Repair or replace
Quick answer
The usual service rule is to repair when the cost is under half the price of the replacement and the machine still has more than a third of its expected life left. A canister vacuum is expected to last eight to fifteen years and a robot three to six, so the same repair bill points opposite ways on the two machines.
The half price rule and the expected life ranges are service conventions. They describe how these decisions usually go, not what your machine will do.
- The repair is under half the replacement price and there is meaningful life left. This is the case the half price rule was written for.
- Filters, bags, belts, brush rolls, batteries and hoses are owner replaceable on almost every household machine, need no special tools, and are what most scrapped vacuums actually needed.
- This compares two numbers you supply. It cannot see the machine, and a quote that turns out to be a motor is a different decision from one that turns out to be a hose.
If the answer is replace
Shown across the price range rather than cheapest first, because the right replacement is rarely the cheapest one.
- Bissell
Bissell CleanView Compact, Powerful Suction & Extension Wand, 3508
$59.01 Check pricePrices change often - Eureka
Eureka Canister Vacuum Cleaner, Household Vacuum for Home, Carpet, Pet
$219.00 Check pricePrices change often - roborock
roborock Qrevo Edge 2 Robot Vacuum and Mop, 25,000Pa, 3.14'' Ultra-Slim
$1,099.99 Check pricePrices change often
What this tool does and does not do
It works through the checks in the order a service technician uses, and it tells you what each outcome would mean. It cannot see your machine, so nothing here is a diagnosis of one particular vacuum. Treat every result as a list of things to rule out, and let the part number printed on your own machine have the final word.
No vacuum on this site has been tested by us. Every figure comes from a published manufacturer specification, a defined unit, or a widely used service rule of thumb, and each page says which of those it is using.
Common questions
Where does the half price rule come from?
It is the rough line the appliance repair trade has used for decades across categories, and it holds up because a repair buys you the remaining life of an old machine while a replacement buys a full one. Once a repair passes half the replacement price, the cost per remaining year almost always exceeds what a new machine would cost per year.
Which repairs are genuinely worth doing myself?
Filters, bags, belts, brush rolls, hoses and cordless batteries. All six are designed to be changed by the owner, need no special tools beyond a screwdriver, and between them account for the clear majority of household vacuums that are thrown away while fundamentally sound. A belt in particular is a few dollars and twenty minutes.
What repairs are not worth doing?
Motor bearings, a cracked chassis, a failed control board and anything water damaged. Those need a shop, the labour alone usually approaches the price of a mid range machine, and the failure often signals that other parts of the same age are close behind. Price them, but expect the answer to be replacement on anything but a premium machine.
Does brand change the answer?
Mostly through parts availability rather than build quality. A machine whose maker still sells filters, belts and brush rolls is repairable for a decade; one whose parts have been discontinued is not repairable at any price, regardless of how well it was built. Check that the parts exist before paying for a diagnosis.
My machine is fifteen years old and still works. Should I replace it?
Not on age alone. Older canister and upright machines were often built with serviceable motors and are still going precisely because parts were available. The reasons to replace a working machine are usually filtration, weight, or a genuine change in what you need from it, not the number of years on the label.
Does this tool know what my repair will cost?
No. It compares two figures you supply, which means the quality of the answer depends entirely on having a real quote and a real replacement price. What it adds is the expected life range for your machine type, because the same repair bill points one way on a three year old canister and the other way on a three year old robot.
Every figure here comes from published manufacturer specifications, owner reported measurements and repair documentation, and each is labelled as either a standard or a convention. This is researched general information to help you diagnose and plan, not professional advice, and it cannot tell you what is wrong with one particular machine. Your own manual and the part number printed on your machine are the final word.