Electrolux UltraActive

Great vacuum – I use mostly on hard flooring, some mats. We have 6 cats and a dog so it does plenty of work. I bought from cash converters for 75 bucks. It is awesome. Once you figure out how to lift out filter it is easy as pie. Extremely long cord. Remote control to change suck strength is handy for rugs. Love it, favourite vacuum ever.  Show details

Poor quality vacuum – Terrible vacuum, I’m very disappointed in the quality and function of this vacuum. The vacuum stops working randomly or won’t start and it flashes the numbers 2 and 3 with no fix. I’ve had nothing but problems with this machine since the day I bought it. Electrolux use to have a great reputation but now the quality is very poor. I should have spent my hard earned money on a Dyson. Show details

No real major complaints for this series! – I've had this vacuum for at least 6 years now and have never really had a problem with it. Very easy to maintain. Basically just need to wash the filters every now and then and it has been fine. About to replace the foam filter for the very first time because it's starting to get a little wrecked. Not too heavy. You have a lot of control of… Read more

the suction strength and airflow. Great little 3-in-1 tool for every type of small crevice. The only issue would be that the Dust Container isn't very big and does fill up quite quick, but for small houses, you'd probably be able to vacuum twice without needing to empty.

A very good vacuum considering not many last longer than the 12 months these days.

After 8 years first Fault – I brought this vacuum cleaner 8 years ago for my wife and since then the only thing we had to do was change the filters, The first real fault was the power head brush side gear chewed out. But it is an easy fix, just have to order the part as it just slots in.  Show details

Another failed Elexctrolux vac – Our previous Electrolux vac liberality disintegrated due to fatigue of the plastic parts on the wand and motor brush head although the motor assembly continued to work well. Perhaps stupidly I bought another Electrolux vac but this failed as well after about a year and now has intermittent operation of the brush bead motor even with very minimal… Read more

use in a 3 bed apartment. I have now replaced with a Dyson stick that has been working well for over a year with no such quality problems.

Three years and the power nozzle snapped when I bumped it against a chair leg – Just had my third year of use with this machine (can't find the model number anywhere) but the owner guide says Ultra Active. I have been happy thus far with the machine which I only use once every two weeks as we have no pets and no kids. I was vacuuming around my dining table when I bumped the power nozzle into the leg of one of the chairs. … Read more

The base of the power nozzle snapped. When I looked at it the electrical piece was all that was holding it to the handle. I realized how cheap the plastic was. I have a five year warranty. I will be looking to get the part replaced.

I have been married for 35 years this May and have always owned second hand Electrolux machines. After fixing my last one for the last time I decided to spoil myself with a new Electrolux machine. I'm disappointed to say the least. I will see how responsive Electrolux is to replace the broken part. I'm hopeful that they will. I'm not confident that this machine will last as long as my last two second hand Electrolux models.

Hope that I won't become a dissatisfied Electrolux customer.

What a disappointment! – I wish I had read the reviews before purchase. I thought Electrolux was a reputable company. So I purchased a bagless machine. Now faced with a $200+ repair job because the filters didn't do their job properly. How much money do you have to pay for filters??? So much for saving on the bagless machine! No wonder it is a discontinued model. But we were conned. Very disappointed. I won't be buying anymore Electrolux appliances.  Show details

Good but some flaws, support from Electrolux was good – The vacuum cleaner is quite good, the problem is that is quite fragile, the handle of the wand snapped in two and I had zero support from Godfreys in Ultimo, but I must say that when I contacted Electrolux they were very prompt in sending a replacement part at no cost. I may consider to buy again from Electrolux but not from Godfreys

