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Buying new toilet. Need advice.
I'm looking to buy my first new toilet. The only requirement i have right now is it has to have a round bowl due to space. I'm not looking for the Cadillac of toilets nor do i want to buy the cheapest to save a few bucks. Any advice on brands to buy or not to buy or features to look for is greatly appreciated.
A Toto Drake is a good choice or a American Standard Cadet 3. The Cadet 3 from a big box store may have problems as they are 2nds. You may get a good one or one that needs to be returned for 1 reason or another. The Toto is not sold in big box stores. If large stools are a concern then a Caroma with its large trapway is the way to go.
Many of the plumbers on this forum will not furnish and install an American Standard because of the poor quality control there manufacture. They often are not level and required replacing. Plumbers can not spend their time opening boxes and removing toilets to sort out the bad ones much less taking the defective unit back for exchange. Big Box Stores are notorious for having factory seconds. Sure, they will refund or exchange, but they won't pay for the time wasted. Go to Terry's Report on Low Flow Toilets, scroll down to the Shopping Cart, and find the Toto Drake. Compare the specs on the round front with an elongated front and see if the elongated might work for you. You can do a search on the Toto website to find a dealer near you. They are worth traveling a ways if necessary.
The Toto Drake is a great toilet but often out of financial reach for alot of customers. A good alternative is the Kohler Cimarron. We've installed dozens of them without a single problem.
I would imagine prices will vary from dealer to dealer, but in checking Terry's prices for the Toto Drake and Kohler Cimmaron is$23 for the elongated bowl and $36 for the round bowl. So while the Toto is slightly more expensive than Kohler, it is hardly earthshaking.
I'm one of the plumbers Gary mentioned that will not install a Am. Std. toilet unless it is customer supplied. Then I will install as many defective toilets as they are willing to pay for!
If I am picking up a toilet for a customer they are getting a Toto Drake! I've been installing them as my toilet of choice for 5 years now and have had "0" defects and "0" calbacks on them.
A toilet is a fixture that often will be in your home for 20-30 years! Do you want an inexpensive piece of junk giving you grief forever! The difference in price between a Cadet 3 and a Toto Drake is nothing!
I should correct by post about the cost of the Toto Drake compared to the Kohler. What it should have said is the the Toto Drake elongated costs $23 more than the Kohler elongated and $36 more than the round bowl.
I've installed thousands of Toto toilets,dozens of them
and some Kohler, the few Kohler toilets have given me more problems than the thousands of Toto.
If I want to compete on price with the Cimarron, I sell the Toto Dalton CST734F,
I can sell that for $195 for the elongated with comfort height, and it works better than the Cimarron.
I have used both in my home, so I'm not guessing about it.
Last edited by Terry; 06-03-2008 at 10:54 PM.
I too was on a budget, but I read Terry's review on toilets
and I figured here is a guy who does this for a living and
seems to do it well. He suggests Toto and the Drake was
one of the top choices. I went with one and am ever so
glad I did. Install it correctly and it's a done deal. We
have some here that when they would go, well things
got nasty via the old toilet. So far the new Drake has
taken care of business hands down, no probs.
Spend the money on a Drake. It's just not worth the hassle not to.
Quality is Priceless!
I'll make one last plug for the Toto. Granted it will likely cost a few dollars more than many others, but I think you should consider this. A toilet is a devise that normally will last many years and be used several times everyday, every week, every month, and every year. Does it make sense to save $20, $20, even $50 for a product that is known to clog and have performance problems? The Toto line from the least expensive model to the most costly ones are proven performers.
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