11 April 2025

How easy is it to repair a Kmart stick vacuum?

Kmart’s Anko stick vacuums are no doubt affordable – they start at just $99 and none of them cost more than $200. But they get the worst reliability rating out of 13 brands we test, and if the battery dies you might get the same run-around we did.

We’ve started giving stick vacuums a repairability score in our test results. To do so, our repairability expert Bryan Wall studies product manuals looking for mentions of spare parts. He also researches whether parts are available by searching online and talking to manufacturers and third-party repair shops.

“We’ve found a couple of very helpful spare-part dealers around the country who help us check availability of parts, along with expected wait times for parts to turn up. If it’s too long – more than 3 weeks – then we award fewer points,” Bryan explains.

The good news is most of the stick vac models we’ve tested have batteries that are easy to replace, and spare batteries are generally available. Most also have filters and chargers available.

The highest repairability score we’ve awarded is 98 out of 100 to a Makita stick vacuum. The cheapest Kmart vacuum has the lowest repairability score of just 10.

Bryan explained that when he started looking at Kmart vacuums, he initially felt hopeful about their repairability.

“When I phoned the Kmart helpline I was directed to an Australian website, hegroup.com.au, which stocks some spares for most Anko stick vacuum cleaners,” he says.

“You can order online with shipment available to New Zealand. However, when I contacted the website, I was told they couldn’t send batteries to New Zealand due to Australia Post’s battery policy.”

So, Bryan went back to Kmart, where he was then told replacement batteries were only available if the original had failed within the 12-month warranty period.

“If the battery fails after a year of use, that’s basically curtains for your vacuum.”

Spares also don’t seem to be available for the $125 Living & Co stick vacuum from The Warehouse that we’ve tested. It got our second lowest repairability score.

We hope that by publishing repairability scores we’ll encourage consumers to choose products with longevity in mind. We’d like to see manufacturers step up their game and bring in more spares rather than selling throwaway goods.

To find out more about what we’re doing to encourage change, check out our Right to Repair campaign.