - two on/off switches, a burned out motor, a shorted cord and a broken self-propelled switch. I've replaced both belts five times in three years, three sets of expensive HEPA filters and frankly, it's a pain to empty. And, it's made in China. It doesn't clean all that well, losing lots of suction within minutes of use because the HEPA filter is getting clogged. I will never own another bagless vac and if Hoover stops making units in the USA, then I'll never own another Hoover.

I happy to say that this machine performs as flawlessly as my old one did thirty-five years ago. I think the only reason they've slapped the commercial label on it is because it is so utilitarian looking with no bells or whistles. However what is does exceptionally well is CLEAN. Before I took the Windtunnel to its final resting place at the dump, I thoroughly vacuumed our family room twice. Then I went back over it with this Elite and was amazed at how much additional dirt and dog hair it picked up. To be fair, I then went over it again with the Windtunnel where it picked up nothing.

I don't know if I will get another thirty-five years out of this machine - I suspect I will but it is such an improvement over all the expensive vacuums we've tried over the years, that even if it only lasts ten, I will buy another one. Heck, I might buy another one and just leave it packed up in case they stop production of this one. We never used all the fancy on-board tools of the Windtunnel anyway and bought a handheld vac specifically for stairs and furniture.

If all you want is a vacuum that cleans, uses disposable bags and will last, this is the only vacuum on the market worth owning. And, if you're like me, it spends all its time stored in a closet anyway so who cares what it looks like.