Kirby Sentria

Over rated peice of – Chunky! Over priced, now stuck with a massive bill. Over priced, over rated. Had mine for just over a year and the head doesn't work properly after CORRECTLY attaching it. Finally got in contact with a sales and they want to charge me a call out fee to see what the problem is. Was not given all attachments at the time of sale, said he'll be back to drop the rest off, well nearly a year on still no attachment. Show details

this is perfect – i use it on carpet also lino its has a shampoo with it its great also on cleaning mattress and furniture and it does our car well also i get it serviced every 12 months Show details

Kirby sentria – Purchase Kirby upright vacuum to vacuum my high plush pile which it did extremely well. It leave the carpet plush and supple like it was new again, I have children that a constantly soiling the carpet with crumbs, dirt, sand and the kirby amazingly picks it all up. Parts are easy to find and fit. The price it's a bit more expensive but the machine is solid, not like today's cheap throw away plastic vacuums.  Show details

Kirby Sentria – I have the Kirby Sentria when it was new it was working fantastically but in fourth year I can see the difference in sound and the suction is poor Even after having it serviced every year. I'm disappointed. The service they will quote is £29.99 but effectively they will boost the total to £75 to £130 per year expense so, retirement you have to think twice. I'm thinking to buy Henry vacuum. Rafiq  Show details

Heavy – Found it heavy to use. When getting older you sure don't want to moving such a heavy contraption. Parts are always hard to get and quite expensive. Found not as easy to pull apart as when first shown. Also to get into areas small can be quite a process.  Show details

Indispensable for a carpet cleaner. Don't buy new though – I will start by saying I bought my Kirby secondhand for $120 with attachments. I'd never pay what the salesperson would ask. It needed a new belt, bag and a thorough clean but this is just maintenance typical of all bagged vacuums. I work as a carpet cleaner and needed a solid vacuum that would be easy to get parts and supplies for and wouldn't… Read more

break the bank. Belts and bags are ordered on eBay or you can buy the bags from Godfreys or Bunnings in a pinch. The amount of dust and grit I pull out of the average carpet is amazing - it isn't unusual to pull half a bag out of a 3 bedroom house and lounge. The bags are large so you never have to change them out mid job - large houses are a piece of cake. You can adjust the height on the fly with your feet which is great for dealing with more matted down traffic areas and the tech-drive helps ease the weight of the machine while you are working. Also, the high airflow is good for cleaning mattresses with the hand tool.

I do still carry a Dyson canister for backup/upholstery and its higher suction is more useful for getting deep down dust out of sofas and cushions. The Dyson is a better bet for hard floors and very low pile carpet. But the Kirby is the winner for use day-in day-out on short, medium and long pile carpets.

Trrible after sales service. Nothing but a scam – One of the biggest regrets of my life, the kirby has been nothing but trouble since we got it. First of all the hard surface / floor nozzle the little wheels on the bottom block up with hair etc every time it get used it has to be cleaned out because the wheels stop turning. The suction is terrible with the hose attachments. Our zip brush stopped… Read more

working & after sending it back for warranty we still haven't received the replacement over 12 months later nor can we get in contact with anyone from kirby who will help. It has also caused trouble with our relationship as my partner refuses to use it & only uses the dyson i don't really blame her but it's extremely frustrating after paying $2600 for the kirby useful as an over-sized paperweight only. Anyone who tries to sell you a kirby is nothing but a conman.

Well Overpriced and Cant compete with Dyson – Just so overpriced for the machine. You have to use bags!! Suction is great, maybe better than Dyson, I find a bowling ball and try it! Accessories are fantastic. You have to adjust to carpet thickness which has to be exact, or it wont work, so when you move from one carpet thickness to another, there's a foot pedal height adjustment. … Read more

Using it upright is standard, but I find the conventional hose and head is better.

Made of metal, the soft metal, alloy.

Nice long chord.

Be careful when taking off the Vac head and putting back on, I tip it up and rotate the brush and see if the rubber is moving that rotates the brush.

Kirby haven't changed their main design for years, has a light, you never use it really.

Don't even think about buying a vac with bags nowadays, this is the 21st century, not the 50s.

I got this very cheap luckily from a friend.

Parts and maintenance are expensive I found out.

The brushes underneath seem to clog up more than my Dyson, with cotton etc.

Its OK if you prepared to use bags and keep adjusting the carpet height, somewhere on the internet, a lady has directions on making a permanent bag out of material, if you have time and gloves, you can empty the bag, get a new one after 5 or 6 times emptying.