Buyer beware! – I have had consistent problems with this vacuum since I bought it. It has been into repairer for warranty inspection several times and I have spoken to an Electrolux rep and they refuse to acknowledge and fix a basic design fault. I paid $650 for a vacuum that the floor sales person talked me into (entered the store to buy a Dyson). There is an… Read more

electrical cord that runs the full length of the wand and at the handle junction it connects to the electrical inlet so you can control the functionality of the vacuum at your fingertips (great function, but flawed). It is at this junction that pet and human hair (the major selling point of this machine is its effectiveness at picking up pet hair) get caught and therefore block the hose, which in turn decreased the suction power, making this selling point a waste. At first the suction is great, but by the second or third room it is terrible and won't even pick up a fingernail for example! I clean both filters at every use, yet find that I need to be doing this twice in one house clean to compensate for the fact the wand is clogged. To clean the wand I need to insert a knife to cut away the hair. A knife is the only cutting implement long enough to reach the area where hair is trapped, to use a blunt object like a chopstick for example simply does not remove the hair which is wrapped around the electrical cord in the wand. This of course has its dangers in that I could cut the cord. It also takes me about 10 minutes each time as I hold a torch in my mouth to shine it down the wand as both hands are required to carefully remove the hair. This is a terrible machine!

Never Electrolux again – Purchased this vac after my last Electrolux died (25 years old) and after constant cleaning of filters and replacing the Hepa filter regularly 4 times in 3 years, the original hardwood floor head fell apart so I had to resort to the turbo head but I ran into problems with the machine shutting its self down after 5 - 10 minutes. Went into Godfreys… Read more

and purchased an adapter so that I could attach a non-genuine head to the cleaner. the machine again worked fine for a couple of weeks then back to the same problem E2 - E3 flashing I have researched the problem and have found this to be a common problem with this model the Powered Ultra Active Hose ($184) and Power Supply PCB board ($55) in the machine it seems must be replaced. I paid $484 for this machine and had hoped to get at least 10 years service. Not at all happy I haven't factored in the labor costs.

When its working, it's great, especially for pet hair – Purchased the ZUA3861P four years ago. Went with this model as we have a cat which leaves lots of fur on the couch and had started a family so wanted something that could handle some good use. The motorised power head is great, really does do wonders with the cat fur and everything else on the carpet and couch. I just turn it off on our wooden… Read more

floors.However, it's always been quite temperamental. Works for a while, then turns itself on and off during use sometimes. Sometimes works on forward motion only, turns off on reverse, or you have to hold it quite straight and push down firmly for it to work! What a pain!

Then eventually it stops altogether. Have had it repaired once, can't remember how much, just under $100 I think. Now, it's happened again. I was advised to consider a brand new head if it happened again ($200!). We only use this once a week, clean the filters regularly, and apart from that I think we use it just like a regular family, nothing too heavy. Unfortunately without the power head, it's quite a useless vacuum, leaves fluff everywhere and picks up barely anything. I don't expect them to last forever but 4 years later I'll have almost shelled out the total cost of the vacuum in repairs, and that to me is unacceptable. I also would expect it to still be pretty good without the power head (with the exception of cat hair as I admit that can be tough), but no, it's just terrible.

And it is soooo heavy to lug around. Not great for me with a bad back.

Next time it's Dyson for me.

I used to looooove electrolux but now it's questionable – I bought this 2-3 years ago from godfreys and fell in love with the suction. However the accessories really let it down. In the first few months the control buttons on the arm stopped working and it had to be sent back, this happened twice and in the end was replaced. Then the plastic on the hard floor head unglued at a joint and the plastic on… Read more

the motorised head where it connects to the hose just seems extremely brittle and little bits continuously snap off and now the joint in the control arm has snapped in two. Reading over other reviews this seems very common!!! They are very expensive to replace so I'm contemplating buying a new vac diff brand.

