Miele Complete C3 Alize Canister Vacuum-Corded, Ivory White

After much research across vacuum brands I settled on getting a Miele C3. Knowing I have hard wood floors and some short pile rugs that led me to the Alize or Calima. I liked the idea of a turbo brush, but really liked the extra Alize technology... Auto suction, dynamic drive castors, LED handle light, ergonomic grip, filter change light, motor standby when docked, even the AirTeQ floor tool looks versatile enough when needed. And I like the ivory color better than canary yellow.I decided to buy the Alize + order a turbo brush separately + a mini-turbo brush for my steps with short pile carpeting. I'm still waiting on the turbo brush (1 month+ shipping from a German Amazon vendor?). The vacuum is excellent and I've been forced to adapt to the use of the AirTeQ floor tool on carpets out of necessity. The Auto-suction feature is a perfect match for this tool. Depending on floor surface or type of carpet pile the suction is always adjusting itself automatically, which is great. All in all the AirTeQ tool does the job, but one has to learn the technique, specifically on carpet. The trick is to extend the telescoping wand all the way so its angle to the floor is minimized. It makes it much easier to push and pull the head smoothly across the carpet. At a steep wand angle the head just takes more effort to move and tends to hop on certain types of carpet. After a month of use I can say it is not as pleasurable a sensation pushing a head sucked to the carpet as much as my prior experience pushing an upright with wheels that slides smoothly across carpet. Nonetheless, it still gets the job done. I'm looking forward to the turbo brush as it is supposed to have a nice rolling feel across my short pile carpet. I really appreciate the ability of the AirTeQ to easily slide under furniture... allowing me to clean spaces that historically were neglected.I'm embarrassed to admit my house has not had a good scouring in a number of years, but of course after my Mile purchase I moved all my furniture, beds and all, and did not discover dust bunnies... they were more like dust rabbits. In the base case this vacuum was sucking stuff out of the carpets my Dyson upright (with powered beater bar) apparently never touched... combined with the dust rabbits, after a month the vacuum bag seemed quite full, probably weighing close to 2 pounds. At the same time the mechanical bag monitor, when tested with the AirTeQ head held in the air as advised by the manual, still showed only about 1/8 of the red bar, suggesting there was still room for more dirt. Ultimately I did change out this bag after a month long of house scouring and decided to give the 2nd bag a fresh start. I don't have pets and have about a 2400 sqf home. People complain about the price of the very high quality OEM Miele bags. Based on all the reviews of the bags I'm anticipating having to change the bag moving forward every 3-6 months. For me, spending $20 or less per year on bags is a drop in the bucket after spending upwards of $1K on a vacuum with its extra attachments. I've had my Dyson for nearly 7 years and only after I ordered my Miele (which arrived in 1 1/2 days after order) did I decide to give the Dyson a thorough cleaning, more or less dismantling it. I get the allure of seeing "progress" in vacuuming in a bagless vacuum through the clear (but now hazy) cylinder, but between the frequency of emptying the low capacity cylinder in a puff of dust and a very revolting experience giving it a thorough cleaning I can see how the Miele will remain clinically clean over time by comparison. BTW, my son and I have bad allergies. I think things are starting to get better for us.Over the past month I've been canvassing reviews of all the Miele vacuums, not just on the US Amazon site, but UK and Germany Amazon sites as well. I was wondering if I was going to have buyer's remorse not springing for an upgraded model with a powered head. Based on all my research the #1 part failure seems to be the electro-hose/wand and #2 being the powered floor head. The UK site has been very telling as very few use a powered head Miele, but the turbo head is very common... it looks like these just wear out every 7-10 years. I'm assuming the UK have a lot more wood floored homes and very few with thick pile carpeting as the hundreds of turbo brush reviews have none below a 3-star rating, with the vast majority at 5-stars. In the US site, not quite as glowing, but it seems folks in the US may have different personal definitions of what they see as low and high pile carpeting. I also uncovered many opinions that the weight of the electro- hose/wand/powered head is pretty substantial. In summary, if your home is wood floored and low piled carpeting I've come to the conclusion getting the Alize (or Calima) is probably the best bet for long term durability vs. the powered head versions. I now have no remorse as this Miele has clearly demonstrated its ability to do thorough cleaning of the floors (and the attachments have allowed me to dust other neglected areas as well, like the tops of ceiling fans) and a powered head would likely be overkill for my specific house. The light weight non-electric hose/wand and head are greatly appreciated. I'm hoping to get 20+ years out of this unit.3/17/17 Update: My Miele Turbo Brush finally arrived. I now see why the Calima currently has no ratings below 3 stars. I have 2 rooms with Berber carpet and 2 large Persian rugs on wood floors. The Turbo Brush with my Alize at full power vacuums smoothly and effectively on the Berber and takes the slightest bit of effort on the Persian rugs. Unless one has robust (thick) wall-to-wall carpet or expansive tracts of carpet (where a wider vacuum head could provide benefit) it seems to me the Alize with Turbo and Mini-Turbo brushes added to the order provides a most complete solution. Many of my wood floors have smaller area rugs so the AirTeQ is perfect for those, where one is frequently toggling between wood and carpet. When stored and carrying around, it is great the Alize can store the AirTeQ on one side and the Turbo Brush on the other. Not having the power accessories keeps this setup so light and likely more durable. Loving one's vacuum is half the battle in keeping one's house clean... because it just gets used more. BTW, not sure if I called out how spectacularly quiet the unit is when using the AirTeq and not too bad when at full power using the Turbo Brush? The setup I have now is really a home run.10/14/17 Update: I'm 3/4 of a year into using my Miele Alize. I just installed the last bag out of my first box of filters, but will admit I probably changed out all the previous bags prematurely. Call me crazy or tell me I have more dollars than sense, but in the past couple of months I purchased the electro hose/wand and SEB 236 power head (>$500). I've become obsessed with cleaning since I got my Miele and decided I wanted to further deep clean my carpets with a power head. I am not disappointed. It is MUCH easier to clean carpets with the power head, the down side being lugging around the electric parts is much heavier. I also enjoy having the non-electric bits for hard floor and above ground cleaning. A while back I added the SUB20 elongated dust brush and it is amazing for above ground cleaning... it attaches directly to the non-electric hose (ie remove the handle/wand) and the system is sooo light for dusting. In summary, for the ultimate Miele, having both an electric and non-electric setup is the best of both worlds. I think above ground cleaning with the electric hose would be less than ideal, and vacuuming anything more than very thin/commercial carpet without a power nozzle is less than ideal (I just lover that smooth power head feeling of vacuuming like one experiences with an upright). If any other cookoo like me wants to pursue a similar setup it is actually more cost effective (by >$50) to buy an Alize and upgrade the power components than buy a Marin and add non-powered components (including the spotlight handle - also, it looks like locating a C3 non-electric - longer- hose is not so easy in the US), and the Alize body is higher end than the Marin (Dynamic Drive castors + the little plastic cover over the the hose electrical connection when not in use). Did I go overboard? Yes. But did each addition improve my cleaning experience? Yes. Have I wasted money? In hindsight, out of all I acquired I probably did not need to get my mini-turbo brush. As it turns out, putting the full sized turbo head directly on the non-electric handle makes it easier to clean the stairs then when I use the mini-turbo brush. I suppose if I were to ever get a cat or dog, that tool would become useful for me as well. BTW, I also like to buy my vehicles with all the optionsl, so just in my nature.

