I bought my first treadmill about 3 years ago. It was originally priced a little over $900.00. (I bought the floor model when the models changed for about $300.00 off.) I bought a proform, with the space saving design (where the deck folds up)
Within 3 month of having it, Sears had to come out on a service call to fix it. That held for about 2 months, and then I got into a repetative pattern of needeing service every two to three months. Needing service was a drag, it would take them about a week to come out, then they needed to order parts and come back.
I don't know if I just got a lemon, I know several people with the same brand who are happy with it. I just think that a treadmill in my house gets more use than in many other houses.
Everyone in my familly uses the treadmill at least once in a while. (Kitty sleeps on it.) It gets a lot of use, and some of the people in my familly are on the heavy side, over 200 lbs.
I personally use the treadmill about 5 hours a week most weeks, on a 12% incline, at 3mph.
That is a lot of wear and tear. Treadmill repairs are VERY expensive. I did buy the service agreement on mine, and I am ver glad that I did. Sears honored their agreement, and after comming out 3 times in 8 months for the same problem, they gave me an $800 store credit for the purchase of another treadmill.
This time I switched to Nordic Trak. Not much of a switch because icon fitness makes both Nordic Trak and Proform. I switched to a high end model that did not fold up and was rated for up to 400 pounds for the weight it could bear.
This has been a much sturdier model. It is quieter, and I haven't had any problems with it. (Yet... I got it in March.)
When I researched buying another one, Smooth and Precor came up with the highest ratings. I was limited to a Sears brand because of the store credit.
Nordic trak has more built in gadgets than any other brand. It's console is like something out of Star Trek.
Next time I will talk about features to look for and how to choose a treadmill.
I would urge you, whatever brand you buy, to get the extended warranty if you are planning on heavy use.
