Miele S 5481 AutoEco

Motor Failure – This is not a current model but this information may be useful for those considering purchasing a Miele vacuum cleaner. Purchased in 2011 this vacuum has had less than 10 hours use and has been stored in a clean household cupboard. When connected to power and turned on in 2018 smoke came from the motor and it was quickly turned off. A Miele authorised service agent stated that the motor had failed without any signs of misuse. This is concerning given the little use it has seen in a regular household environment with no misuse by operator. Miele stated that the warrantee had expired too long ago and understandably did not wish to assist in any meaningful way. This is extremely disappointing for what is considered to be a high quality product. I would not buy another Miele product based on this experience.

Excellent – WE love this machine. We find it cleans very well and the suction is fantastic. We have never had a problem in the 4 years we have had it and it manoeuvres very well and it not that noisy. The only thing is the bags can be expensive to buy and it's cheaper to buy on Ebay for EU $5 less than Australia and free postage.

Flimsy – We bought this on the strength of a glowing Choice review, but noticed straight away it didn't seem to clean as well as the Wertheim 2000 it was replacing. After a couple of years of use the entire top assembly came loose, so that the cleaner had to be wrapped in duct tape to stop the vacuum by-passing the hose. This meant the duct tape had to be cut off to replace the bag. Finally the whole machine has basically fallen apart and no longer sucks at all. Not good enough for such an expensive machine. Incidentally the old Wertheim is still hanging on and able to vacuum. Bag change was fairly easy Not enough power, flimsy construction for normal household use