5 months old, and it has been in for repairs 2 times. The milk container replaced, o rings and a leak. After only 3 coffees you need to empty driptray.

I bought a Gaggia Academia band new. I have owned it for 3 years now. I use Alkaline water so I have no need to use the filter. I descaled it 4 times but only as a precaution. I have no residue at all. This machine is still going strong. There are two draw backs, the milk frothier is made of plastic and I had to buy a replacement because there is plastic pieces that will break off regardless of how careful you are. The second drawback is that the grinder and milk frothier is noisy as hell and will wake you partner up. I wish they sell a silencer cover like they have for generators. I’m currently looking for a machine for the RV that’s quieter.

Having been in the coffee industry for over 30years and sold numerous espresso machines I purchased a Gaggia Academica in 2010, since then I have made over 15000 espresso cups and the unit is still going strong, the best part of the machine is how quiet it grinds and the pressure in frofing the milk.
I have never used the auto milk frofer as it is always to bubbly and doesn’t have that fine texture.
Now that I have sold my business and retired I feel this is the best semi industrial coffee machine on the market.
To maintain a good operation continue to decals it monthly and try to use filtered water.
Best coffee to buy at a reasonable price BRAZIL blend from ALDI $13.99 kilo.
Good coffee making,enjoy.

After owning 2 seaco machines for over 10 years we changed to Gaggia. This machine has been back for repair twice in one year and is going back again due to no steam function. Machine leaks and has caused rust in the machine. My seaco odea go was $899 and lasted many years. Shouldn’t be paying $2400 for a product that can’t last 1 year. Very dissatisfied

Purchased new February 2014. Despite cleaning the brew group regularly and performing all maintenance tasks when prompted and using appropriate products purchased from the supplier, this machine has been extremely unreliable. No problems with any of the coffee functions, but the milk and cleaning functions on the right-hand side of the machine have been problematic. In for warranty repair three times for a total of twelve weeks. May 2014 - no milk buttons worked - thermostat replaced. March 2015 - after similar problem over two months valves and boiler replaced. June 2015 valves and carafe replaced. Now milk functions work only intermittently. Not happy!

Straight out of the box this machine required very little adjustment to the settings. The measures of espresso and milk were fantastic for Mach Latte and Cappuccino. Milk temperature was also perfect and I was a little worried as a lot of automatic machines have trouble frothing the milk at a reasonable temperature. The ability to easily adjust espresso strength on the fly is also great for individual coffee perfection. Great choice and highly I recommend.
Milk frothing was perfect, looks awesome and ease of use.
Water level can catch you out if not careful as it is only about 4 cups worth, otherwise PERFECT in every way!

Eventually bite bullet and bought an automatic machine. Unfortuately after Gaggia Evolution all the instructions and eventual cleaning has reduced my enjoyment of making my own lattes. The carfe spits soya milk over machine and floor, experimented with different milks to prevent. Makes great froth, coffee at touch of buttons
Grinds the beans, programmable, 3 froth programmes excellent
spits thick soya milk