Handle bends down so you can get under beds easily, the barrel type you cant do this.

The best vacuum cleaner ever! – Yesterday i bought the new model after owning the Sentria for 10 years. The new model is lighter, a more simpler shampooing system and its mops hard floors. So gone are the mop and bucket and the carpet cleaners...and i can hand over my old sentria to a family member. Yes they are pricey but well worth the investment. It will outlive any other… Read more

vacuum cleaner on the market.You dont stay in business for 100 yrs if you arent selling a high quality product.

Lies all lies – Heavy, noisy, awkward to handle. Good suction on carpet but frustrating on the rest of the surfaces and who has whole house carpeted anymore not many people. Ridiculously expensive. Rave on about life time warranty, who''s life time certainly not mine. Kirby broke after 6 years first 3 years was minimal use next 3 was once a week this would be… Read more

acceptable but not on a $3000 vacuum that's a giant $500 a year plus the expensive vacuum bags and carpet shampoo on top of that. Then they email back saying you only get a 3 year warranty. Advice stay away, stay far away.

If You know how to adjust the Kirby Vacuum cleaner [ALL Kirby] it should work Perectly – How can anyone say the Kirby is HEAVY when using it??? It is Very heavy if You haven't switched it on and put it into gear, in which case is drives itself forwards when you push forward and backwards when You pull the handle backwards... Turn it off and it is heavy again... They are self propelled because of the weight and the excellent suction.… Read more

The roller is also driven so it picks up everything plus sucks up everything from the carpet etc.

I believe the reason given they are unsafe is that they are NOT earthed. They are double insulated, and many things these days are. I don't like their cords having 3 pins but only two wires.. So, legally, they are probably legal?? it is easy to convert them to 3 core earthed cable. Most large metal appliances are still earthed... Bugbuye 68autobug LEE

Amazing Vac!! – I had this model for years and was amazing! I gave it to my mum and just recently purchased the newest model! Which have a few other options now. Kirbys suction is amazing. if you have allergies /Asthma this is the one for you! Worth every cent!! This model is rather heavy, the newer one i got is much lighter. Cant fault them. I've had 2… Read more

vacuums in between the last kirby and always have to borrow mums as they have both shut themselves, hence why i ended up getting another kirby!!

The worst ever vacuum – Purchased this Sentria a few years ago, It is over priced, too heavy, ungainly, and the gear mechanism lasted a couple of years. I cannot afford to have it fixed I could probably buy 5 vacuums from Harvey Norman for the price to have this one fixed. I will never ever buy this brand again. Watch out for the sharks who come to your door selling this equipment. Be ware.

Stay away – We purchased one of these overpriced American dinosaur vacuums a number of years back, this actual model. They are sinfully expensive around the 3K mark. Positive points: it sucks, but that is what a vacuum cleaner is for. The carpet cleaning function was handy, but others can do a better job for less money. Negatives: lots, initial cost… Read more

outlay extremely pushy American style sales model. Don't ever let them into your home to do a demonstration, it takes a while to get them out. They will give you some crap excuse about a short time offer, that is only valid for the next 2 days.

This vacuum is extremely noisy, I actually tested it was a decibel meter and it exceeds 90 dB, which is above the recommended noise exposure limit (85db).

Our motor has failed, now for a 4 year old unit that cost more than 3K, I would want it to last 20 plus years. They tell us we have to service it every year. It's a vacuum cleaner not a car, found out the motors aren't even Brushless. They advise us it will be 700 to repair, most vacuum cleaners that do a decent job will only cost 700.

Just stay away from these all together, never let them in your house, and don't trust the other Kirby reviews, they are probably written by those trying to sell them.

Decent vacuum - high price – I'm reviewing this on behalf of my parents. They recently bought a Sentria and have so far been happy with it, I've used it to shampoo carpets and it does a pretty good job. The only downside is the selling process and the way the sales people trick you into viewing by saying "you've won a free carpet shampoo". My parents didn't know that they… Read more

would have to sit through a 4hr long presentation (I've seen one before and it's way over the top, setting up the bits and pieces, describing everything possible) and not to mention the free trip that the sale person is working towards simply by showing you the product - and hopefully purchasing. Really Kirby should take note and realise people don't want to be tricked or have to endure demos which last hours, just show them what it does and how much can be vacuumed out of already cleaned carpets. Be honest upfront. Anyway they did purchase because theirs broke recently and after saying no twice the price was offered at $1800 for the lot (all pieces - and there are a lot of attachments), shampooer, shampoo, extra bags and some hard floor buffer. Negative (apart from the way they market) is as good as the suction is when used as an upright, when you need to use the hose with attachments you lost a lot of suction so not so great with stairs or the car for my parents. If you're willing to part with $1800 and don't pay any more!! then this is a good vacuum, better than others in stores.