Absolute rubbish – Terrible vacuume Handle Brock after not long,spent the whole time cleaning filters Hard to pull around and would tople over Still ran very hot and now finally starts then stops Dust bin is very messy and house got very dusty from exhaust Only about 3years old,would not buy electrolux again Brought a Miele today and much better, bagged vacuum's seem to last longer Was not very nice at all

Just keeps on trucking – This thing just keeps going. I've renovated 2 houses with this vacuum cleaner and it's chock full of brick dust, but it keeps on going. I clean all the filters regularly (monthly) and the biggest pain in the bum is having to pull trapped hair from the hose part that attaches to the vacuum. There is an internal cable in the hose which is a crap… Read more

design, as it acts like a catch for stringy stuff and will eventually block the hose. If I loose suction, this is the first place I look and makes a hell of a difference when clean.

It recently stopped (overheated) and because we needed another vacuum right away, we went and bought a new Dyson. I used the Dyson to finish the job, but found it really cheaply made and not as ergonomic as the Electrolux. Also has some design flaws around the flip flop head (can't use it upside down) and the handle extender button is really uneconomic. Also doesn't have remote start stop like the Electrolux.

Anyway, the next day I tried to start the Electrolux and holy crap it still worked! Haha awesome.

The power head is the best thing ever. I killed one accidentally by sucking up a loose carpet thread whilst renovating and it wound itself to death. Bought another one though because it's amazing for normal carpet work.

Regret buying the dyson, I don't think it'll last as long as the Electrolux for the same sort of work. I still use the Electrolux for renovation works. Amazing unit.

And it's about 4 years old now. Replaced one power head and all filters once (the rest are washable)

So far so good – Brought my Electrolux Ultra Active ZUA 3820P back in May 2012. Purchase price was $287.00. Up to now, the machine has worked perfectly fine. I use it two/three times a week in a very large house. It has plenty of animal hair to pick up each time. Even now the suction is still good, the cord still retracts, and I find it easy to use and empty. I… Read more

rinse the filters approximately every three months and this seems to have worked great.

The only issue I had was with the hard floor brush head. I still have the combo head, but I'm not a huge fan of these brush up/ brush down heads, so prefer not to use them. The hard floor brush head fell apart at the swivel joint. Electrical tape inside the joint has held it together since, but needs constant upkeep. Buying a new hard floor head at $75.00 a pop cannot be justified.

Now close to four years, so if I get another two/three years, I believe I got my money worth.

Does a good job when it works but breaks down frequently – This vacuum has excellent suction and the power head does a great job. Unfortunately, it is very unreliable. We have had overheating problems from the very start. At first we thought the filters only had to be cleaned every 3 months but soon found that they have to be washed every time we empty the vacuum. We bought a second set of filters so… Read more

that one is drying while the other is in use. The machine still overheated, the rear filter is too hot to keep your fingers on it, but we could usually complete our vacuuming before the machine shut itself down.

After a few months the handle connector broke and had to be replaced. After that, we were very gentle when handling this machine. You always fear that something else will break.

Now, it shuts itself down with 2-3 flashing. It does this even when the machine is just sitting there with filters removed.

After years of faultless service from our last vacuum, we unwisely associated the Electrolux name with quality. We are now being a lot more careful in choosing our next vacuum cleaner.

every component failed, some multiple times!!!! – In two years: 1 x power head failed - $129 to replace 1 x motor failed - $89 to replace 1 x main power board failed (under the digital display) - $55 to replace 1 × circuit board failed (circuitry deteriorated) - $55 to replace 1 x circuit board failed (something with cheap capacitors) - $55 to replace Hose pins loose so power head stops… Read more

when I drag the vacuum around

Apart from this, great suction and powerhead is amazing.

Vacuum stopped this morning after I heard a 'pop'. I think it's time to move on. Total vacuum hours: 40 in two years. $750 purchase plus $375 repairs = $1125/40 hours......... it only cost me $29 per hour to vacuum my apartment!!

I love my electrolux ultra INactive

very short lifetime/terrible value for money – Bought ZUA 3860P in November 2012; completely stopped working 9th Dec 2015 minutes after I plugged it in. There was no dust in the bag. Motor seems to have burned out. It was used only about twelve times as I have another smaller vacuum that I mostly use and was away quite a bit. Someone cleaned the house while I was sick for six months using… Read more

her own cleaner.

