What you consider *superior* products

[Midpack]

I'm prompted mostly by earlier posts:

• We've found good value, surprisingly in some cases, in most Kirkland products at Costco. I wouldn't be afraid to try any of their products.
• Our Dyson vacuum has lasted in our dog household far longer than any Hoover, Eureka or especially Oreck we owned before.
• We've had 4 Honda and 3 Toyota cars, all have been outstanding compared to the American and European brands (and one Nissan) we've also owned. [Our BMW and Audi were great and reasonably reliable, but when they did need service - OUCH]. Most disappointing brand we've owned - Volvo!
• Allen Edmonds shoes, worth every penny
• Haflinger ATB slippers, heaven
• eKornes Stressless recliners, worth every penny
• Original Mennen Speed Stick, ever since the late 60's - are there other brands?
• We've had nothing but Dell desktops/laptops for more than 20 years, had good service from all of them
• HP printers. I'd love to buy a fancy new wireless one, but my old Officejet 5610 won't die (I wish it would, LBYM is a disease)!
• Old Craftsman tools, a cherished possession, but the new stuff isn't nearly as good
• Lands End and LL Bean clothes. Decent wear and predictable fit so we can buy online without returns
• J/Boats, worth every penny (kinda expensive, but great resale)
• Henckels kitchen knivesu
• Bonavita & Technivorm coffeemakers, blows cheaper ones away if you want great coffee - and you'd never stoop to a Keurig
• All-Clad and Mauviel pots and pans, we've had many other brands, you get what you pay for
• DW would tell me to add her KitchenAid stand mixer, it'll probably outlast us
• Honda self-propelled mower, you'll never buy a cheap one again once you own a Honda
• Nordstrom. We don't shop brick-n-mortar much anymore, but if I want something and want to talk to a department store sales rep who know his/her products - Nordstrom is another world compared to other department store chains. We willingly pay a small premium at Nordstrom (we'd never "showroom" a merchant)
• iPhone and iPad. Thought they were both ridiculously overpriced until I owned them, can't imagine being without either anytime soon. And Apple privacy is not perfect, but way better than Android - well worn topic in other threads (not here please)
• Lagavulin scotch and Basil Hayden bourbon.
• Organic milk if you drink it straight like DW, once you taste the difference (and I can't taste any difference between organic and non-organic for most foods, not that taste is the only reason to choose organic)
• Coke. DW would say caffeine free Diet Pepsi, but she doesn't read this forum

I'm tempted to start a thread on products where cheap is all that matters. There are certainly products where cheap trumps quality or value for me.

 

[target2019]

Some products are branded, like Kirkland, while other products are designed and manufactured, like Toyota. To know a product is superior, I feel that it would need to be used over a long period, too.

Dell and Apple for computers, 30-35 years.
Martin guitar, 75 year old model.
Yamaha guitar, 35 year old model.
Nexus tablet and Apple iPhone 4, 5 years of daily use.
2002 Toyota Highlander, 12 years of use.
Sony Bravia TV
Craftsman tools
Genuine Swiss Army knife.

I've had various models of products over the time frame mentioned for computers.
Kirkland is a good value brand, but I wouldn't call it superior.
With cars, a car dealer can ruin the reputation of auto when it is serviced. They are out to maximize the service price.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

A lot of the Kirkland wines are really outstanding value. I still can't get over this lovely rich Kirkland Côtes du Rhône Villages 2015 for $6.99! They just had a few bottles left, and we picked up all the stragglers by ones and twos. I hope a few more make their way to our Costco.

Kirkland Malbec is also excellent. I always pick up a couple bottles when it's in stock. The real bargain is Kirkland Cabernet, $7.99 for a 1.5L bottle. That one is a Costco staple.

I read an article recently that compared Costco's wine marketing strategy (using a house label) to that used by retailers in Britain. of course, Kirkland-branded products are spread throughout Costco, not just in the wine department, but I still found the article interesting. https://wineeconomist.com/2007/08/22/costco-and-global-wine/

 

[Totoro]

My Crumpler backpack. Endures daily (ab)use, going strong after seven years or so.

Also really happy with my windstopper Kathmandu jacket, but a bit too early too tell it will hold up.

 

[Chuckanut]

My Costco wine buying routine has become: buy one bottle of what looks to be an interesting wine at a good price. Have a glass or two. If I like it return to Costco soon and buy more. Thankfully, I live near a Costco, and, being a retired bum, I can go at a time when it's not very crowded.

