Unfortunately, you get what you pay for. We bought this vacuum because it was inexpensive, and we're a family of 5 on one income. It's done a passable job, for the most part, but our filter is absolutely disgusting (we're also outside dumpers)and we cannot find one anywhere. We don't have the money to replace the vacuum, but we have an 8 month old who's crawling and we don't have a choice. It's too bad that you can't find a quality product for an affordable price anymore.