My 35 year old Electrolux tank, which was my mother's before I inherited it, because she found it a bit heavy, is cosmetically haggard, but still going strong. I had to replace the hose once, but other than that, it can still can suck the paint off the walls and although the power head wails a tad, I figure after all these years of sawdust, drywall dust and dog hair, it has the right.

Only other problem is that sometimes the rubber seals on the cheap bags that I buy, occasionally split, which causes the dogs to attack it when I turn it on, because the resultant squeals sound like the death throes of a large rodent.

After reading this thread, I think that if my Electrolux finally bites the dust, we'll probably incorporate a built-in or if that's not feasible, another older Electrolux tank, because one should get at least 30 years trouble free service from any expensive machine whose sole purpose is to suck up crap.