American Standard Toilets

Greetings All,

I am in the process of building a new home and want to make sure I select good quality toilets. I know this forum thinks Toto are excellent but they are pretty expensive. Based on the testing by California and Canada the Amerian Standard Cadet 3 and Champion 4 got their highest ratings (1000) in their tests. They used a variety of testing materials that should have given them a reasonable test. But, has anyone had any personal experience with these toilets, good / bad/ or ??? Do they have a good sized water area in the bowl??? Do they wash down the sides of the bowl thoroughly???

Thanks in advance for any help my question.

The Cadet 3 seems to be a very good price/performance ratio. The Champs ( notice they are up to "4" because the first three had assembly issues and reliability issues of the flusher mechanism) is in the same price range as Toto's and may not be a good choice.

I like American Standard, but it is hard to deny that they have had quality issues in recent years. I don't think the fact that American Standard plumbing was actually sold off by the Parent company last year, and is now owned by a leveraged buyout conglomerate who merged AS, Crane, and Eljer.

Bowl wash is an issue with the new "gulping" toilets,as I call them. And Toto seems to have the edge on that score.

American Standard has quality control issues.
I have seen them warped, chipped, patched and mis-marked in the box.
And sometimes they are not. It's your gamble.

The testing you mention, is not very real world.
They do not test in a way that would show streaking.
The media they test with is wrapped in plastic.
The old testing was done without the plastic wrapper, and showed more realistic ratings.

The reason that we favor certain brands and models, is based on hundreds of homeowner product reviews. We don't let one man do it for us. We all participate in the reviews and testing.

Good for me

I'm an owner/builder and have very good luck with American Standard. I prefer basic designs so I am not attracted to Toto and others' "high end design". The American Standard toilets that I have used are cheap, flush really well, look good and are good quality.

I know a few folks who have had repeated problems with Toto's.

I guess based on the other posts, you have to be prepared to return defective ones. Perhaps you could do an inspection at the store.

That's my two cents.

IMHO Am. Std. hasn't made a decent toilet in over 15 years.

I don't provide them for installation at my customers...
I stopped 5 years ago after a string of defects including leaks at a "Plug" at the back of the bowl trapway...

I do install them when provided by the customer. Sometimes it has cost the customer extra to have a second on installed after defects were found on the first one...

jimbo said:

The Cadet 3 seems to be a very good price/performance ratio. The Champs ( notice they are up to "4" because the first three had assembly issues and reliability issues of the flusher mechanism) is in the same price range as Toto's and may not be a good choice.

Click to expand...

Not for nothing, but arent there only 2 versions of the Champion toilet. The original Champion and the Champion 4. I think they named it Champion 4 because of the 4 inch flush valve. Although i'm going to deny that the original champion had many issues...i do feel that the new champion 4 is very robust design. just my 2 cents...

If you have the original Champion, you can call American Standard and they will send you the conversion to replace the flush valve.
It's just a matter of time before it fails.

If you have the Cadet 3, and your flapper has started developing blisters, you can buy an after market replacement made by Korky for it.


Blisters develop on the black rubber seal.

You can find toilets even cheaper if price is you real concern. Myself, I wanted a toilet that would perform well for the rest of my life. If you consider the lifespan of a toilet to be 30 years, divide the price difference between the AS and Toto by that and that will be you savings per year. But, it's your home and your decision. If you feel the AS fits you better, then that's the way for you to go.

I have to say that until recently I have gone through life not really giving much consideration to the type toilet I had. I was more concerned with the type car in the driveway and other things. About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with Parkinson's which eventually forced my retirement and caused us to make adjustments to lifestyle and amenities. Because of my infirmities we changed out the 2 toilets in my home from whatever unknown brand we had to TOTO Ultramax ADA height toilets with the CEFIONTECT (CeFiONtect) option and its all the difference in the world, and frankly the cost, now that I have them is the least of my worries. They flush great, easily kept clean and the height is the most incredible thing (I know there are plenty of brands that are ADA height) because they are so much easier to sit down on and raise yourself up. I'm totally amazed at how much they now make my days easier and that it took me so long to discover it and make it a priority of life.

Best of luck. Glad to hear somethings in life are comfortable while going through the battle you're going through.