 

[aja8888]

Do not buy the CRV . They have air conditioning problems at low mileage .My next car I will return to Toyota .

The A/C works fine on my 2003 Jetta and that's at 306,000 miles.

 

[aja8888]

I'm tempted to start a thread on products where cheap is all that matters. There are certainly products where cheap trumps quality or value for me.

Now that would be a good idea!

 

[W2R]

Do not buy the CRV . They have air conditioning problems at low mileage .My next car I will return to Toyota .

I am so sorry that this happened! I thought you made a great choice when you picked the CRV but I guess sometimes even the best cars have issues.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Consistently, the best pairs of jeans I've ever owned have been Wranglers from Walmart. This blows my mind. I've owned Calvin Klein, Levis, Dickies, and none have stood up to the abuse that my Wranglers have. Tens of thousands of motorcycling miles, the failure to chafe through the thighs when I was 300+ pounds, hiking, daily use across every kind of non-extreme weather and terrain imaginable. I've gotten years out of my $15 pair of jeans at a time.

The only pots and pans I'll ever need are my 12" skillet and 7-quart dutch oven cast irons from Lodge. I bought them as the best pair of cookware for a minimalist kitchen while traveling, and haven't found the need to buy anything else since I've settled down for a while again. No matter how much I drool over All-Clad.

My Gerber multi-tools. I have one that's more of a needle-nose plier and one more stub-nosed. Both have done everything from repair motorcycles to build furniture, and stood up great. After a decade, they need a good soaking to get all the sand and dirt out, the tip of the knife of one is chipped, but they're still worth every penny paid.

My Red Wing boots have been everywhere my Wranglers have, and also were my Navy boots. After a decade they finally needed resoled. Four times the cost of the stupid Bates I had to keep replacing every six months, worth it.

Vitamix. I got the Culinary Institute of America version because it was 50% off and came with a free container. Even still it was three times the price of my Nutribullet. This thing is a beastly beast that could liquify granite and I use the crap out of it.

Bell motorcycle helmets. Now that they're back in-house for manufacturing, these helmets have become top notch again.

Bodylastic workout bands. After years of abuse and no caring for whatsoever, the rubber isn't cracking, the highest-use stretch points haven't thinned out, they're faded but still just as great as the day I got them.

 

[travelover]

...........I'm tempted to start a thread on products where cheap is all that matters. There are certainly products where cheap trumps quality or value for me.

I started a thread on another forum titled "Harbor Freight Tools That Don't Suck". It has had over a million views.

 

[nash031]

I have the Marantz 1060 amp and 27 Receiver. Both approaching the 50 year mark and still going strong and sounding wonderful (BTW, have never had any work done on either one)

Spent a little extra for the Marantz receiver a few years ago. Lasted three years before the power supply fried itself (plugged into surge protector, no dust... no idea why). Was very disappointed. Bought a sufficient $220 Sony.

 

[ejman]

Spent a little extra for the Marantz receiver a few years ago. Lasted three years before the power supply fried itself (plugged into surge protector, no dust... no idea why). Was very disappointed. Bought a sufficient $220 Sony.

Yes, unfortunately no relationship between the Marantz of 50 years ago and today's...other than the name.

 

[Marita40]

My 30 year old 12 speed Raleigh bicycle is still going strong and looks great. So are my Wagner cast iron skillets, original Farberware pots and pans (they are more cheaply made now--mind are at least 35 years old), and Pyrex and Anchor Hocking glass measuring cups and baking pans.

 

[FreeBear]

There are numerous complaints online and my Crv air went at 36,000 miles .You got lucky .

My 2000'ish CRV AC made it to around 120K miles, then cost over $1K to replace the compressor. I was one of the lucky ones...

At nearly 200K miles, I did replace my old CRV with a newer version of the same, in part because I have a good Honda dealership nearby. Looking at the repair expenses in retrospect, I realized that the repairs were so expensive over the last 80K miles, I could have simply bought a new car.

Our mid 2000 Camry has been the most reliable car we've ever owned. So may stick with Toyota in the future, although I still like the way Hondas drive.

 

[braumeister]

I'm sure these CR-V complaints are legitimate, but they bear no relation to my reality.

I've had three CR-Vs in a row: 2003, 2008, and 2013. I put about 125,000 miles on one in five years, then get another.

Total repair cost beyond routine maintenance (oil changes, etc.) has been ZERO.