Helped my daughter – Kirby is The only vacuum that ever helped my daughter with her dust allergies. She never gets allergies at home anymore, only when she visits friends. Yes it is expensive, but very easy to use if you are not mentally challenged. Got the newest one just few days ago - not the Sentria, it's Avelir. After using a 15 year old one this seems like this… Read more

new one is very much lighter, works almost by itself and so easy to push and it's pretty! 1 of my girlfriends upgraded hers as well and my best friend got one today. Oh! Also mops floors, shampoes carpets and apparently can also polish and clean tiles - I havent got the brushes for those. I traded in my old one so paid very reasonable price, but my friend said she paid over 4k for hers. She still thinks it's well worth it.

Excellent vacuum – I bought the sentria about 6 weeks ago, and apart from the price, can't complain. I had a dyson prior and have to say the Kirby's suction is far superior. I life in the country and have four children, and a few pets, tiles, carpet, and floorboards, and this machine copes well with our household.i reckon I managed to get about 5 kilos of dirt out… Read more

of our house in the first couple of weeks, and I used to vacuum the floors with my dyson daily! Make sure you get attachment for floorboards if you have them. The floor cleaner washes tiles very well. Service has been awesome (I'm in southern tas) I managed to overheat and melt fan whilst blowing up air mattresses last night, called guy who I bought it off, he came to house today, said he'd never seen this happen before and have me a brand new vacuum.

Waste of money!! Terrible vacuum – We purchased this vacuum of the promise it would last us years. 18 months later we are in fight to get a full refund. It has caused us nothing but issues and is unsafe to use. DO NOT purchase this product. It is a Complete waste of money, they have the worst customer service I have ever come across, they never return calls, emails and very rude and abrupt. Expensive, bad customer service, unsafe to use

biggest waste of money ever! – At $3200 it was a huge purchase but we thought at the time it was worth it. We have had endless problems with it and no customer support. Took it to our authorised dealer who is discusted with Kirby in general. He had 10 machines in his shop that he refuses to repair as he says they dont meet Au/nz standard/a danger to use. He cut off the cord and… Read more

gave it back but is taking Kirby to court. Head office wont return any calls so we are left with a big waste of money that we cant use. when it worked it cleaned well expensive no back up service

I love my Kirby – We have owned the Kirby Sentria for 5 years. Before we had the Kirby we had a cheaper turbo vacuum from Kmart that I was impressed with because it was better than my Mum's old cheapie (you had to bend your back and scrub the carpet with the vacuum cleaner - it took hours to get the house done). After you own a Kirby, you will probably never shop… Read more ·  5

for a vacuum cleaner again. Why would you? They are a quality machine, and Kirby supplies parts for all models, even those which are 80 years old and still run efficiently.

Why did we choose the Kirby? I was initially attracted to the free cleaning demonstration offered by the salesman and gradually I realised I could easily have a clean home even though I lived with 3 cats, 1 dog, and a new baby. There are quite a few attachments and you need a while to get used to them: my favourite is the upholstery vacuum head - it gives a deep clean to the couch, the cushions, vacuums the dust out of pillows, bean bags, etc. The Kirby Sentria can vacuum and shampoo any carpet, but you can also vacuum your mattress, inflate the air bed, you can even use it as a blower vac...

It has a "Turbo" Tool which will act as a sander/buffer, so you can polish your floors or take the paint of the walls or sand up that old timber table - and the shavings are sucked straight into the bag. No mess!! There is a carpet cleaning head, with adjustable height, to give the carpet a deep clean (it actually vibrates the sand/dirt particles out from the base of the carpet) and has a separate hose and pipe configuration, (which never tangles) for the hard surfaces. My other favourite attachment is the brush - it will clean the top of the ceiling fans, vacuum up the spider webs and dust the vertical blinds.

The custom anti- allergenic vacuum bags can seem like an expensive addition to your initial purchase, but once you learn that they don't let any dust particles escape after they've been vacuumed it will seem worthwhile. I have two cats now, but as long as I use the Kirby on the couch and carpet, my feline sensitive visitors don't seem to have any reactions. Extra long electrical cord, plenty of gadgets to make the housework easier, has carpet and upholestery shampooing attachments. versatile, efficient. Quite expensive to purchase new. Can only purchase through a sales representative and they can be overpowering.