1. There is no better vacuum. Only the Royal vacuum is as good.
2. Heavy? Here’s what you do so it won’t be heavy – and the salesman should be sure the customer understands the three things that make a Kirby heavy:
First, pushing it from the total upright position. The vacuum should be out in front of the user with the handle about waist high; otherwise, they are pushing it in to the floor, simple leverage.
Second, the bag gets overly full. This makes a great deal of extra weight AND all that dirt blocks the bag from getting more dirt.
Third, Start it with the height adjustment in the highest position; then lower it until the rug begins to lift. Too far down, it will grab the carpet in too tight of a grip and it will be difficult to roll.
Profit. Just like anything else, it has a price markup and a sale price. Just go into any mall and you will see this.
SALESMEN. There are good and bad in every business, and claims of quality, etc are fair.
For Salesmen:Never tell the potential customer it is not for sale. Of course it will be for sale. Tell them that is true, but you don’t twist arms, and that they don’t have to buy it. Then keep your word. (I sold about 2 out of 3 demos). Never lie. When you discount the price, have a plausible reason. Go to the mall: sales end all of the time. Salesmen are always in contests; I won four really great trips. If there are other legit reasons, find them. Help, never force the customer. NEVER set the initial price too high and then discount like crazy. Customers a not stupid. Never leave the house without being absolutely sure that the customer knows how to use their new, top of the line equipment.
Longevity. Vacuums are simple: brush roll connected to a fan to move dirt and air and a bag to catch it. Kirby’s rug head shape is the key element in why it is so good. I STILL own a Royal and two Kirbys that I took in trade THIRTY years ago (some people trade in Kirby vacuums like cars.)
Warranty: Three years is more than I got on my new Prius. But, rebuilding will make it work like new and back then when I sold them, any Kirby shop can do it for about the same price as the factory.
EMPTY it – push it the right way – adjust the height properly. Clean brushroller and set brushroll properly (some unscrupulous vacuum salesmen of any brand can make another vacuum not work by adjusting the brushroll so it doesn’t touch the carpet. Jerks!). Change belts periodically. Buy a new outer bag five-six years down the road; even with paper bags, the fabric of the outer bag will begin to clog with dirt. You may be able to put off buying the outer bag by washing it. But, the outer bag is cheap. Today I bought one in a shop for $24.95. New ones work better than washed bags.
You really can make a Kirby last a very, very long time (at least the older models.
ADVICE: Unless you must have something new, an older, rebuilt Kirby will always be the best deal for the money.

The salesman started with a list price of $2700 for the 2011 Sentria G10D and the accessories (brushes, wands, shampoo attachment, turbo sander, etc). But he quickly knocked it down to $1800 with discounts for our old vacuum trade-in, discount for being teachers,and special sale price “today”. The demo guy was very pleasant and not high pressure, but it was obvious that there were some stereotypical sales tactics going on at times. The salesman first told us how he is trying to earn points for a trip to Las Vegas with the boss. Later in the demo, he made a big show of calling the boss on our home phone and making sure he stayed close enough to us during the call so we could hear him trying to get a better deal for us. It was kind of funny and reminded us of the tricks car salesmen use. As he finished the demo, we told him that we liked the vacuum and we had researched info on the internet. We said we did not want to play any games and that we had decided that we would offer to purchase the machine for $1000 out the door with all the accessories. He called the boss and came back with two counter offers: first was $1125 plus tax, we declined. Second counter was $1000 plus tax, we again declined and said thanks “but I guess we won’t be buying a vacuum today.” At that point the boss agreed to $1000. He congratulated us for being such tough negotiators. The salesman claimed that their cost was $995, which I’m not sure I believe, If true, why would they sell it for just $5 over cost and eat the sales tax? My guess is that we might have been able to get it for closer to $800 or so, but after using the vacuum I feel like I paid a fair price and it really is a great vacuum. We had been buying a vacuum about every 3 years, but I fully expect that this is the last vacuum we will ever buy. Our 7 year old carpet (with 3 kids and 4 pets in the house) looks better than it ever has, except when it was first installed.

A cheaper option to consider is to buy one off eBay. There are Sentrias going for $500-600 with a 1 or 2 year warranty from the seller. Some are new and some are refurbished. I decided if I did need warranty repair, it would be a huge hassle to have to ship it back to the seller on ebay. The Kirby person will try to tell you that the ones on ebay are older models and/or even scams where you never receive the vacuum. I am sure there have been instances where that is true, but the sellers I looked at appeared to be vacuum cleaner dealers with lots of good feedback.