Have I just been exceptionally lucky?

 

[FreeBear]

My Costco wine buying routine has become: buy one bottle of what looks to be an interesting wine at a good price. Have a glass or two. If I like it return to Costco soon and buy more. Thankfully, I live near a Costco, and, being a retired bum, I can go at a time when it's not very crowded.

+1 for Costco wine

We occasionally by Kirkland wine, but usually buy other selections, mainly sub $10. Sometimes we go "wild" with a $10-$20 bottle.

The selection is good enough for us, but not so big as to cause analysis paralysis. Oh, I hate shopping, so I hide out in the Costco wine area while DW shops for everything else.

For pricy wine, we just hit up our retired wine geek friends. They pity us for drinking sub $10 wine. And life is good

We return the favor when we bring home a few precious bottles from our semi-local wine tasting vineyard runs.

 

[Chuckanut]

We return the favor when we bring home a few precious bottles from our semi-local wine tasting vineyard runs.

I think we are on the same wave length. I buy sub $15 bottles of wine at Costco, but like the occasional trip to the wine country where I will spend $20-$30 a bottle, sometimes a bit more. This does not happen often.

Sometimes I will spend a bit extra a Costco. I recently got some Chateau neuf du Pape for about $20 a bottle . Not the greatest example of that wine, but certainly very good for the price.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I'm going to have to throw in my Steelcase Leap V2 chair. I typically bought $50-200 computer chairs that lasted all of not much time at all. As much as I'm at the computer, this $1,000 chair has been so worth the expense. Not only for the longevity, but the comfort and customization. Three years going strong, with careful attention to keep the cat off of it; the cat has made it her personal Mission Impossible to try to get into that thing.

I noticed every doctor office at the Mayo Clinic had this chair as well. It'd be interesting to see what their furnishing budget was like.

 

[braumeister]

I'm going to have to throw in my Steelcase Leap V2 chair.

It has already been mentioned in this thread by others, but I would add the Herman Miller Aeron chair. I'm sitting in mine now, bought in 1998. Still like new and supremely comfortable.

 

[audreyh1]

Kirkland Malbec is also excellent. I always pick up a couple bottles when it's in stock. The real bargain is Kirkland Cabernet, $7.99 for a 1.5L bottle. That one is a Costco staple.

I read an article recently that compared Costco's wine marketing strategy (using a house label) to that used by retailers in Britain. of course, Kirkland-branded products are spread throughout Costco, not just in the wine department, but I still found the article interesting. https://wineeconomist.com/2007/08/22/costco-and-global-wine/

Thanks for the article!

Since Costco moved into town I was no longer suffering from lack of interesting wine, and in particular a very limited selection of Oregon/Washington (Columbia Valley) wine which is our favorite US region. Being based in Seattle, Costco carries a pretty good selection of wines from the PNW. But they also carry a fantastic selection of Italian and Spanish wines, and we're just exploring their French offerings (a region we are less familiar with).

I enjoy the Costco Wine Blog, and sometimes a Costco favorite shows up on the Reverse Wine Snob blog.
CostcoWineBlog.com - Finding Costco's best wines - CostcoWineBlog.com
Kirkland Signature Cotes du Rhone Villages Review

 

[RetiredGypsy]

It has already been mentioned in this thread by others, but I would add the Herman Miller Aeron chair. I'm sitting in mine now, bought in 1998. Still like new and supremely comfortable.

That was the other one I was interested in. The Leap won simply because the local upscale office store (I didn't even know that was a thing) only had the Leap to try out.

 

[COHgirl]

*Rainbow vacuum cleaner.

*Apple products- Mac, iPad, and iPhone

*Dansko clogs - I even wear them hiking

*castiron pans

*EdenPure heater - had mine for 7 years now, still going strong

*BookBook iPad covers (the iPhone BookBooks aren't as durable with all the use they get)

 

[audreyh1]

Cast iron - would that be Lodge brand?

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I think Lodge is the only major manufacturer left that just makes bare cast iron cookware.

 

[RockyMtn]

My Costco wine buying routine has become: buy one bottle of what looks to be an interesting wine at a good price. Have a glass or two. If I like it return to Costco soon and buy more. Thankfully, I live near a Costco, and, being a retired bum, I can go at a time when it's not very crowded.

All of you Costco wine aficionados might enjoy this blog:

CostcoWineBlog.com - Finding Costco's best wines - CostcoWineBlog.com