Costly, for sure. But not if you use one annually and factor in the high price of renting one for a day --- Or having to replace your old carpets! We got lucky, and the unit we purchased worked just fine. I put it through it's paces having to do the dirty off-white carpet in our den several times to clean the years of abuse. It didn't leak, stop working or fall apart (yet). Six more uses and it will have all but paid for itself. The liquid cleaner is expensive, but the rug looks so much better and I don't have to take on the financial burden of hiring an overpriced professional to remove and install a whole new carpet and padding.

First off, I have had numerous commercial companies clean my carpets with a variety of results - the only thing consistent is a high price. I have also rented Rug Doctor machines (with good results, but always disgusted by the machines) and have owned a couple Bissell ProHeat machines. This Rug Doctor Mighty Pro 3X was definitely a worthwhile purchase.

PROS:

The machine has a fairly small footprint in the closet which is nice.
Its capacity also allows for a much larger cleaning area than the Bissell I owed.
I did NOT have an issue carrying a full machine up and down the stairs as others have said. It is light enough and handles are well placed.
It cleans well.
The Amazon price was roughly the same as Walmart, but I was able to get the handheld attachment included (A definite must).
No excessive water left on the carpet. Thick, high quality carpet dried easily.

CONS:

My biggest complaint is that it is a little awkward getting the recovery tank off the machine because the top hinges up, but only slightly. It feels like it should catch somewhere or tip up more, but it doesn't.
For a machine that does not get all of the way to the edges, I think the handheld attachment should be standard (again on Amazon it is, in stores - no).

Overall, I have used this in a few rooms and am quite pleased. Even though our home is new (less than 3 years old), and we keep it very clean, this was still able to get a substantial amount of dirty water in the recovery tank. With just the basic chemical that comes with it, this machine was also able to clean up a stain from my kids' dry-erase marker that got dropped on the floor (the Bissell didn't touch it!).

After finishing the rest of the house (about 3200 sq ft of carpet), I will update again.

I Purchased, a rug doctor rug cleaner from Home Depot and came to me damaged and would not turn on. I subsequently had to return it. I did purchase the rug doctor rug cleaner from Amazon. That machine came to me and leaked all over the place after I put the liquid in the water tank. I called rug doctor because they said in their manual that they inspected every unit before it left the factory. And they told me that because I purchased it the unit at Home Depot and Amazon and not from them. It was probably sitting in a warehouse where it was probably damaged. I really think Home Depot and Amazon should know exactly what rug doctor is telling customers. I actually did not buy the unit from Rob doctor because of the timeframe. It takes to receive it. Home Depot was three days and Amazon was two days. I really don't think that the unit is getting damaged in warehouses but that's what rug doctor is telling people. Other than that I purchased a third unit from Amazon and hopefully it's not damaged. When the unit operate properly. It does an excellent job, cleaning carpet, and furniture.

The Rug Doctor works well, cleans great and has already paid for itself by saving me the money to hire carpet cleaning.

Was going to hire Stanley Steemer but they wanted $300 just to do my basement. Purchased this and it works great! Did my whole house with ease!