My last cleaner (not an electrolux) lasted 40 years, until 2012. It was still going strong but the hose broke and I could not get a replacement While that may be a record, a life span of three years for one of the most expensive vacuum cleaners on the market is completely unacceptable. Would not get another electrolux.

An error message again! – Error message 2-3 just occurred again! Frustrating: I need a cleaner that works consistently. Was advised it was a quality product, clearly isn't, I intended to buy another product & changed my mind-sorry I did! it wasn't cheap so I would expect more than a few years cleaning from it.

Don't Waste Your Money On This Product – I haven't even used it for one year and the hose has already broken on me, the suction is terrible and the floor piece keeps falling off. I thought that I was buying a quality vacuum but I will never buy their products again. Electrolux you used to be the best but not anymore.

Rubbish for the price – Glad it has been discontinued as no one else has to go through spending $300 on a vac that is made of rubbish plastic. Plastic around handle broke 1 month out of warranty period and now 1 more year on plastic around nozzle is broken. Not spending $140+ to replace nozzle as can buy another cheaper vac for that. Only used once a week on floor boards… Read more

and one rug so pretty easy job for a vac. Filters cleaned regularly. Perhaps because its made of 55% recycled materials the plastic has no longevity. Won't bother with Electrolux again. Previous vac was a cheapie which lasted over 10 years. Still use it in garage now. Pick up your game Electrolux.

Stopped Working After Less Than Two Months – I have had this vacuum cleaner for less than two months. It has been used about 4 times only to clean a small 2-bedroom apartment. Now it has stopped working after being switched on for about 4 or 5 minutes! The filters are all clean, they still look like new. My previous vacuum cleaner cost $50 and worked for more than 10 years. This… Read more

Electrolux cost me hundreds and has worked for a total of maybe only 2 hours before dying.

Electrolux, Harvey Norman - take our money, give us rubbish.

I have been told not to use aggressive language in writing this review; we must be polite to people who steal from us.

Motor head is great, the rest ok – Had this vacuum for the last 3 years and it's been really good considering the stuff I've sucked up with it. Still goes strong but requires all the filters to be replaced now as it cuts out on high temperature if the carpets are cleaned for anything more than 20 mins. Cord is long and good, but retractor broke recently. The power head is really… Read more

quiet compared to a turbo head, and cleans excellently. Just need to keep cleaning out the wrapped around hairs. Movability is good but wheels get gunked up eventually. Biggest annoyance us the internal cord inside the main tube. All dirt and hair etc gets caught on it requiring cleaning every 2 or 3 uses. Very annoying.

Bagless Lemon – Straight out of the box this bagless wonder delivered as advertised .. powerful .. easy to use .. easy to empty ..easy on the eye! Yes in the first two years of regular use .. I would have recommended the Ultra to my beloved Granny as a product worth loyalty. Then the warranty ran out. It was as if a creature had been hibernating in its pretty… Read more

plastic cocoon .. waiting exactly two years before maturing and hungrily devouring the innards of its host .. and destroying forever owner respect for the product. Fellow reviewers all say the same thing or similar .. good at first .. then!!!

For the price I too expected more than 2 years of flawless service .. after all .. it's an Electrolux .. a name synonymous with quality and performance .. my mum had one when I was a kid and she still has it .. and it still works. So what went wrong?? They say its been discontinued and if so that's a good move .. watch out for 'son of Ultra' in future blogs.

Nothing but Problems! – It came time to replace my delonghi which I'd been using for 15+ years. We were going to buy a dyson, but at a home show, I was talked into the Electrolux. I should have bought the dyson and my husband reminds me of this regularly. The Electrolux has been nothing but a problem pretty much since we got it - whilst under warranty, it went back and… Read more

forth to the shop for repairs - many repeated issues. We only have a little house, one small dog and two children (youngest aged 9), so normal domestic cleaning. Now the electrolux is out of warranty and I feel trapped - can't afford repairs (especially when you know that there will be further problems), can't afford a new one and dread having to vacuum as it is so pathetic. What to do? I could retrieve my delonghi from the garage as it still does a great job of cleaning the cars - even with one wheel missing and a dodgy cord, or just accept that I bought a lemon, throw it in the dump and buy a $99 one from The Warehouse.