I love my new Miele vacuum! I had been searching and searching for something of excellent quality not made in China. The American brands that used to be great are all made in China now and are clunky, made of cheap plastic. I really didn't want something that looked like a toy and that would not last long. I'm glad this vacuum is made in Germany and of top materials. The tube is made of real stainless steel and the plastic used is a high grade one. This vac is sturdy and has great suction. It took me only about an hour to get used to the suction settings going from rug to floor and back, but the auto mode is also a plus, for it works very well. I love that the little tools are held inside the vacuum, easy to use and hard to lose. I also love that this vacuum is not noisy. All others we'd had were a bit noisy and hurt our ears. The chord is also quite long and it's light and small enough to carry around with ease. I have a house with children, a dog and one of our dwellers is very allergic. It's great to have a vacuum that offers efficient filters to keep the air clean. Paying for the bags and filters is well-worth it, and I don't even think these will have to be changed very often. So far, I've vacuumed the house and the car once, and now signs of having to change anything yet. I had called Miele's customer service a couple of times to ask questions about the vacuum models I was considering and there was very little wait time if any at all; representatives were very professional, polite and knowledgeable. It's good to know you can call a company and get a response right away. As for delivery, it was very quick, within the time expected. I'm extremely happy with this purchase and will always consider Miele for other home appliances.

I am pleased with the Miele Complete C3 Alize, Petrol vacuum, although it is a bit different than other canisters I've owned. The suction on this vacuum is quite good; I mean it really sucks. It's also very quiet compared to my other vacuums including my Shark stick and my iRobot. It has a variety of suction strengths and a respectable on-board, battery operated LED that is bright and automatically shuts off after 30 seconds. It has 3 attachments; a dust brush, upholstery nozzle, and a crevice attachment. It also has a few different filters to reduce emissions.The head is attached to a retractable wand that is long enough to comfortably stand up and vacuum, while it easily collapses for tighter spaces. The on/off switch is foot controlled, as is the chord retractor. It has (+) and (-) foot switches to increase / decrease the suction power, from heavy carpet to curtains. It's also surprisingly light weight.It works quite well on floors and is effective on carpets. The Miele C3's head does not have a spinning roller or wheels on either side. Instead, the head has a single back wheel and a central suction opening. It takes some getting used to and sometimes you have to go over the same area a few times. The suction can be so strong that I have to angle the head up on the back wheel so that the head doesn't tightly seal with the surface. Also, without the roller, the vacuum doesn't leave that nice back and forth pattern on the carpet. The head has a switch that pushes out stiff bristles for hard wood floors, which I haven't tried yet. The bottom of the head is metal; it doesn't seem to scratch my hard wood floors, but I am wary.Two huskies have recently spent time at my house and there's no vacuum on the planet that can fully handle husky hair, which seems to be genetically designed to statically stick to everything including the vacuum itself (I suppose these properties provide the dogs protection against the Arctic cold, but the result is hair everywhere). It's very frustrating. If you're the type of person who likes a clean home, I would not recommend heavy shedding dogs and don't expect any vacuum to remove a large portion of it.