Even though I have a 5 gallon Shop Vac and also a mini in the 1.5 gallon size down in my garage they are a bit of a pain to use on my vehicles. I really want a good quality cordless vacuum specifically for car interiors. I have tried the 12V vacuums that plug into the cigarette lighter socket and they are pretty much worthless. I really want a Dyson hand held model but can't see spending $500 just for a garage vacuum.

I see that Ryobi has a model that uses the same 18V batteries that their other cordless tools use. I have a Ryobi weed eater and a 1.5 AH battery & charger so that might be a good matchup since I won't need to buy an additional battery. The vacuum alone with the attachments can be purchased for around $52. Has anyone tried this one or am I still expecting too much for the money ? Or do you have recommendations for a different battery powered hand vacuum in the sub $100 range ?

https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/33287200290

 

I have the Black and Decker cordless Flex. Works well. I bought mine (Gen1) at a good price at Costco during last Black Friday. Below is link to Gen2.

 

Not a direct answer to your question but I have a wall-mounted, corded shop vac and a 30ft hose. It's out of the way, powerful, and long enough to reach all parts of the car.

pat

 

I've had a few of those little handheld vacuums and have always been disappointed with the performance. They'll pick up leaves and dust but they've always been useless for heavier stuff like sand. I think that they are just not big enough to move a sufficient mass of air relative to the mass of the particles to be picked up. Plus the shape of them prevents getting deep into places like behind the pedals or between the seats. And I hated dragging out the corded shop vac or home canister vac, especially when the driveway is wet from washing the cars. So I bought one of those battery powered shop vacs that runs on the same batteries as my other tools. Unlike my 6 hp shop vac, it won't suck the jute right out through the pile, but it picks up sand and rocks and outperforms every little dustbuster style vac I've tried. Plus it takes all the standard accessory nozzles that you can buy for any shop vac 1.25 inch hose to reach just about anywhere. I bought it just for the cars, but found that being cordless, its so much more convenient than the canister vac, that I keep it in the house instead of the garage and use it for all the little spills and whatever gets tracked in the door.

Most battery tool brands have shop vacs with a 1.5 to 3 gallon capacity that can be carried around quite easily. Since its also a wet vac, when you have a stain or spill, you can suck up the cleaning solution and rinse water. With some models you could buy an extra "clean" hose, put it on the output side and use it to blow water out of all the nooks and crannies so that you won't have spots where water seeps out after you've dried the car. I could recommend the one I got, but if you already have Ryobi batteries and happy with them, you might just want to buy the Ryobi model..

 

I'm a DeWalt guy but I don't like their vac's. I have a couple M18 tools that are unique or at least uniquely better and the Milwaukee 2 gallon is one of them. https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...acuums/0880-20
Ryobi is the same parent company as Milwaukee, just aimed at different market segment. Comes down to which battery platform you want to get married to.
The new M18 inflator is fantastic, by the way: https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...lation/2848-20

 

I have (and LOVE) the Bissell Multi Auto Cordless Vac. It won Car and Driver's best auto vacs a few years ago, but sadly it doesn't appear to be made any longer. If you can find one, get it. The current C+D test is here:Car and Driver 2022 Auto Vac Test.

 

I prefer a dustbuster type handheld vacuum rather than something with a hose. The application will be solely for cleaning vehicle interiors, as I mentioned I have a pair of corded Shop Vacs for bigger jobs. That little 1.5 gallon model does a great job but I hate having to uncoil the extension cord and risk scratching something on the cars from dragging the hose over it. I just want something quick and easy for interior touchups on the floor mats and hatch carpet or cargo mat.

I live up in the mountains and it's about impossible to keep small pieces of gravel and sand, leaves, pine needles and that kind of stuff from being picked up on the soles of my shoes and then deposited on the floor mats. Pet hair is not an issue.

As I already have another tool that uses the Ryobi 18V battery I think I'll try their model. If it is unsatisfactory I'll just return it. I'll report back after I buy one next week.

 

I too had been in the market for a hand-held battery powered vacuum for primarily the F-Type. After much research I purchased a Bissell Model29861 which has been a complete and utter failure in every respect.
I will watch this thread for alternatives as I prefer to not have to plug in the shop vac for every vacuuming chore.

 

I have this vac & love it.

https://www.turbo-tube.com/products/...kaAoo7EALw_wcB

 

I've been using this one for 6 years now and love it.

