We owned our last Mighty Mite for over 12 years, and it was still working, but many of the plastic parts ( hoses, wheels, casing, cord, attachments) were at the end of their useful life after much daily use. The new unit works even better and was less expensive than our original purchase. I didn't want to spend a lot of money for a pet vac, and this definitely is the best $$ value going. Highly recommend this unit at the online price of around $70 !!