This is our THIRD Polaris 65. We have been using this exact product for the past 21 seasons and it works great, but after time, the hoses, flexing so much, crack, etc. It's usually more cost effective to just buy a brand new one than to replace parts. HOWEVER, this one came damaged right out of the box. The yoke that holds the catch basket was packaged under other items and is mashed so badly, it will not straighten back out (photo coming). We put it in the water anyway, hoping it would straighten back out, put the catch bag on it. Not only did it not straighten out, it now bent the catch bag!!!! So now the catch bag will not stay on the yoke. Since we had a retired unit, we stole the yoke from it and put it on the new one along with a new bag we had recently bought (I keep extra bags on hand at all times). A few days later, I find one of the wheels floating on top of the water and the screw in the bottom of the pool. We put the wheel back on, but the plastic screw will not tighten up, so I fully expect it to fall off again. (Maybe it's designed this way?) BUT SERIOUSLY??? WHAT HAPPENED, POLARIS????? QUALITY HAS GONE DOWN THE TOILET.

Complete garbage, if I could give it no stars I would, bought one for a second time because when it WAS working properly for a short time, it worked great, (thought maybe the first one was a lemon) but second time a failure again, the hose was cut to fit properly as well, tips on its side and dumps pool water right out of your pool, don't waste your money.

This is my third. The only cleaner I could find that can sweep gum leaves. The cleaner can be troublesome but aren’t they all.

I have had my 18x33' above ground pool since purchasing my house in 1977. Over those years I have always used suction style crawling cleaners. I always fell for the "only one moving part" for reliability. That reliability always transformed into 1-3 years of reliable use. When that diaphragm failed it was always a problem trying to find a replacement and when I did the price was always at least half if not more than the original cleaner.I decided to look at the "pressure side cleaners". Let me just say that this cleaner does just as well if not better than the previous "return side cleaners I've used. Plus there are advantages to the pressure side cleaner. First and foremost. The skimmer basket remains open to clear the surface debris; not the case with return side cleaners. Also the pressure side cleaners have a quick connect which you easily attach and disconnect when you want; return side cleaners use a plate to insert into the skimmer. This allows the basket inside to collect debris which can fill, get blocked and allow the pump to "run dry" causing it to overheat and possibly burn out. Plus, once the skimmer basket is blocked you lose suction and the hose unit stops working, hose connection (plate) floats and you have to set the unit up again after cleaning out the basket. This is a real pain. The Polaris floats on the surface dragging a fine mesh bag by means of a pressurized hose.. The upper unit automatically moves forward and then backwards while the bag travels along the bottom, going up along the wall and flipping so it doesn't get tangled. The debris gets collected in the bag. This process is a lot faster than the crawling type cleaner. And this thing is very quiet, no pulsating noise to listen to. When cleaning the bag is needed I find that removing the bag from the unit when I'm in the pool (while the cleaner is running) and turning it inside out, I can then use the jet stream to cleanse the bag, then just re-attach. Adding chemicals? This really helps by distributing everything throughout the pool. No more warm and cool spots in the pool also. One final note. I bought an 8' extension hose figuring I would need it, I didn't. If you follow the directions it says the hose should be 4' from the furthest wall. The hose that comes with the unit seemed to be greater than 4' from my furthest wall, so I attached the extension hose and ran it for about 10 minutes and found it made it too long. I took measurements and was about to cut the hose to the needed length and found that the original hose will stretch after being used for a short period of time. No need for the extension and no need for cutting. I'll keep the extra hose for emergency repairs if needed. The difference between this and the 165 is simply the hose length. Pools with deep ends may need additional length added to the bag end. In ground pools use a different model because the hoses are thicker for wall material vs. vinyl walls.Sorry for the long review, but I wanted to cover it fully.

To start off let me clarify that this is NOT a vacuum in the traditional sense of the word. It blows the dirt into a bag rather than sucking it out. Many people complained about this because they weren't expecting it. I think it adds so much more to it. First of all, since it attaches to the pool inlet rather than the skimmer it can be left in the pool as long as you want...mine is in all the time except when we are swimming. There is no danger of an issue or clog happening and burning up your pool pump and the skimmer continues to skim while you are using it. I set mine up in 30 minutes and within an hour my dirty pool bottom was spotless except directly behind the ladder. What doesn't get blown into the bag gets recirculated for the skimmer to take out. It is like having swimmers in your pool all the time circulating the water. I highly recommend this product.I'm so pleased with this pool cleaner that I decided to add to my above recommendation. I have had this for over a month now and if I could give it 10 stars I would. Our pool is a 25 year old oval (18 x 33) above ground pool. In the past I would vacuum one day and have fine dirt at the bottom of the pool by the next...basically I had to vacuum once a week. Since I got my Polaris I haven't touched the manual vac AND my pool is SPOTLESS. As other posters have mentioned it is NOT a vacuum but in my opinion that's the beauty of it. I leave it running all the time when we are not swimming with no fear of something going wrong and causing my pump to run dry. It is pretty much worry free in that respect. Only once did I have an issue and that was only minor...I didn't attach the basket properly and it came loose and ended up in my skimmer. It caused no damage whatsoever. If you leave it running all the time there is no need to store it which makes it even easier. When I swim alone I often leave it running or simply turn off my filter and wrap a bungee around the hose and attach it to my deck. That keeps it to the side and out of the way. When there are others swimming it takes about 2 minutes to disconnect it and take it out of the pool...very small price to pay for a sparkling, care-free pool. If you leave it running all the time when you aren't swimming it is the equivalent to have several (clean) swimmers in the pool all the time...it stirs up the dirt...what the polaris doesn't pick up is circulated until the filter picks it up...which is another plus with a non-vacuum unit...the skimmer works while the Polaris is running. It's a great device and I highly recommend it!