 

Wow! Its amazing how two people can have polar opposite experience with the same product. I got one of those exact models as a gift some years ago. I hinted that I didn't like my previous dustbuster type (that had a smaller battery and mere minutes of run-time) and this is what I got. It would pick up dust and grass but anything like coarse sand or little pebbles like Dwight mentioned, forget it. Oh and if it got dropped or bumped, it would come open really easy. I kept it around for years and tried to use it once in a while just to kind of make it look like I appreciated it, but really I thought it was awful. I was so glad when the battery finally gave out. That's when I went out and bought the cordless shop vac. Maybe I just suffer from the Tim Allen syndrome and have to have the Binford 5000.

 

Sure, it's not that crazy at all. You mentioned picking up sand in your previous post and I've never had to pick up sand from my car interior, so perhaps this vac wouldn't be good for that but I have no such need. I found that for the average floormat/trunk/seats needs, it performed very favorably with great battery life in its segment.

 

Inspired by this thread I just now bought a cordless vacuum cleaner for the F-Type.
Not a simple little hand-held but a full size one, this one from the Ryobi 18V One+ range: https://www.ryobitools.com/products/details/33287200375
Didn't come with a battery or charger so had to buy that separately, not cheap!
So I also got a Ryobi 18V ugga-dugga for the wheel nuts and other things, again not cheap.
Tested both the vacuum and the ugga-dugga after charging the battery which took a couple of hours, both worked great.
The vacuum has plenty of suction and is stupid light, waaaay easier to cart around the garage than my usual 240 volt wired house vacuum.
Now just have to resist buying a stack of Ryobi 18V One+ tools that I don't really need!

 

I keep thinking about trying one of those, but I'd already years ago wasted a lot of money on multiple pneumatic ones claiming as much as 650 lb/ft that I swear couldn't remove a twist-off cap from a beer bottle.

A man can NEVER have too many tools.

 

I really like Ryobi power tools. They perform well and are cheap enough to throw away if they break.


I don't have the impact wrench yet but will get one.

 

Thanks. I picked up the Ryobi 18v vac yesterday fom Home Depot on sale. Already have battery and charger. Nice unit. A bit larger to handle, but much more compact and luggable than my current shop-vac.

 

I received the Ryobi PCL704 a couple of days ago and tried it out yesterday. It will be sufficient for my needs which are primarily for doing quick clean ups of the floor mats and hatch areas of my Jag and Mazda.
It has enough power and is not too noisy which is nice when working within the confines of a vehicle interior. I don't think it would be powerful enough for heavier dirt & debris but I have two 120V Shop Vacs in the garage for those kinds of jobs. I did both vehicles and didn't have a problem with battery run time with the 1.5 Ah Ryobi 18V battery that I use with my weed eater. Looking at the debris that was picked up in the clear dust cup it picked up more than my naked eye had seen.

A couple of complaints: I wish it had a switchable LED light on it like a lot of cordless power tools have. That would be useful when working in dark corners of a vehicle interior and I would gladly have paid an extra $10 or so if it had that feature. Another is the attachments. It has an odd oval shaped connector that is close to 1.5" but not completely round so you cant use a 1.5" to 1.25" adapter and use common Shop Vac tools. And the brush attachment is a lame design. The bristle head rotates but to get it oriented downward so that it contacts the surface when you are holding the vacuum at a little less than 45 degrees from horizontal, you have to hold the vacuum upside down. You can see what I mean from the photo below.

 

The MIlwaukee does a great job.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Produc...acuums/0880-20

 

I have a Dewalt 20V vac and it's suction is OK and very easy to deal with.

For our company aircraft, I also have a Milwaukee M18V 2.5 gal "packout" vac. It has much stronger suction than the Dewalt, but it is just not as easy to use, It's bulky and with it's folding handle that folds the wrong way, preventing opening the top to access the battery and tools, and short stiff hose, I find that I struggle with it.

 

This thread reminds me of a discussion on one of my profession's forums concerning robotic floor cleaners. It seems as if people will do anything to get out of doing the job correctly. If you want to REALLY clean your floor [especially in a physician's office!], then either farm it out or do it right yourself. How good of a job could one of those robotic cleaners do, anyway?

I have a couple of shop-vacs in my garage, as well, and nothing compares to the suction generated by the larger unit. Considering that keeping the floors as grit-free as possible will significantly extend the life of the carpets/mats, it's worth using the most powerful tool you have for the job. One thing I have done for a while is put a black 16" x 20" microfiber cloth over the mats and then change the cloths out as necessary. This keeps the grit contained and the mats/carpets as clean as possible.