Disappointing! – Extremely disappointed with my Electrolux ZUA3821P. Purchased on recommendation from salesperson at Good Guys just over 3 years ago. During this time, I have had countless problems with overheating, filters needing constant changing (quite expensive) and cord not retracting properly. I too was told to replace filters more frequently. Will not purchase Electrolux again!

ANY WONDER IT'S DISCONTINUED! – Very disappointed :( especially after reading many reviews which have experienced the same faults. Mine overheated and frustratingly hand many time outs over the 3 years I had mine. Worked quite well until the motor blew up from the overheating. Initial cost $680 harvey norman/repair cost $300/& repairman said "LEMON"

Complete waste of money – I purchased this product but only used it for a short amount of time and I then moved to a place which already had a vacuum so I kept it in storage. Like most other people have mentioned it overheats and the power head started malfunctioning and now doesn't turn on at all. I contacted Electrolux regarding this and was called back today and they… Read more

said people don't push and pull the head when vacuuming properly and that destroys it! Obviously it is us who need to change our vacuuming technique. We've been doing it wrong all these years.

Our family has had Electrolux vacuums for decades with no problems. There was obviously not enough product testing and quality control done with this item.

Electrolux offered for me to buy a new power head at a discounted price of $145.00. How generous of them. I think I will decline this tempting offer.

Great when it worked-for the first 6 months – I couldn't have been happier when I first tried my new (and expensive) vacume cleaner. Picked up the dog fur and cleaned up after us beautifully. This lasted 6months Max. The power head was replaced under warranty- the person that was in the warehouse was abusive on the phone to me demanding I pay a service fee for him to replace filters etc when… Read more

I had already purchased new ones the week prior. I have had the vacume cleaner for two years and wish I had never spent the money on it. Power head broken again- useless!

POS avoid like the pox – Yep, as like other posts should get the lemon award, Brush can jam with hair breaking plastic drive components. Plastic crap used in places that fail (brush roller "driven sprocket", part of brush, break easily - just did another today). 2 cent plastic drive sprocket for roller is another culprit. Not available separately, whole power head… Read more

replacement about $180 - save your money for better vacuum.

Horrible filters that MUST be cleaned regularly or machine will fail. Air compressor works well ladies.... you do have one? LOL

And failures will occur outside warranty period.

Having said that, it CAN work well, does pick up hair (pet and human) and filter system is good.

However, I DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!!!

No surprises here - I have exactly the same issues as everyone else – After having the vacuum repaired (loose connections apparently), and then trying again to get it repaired in warranty, only to find that the first service centre closed down and there are consequently no more records of my first repair. Time spent waiting for responses, meant my vacuum is now out of warranty. Biggest waste of money ever spent.… Read more

It worked well for about two months - on a brand new house, new carpets etc. Still struggling with the unit that works intermittently, and has to be on speed 5 permanently, to achieve any sort of suction. Powerhead doesn't work, filters pop out, power cuts out for no reason, limited suction. Just a fancy looking unit really. Thats all.

Very disappointed Electrolux. Even more so, reading the feedback here, and your poor response to fix it.

Very dissappointed – After reading Choice magazine they gave this vacuum a great review so i purchased a ZUA3860P. The power head has now failed 3 times in 3 years. I took it to a repair agent today and it was going to cost another $130 to fix as the PCB has burnt out. The service agent said they have had many issues with these power heads and an option would be to… Read more

buy an after market power head.

I tried contacting Electrolux on their support page to submit a complaint but their support page had an internal error.