First of all I should say I don't have a houseful of carpet, only a few rugs, so I thought this vacuum would last many years. I heard so many good things about Dyson and when my old Windtunnel finally bit the dust I broke down and bought a Dyson.
I bought this vacuum on Oct. 26, 2008 and on Nov. 16 the plastic that holds the beater bar broke. I returned it to the store that I purchased it and received another. After putting that one together and turning it on I quickly discovered it made a horrible noise whenever it tried to pick up dirt. So back to the store I went where I requested my money back. The bloom is now off the iconic Dyson brand.
In the three weeks that it did work, it worked great. Great sucking power, easy to assemble, quiter than others, but for $400.00 I expect something to last longer than 3 weeks and to be made out of better materials than thin plastic. I looked at the other Dyson brands and all of them have the same thin piece of plastic holding the beater bar together. It was only used on a few area rugs, not an entire houseful of carpeting. I ended up with another brand at half the cost of a Dyson.

Dear Dyson owners,as an owner myself,I'm in total empathy with your frustation.After
calling Dyson support several times and being made out to sound stupid,and dealing with
assistance that just gives one a preset list of questions,I decided to have a detailed
look at this so-called wonder machine and it turned out to be a wonder machine,problem is
assistance is'nt wonderful at times,since these are people who are'nt reqiured to understand
the machine and must be paid by Dyson,but let's not speculate on what's really at play here.
My machine just could'nt pick up when I use the "big" auto vacuum head cleaner,using
the mini turbo brush did a better job,but so much more time.So I decided to take this
"expensive piece of rubbish apart".I looked at all the blockage areas Dyson points out,but
no luck.Then I gave the little wand,between the vacuum head and suction tube into bin,a
little tug and "EUREKA" it just flipped of,meaning the head has been "losing suction" all
the time.
Looking at this little piece of wand it becomes clear there's only a CORRECT way of
putting it on and this by understanding how to fit it properly.Something a technicain can do in 5min.UTMOST importance is to mark
which end of little wand fits top or button,do this before removing little wand for the first
time.I did this by putting a piece of masking tape on one end and writing either "top" or
"bottom" on tape.however should you get mix-up with ends of little wand,then check which
end fits most easiest into plastic piece and remember that plastic piece fits on the top,
top is suction tube into dust bin.
Look at end of wand and you'll see that it's meant to turn into the plastic end-piece,
coz notches inside plastic piece starts from the front and tapers backwads. place the ends
together,little wand in your right hand and plastic piece in your left hand,line up
beginning of wire inside lttle wand with first notch on plastic piece.Turn little wand
towards yourself,little wand now slides into plastic end like a drill through butter and
turn wand till it stops,meaning little wand is firmly fitted to plastic piece and thus no
loss of suction.To remove little wand from plastic end reverse process by turning wand
forward,that is away from yourself.
Now look at little and look at the end where it fits onto the head.You'll
see,that marking on the head's tube trails back or inwards onto head,meaning that the
little wand must be turned over this marking and onto the head.IMPORTANT here is to check
that wire end,inside litlle wand,just touches notch on head.Turning little wand to far will
damage little wand and cause loss of suction.NOw slide plastic piece gently over suction
tube and your machine is ready to go,as new again.
After doing this properly it becomes clear that little wand is cut to just the right
size to fit between suction tube and head,but it can become unstuck and you're left an
"expensive piece of rubbish" or expensive repairs.
Now we'll enjoy our "expensive piece of junk" coz repairs did'nt cost us a cent.

I don't know why others are so happy with this machine. I saw the ads and positive reviews and thought I'd bite (and at over $400, too). I *hate* using this machine! Heavy, bulky, hard to store. I gave away my Oreck for this - what a big mistake! It was no chore to pull out the Oreck and vacuum because it is light and powerful (I have 3 furry dogs - and btw, mine is an "Animal" model). No problems ever with suction, power, cracked hoses - all of which problems this Dyson has.

I have to take this machine in yet again to replace a cracked hose. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I called Dyson to see if there was some kind of exchange program where I'd send this back and buy a replacement at a discount. They were huffy - as if I had proposed something preposterous.

The marketing is mostly hype - buy an Oreck or Miele (at least the Miele has a cord retractor).

We bought our DC07 last year and it is okay. For the price that we paid I have seen better vacuums. The major problem with this vacuum is its suction design. If you flip the vacuum over you will find the suction tube is located on one side of the unit. We have noticed that some debris (vacuuming on the carpet) is flung back towards our feet. This occurs on the opposite side of the suction tube. In my opinion and that from an expert vacuum repair company, (located in Phoenix, AZ) is a bad design on Dyson's part.

Suction and general cleaning is outstanding. The use of the accessories is a little cumbersome until you get used to it. The biggest disadvantage of this model is it's high profile. It cannot clean under furniture or even recessed appliances.