Brad, why buy new? And why a Cobra? Those things are overpriced garbage! One single 3 stage motor for a $5000+ unit?? You can save a bundle picking up a good used unit from ebay or craigslist. I see good Mytee units on there all the time. Sure, they are usually only packing 2 small vacs and a wimpy 100 psi pump. But that stuff is easily replaced. I've seen plenty of those units selling for around $800. You can pick up some of those GS vacs from Mytee. Not sure of the price, but would figure 2 of them to go for about $300. So you have $1100 invested with some killer suck. Next, pull out the wimpy 100 psi pump and plop in a nice 1200+ psi unit. Personally, I prefer an external unit for multiple reasons. Less weight, less heat, easier to service, and on those cold nights we are getting, much easier to put just the pump in the house, as opposed to wheeling the whole extractor in. If you have a heated garage, or live in a warm state, that might not be an issue for you. Your profile doesn't state where you live, so idk.
But you can get a nice pump setup for under a grand. But let's round up to $1000, just to play it safe. So you now have $2100 invested in your porty, and it has plenty of suck, and enough flow and pressure to do tile work, too. You could add a nice APO for pretty cheap, too. If you are going to do tile work, that will be a necessity. How much for a decent APO setup? couple hundred bucks? So let's put the total to $2300 for the porty, that includes your vacs, pump, and APO.
What do those Rotovac 360's go for? I'm sure they are NOT cheap. You can easily get a great 2" wand and a nice 17" 1.5 hp 175 for FAR less! Plus you'll be more versatile, too. A 175 can do more than just carpet and tile, unlike the 360. You can find some great deals on used 175's, too. I found my 17" Sanitaire in brand new condition, looks like it was used once or twice at most, for $300, with the pad driver! It's a $1200 unit, so I can't complain about that deal. But you can find a nice new one for about $750. Wands will vary, but you can get a "decent" one for under $500....the "great" ones are much more, of course. So let's say $1100 for your 175 and wand setup. Add another $400 for your hose and solution line. That should get you 100 feet of 2" hose and solution line.
You can get a nice, brand new Mytee redline spinner, for doing tile work, for about $600.
So lets total this stuff up.
Used extractor - $800 (estimate)
2 GS motors (same as in the M5) - $300 (estimate)
Pump - $1000 (I have my eye on a really nice external. It's rated for 1500 psi, 3.2 GPM, with a 5 year warranty on the pump, gauges, chem injection, all the goodies, and it goes for about $800)
APO - $200 (estimate)
17" 1.5 hp 175 - $750 (estimate)
2" wand - $350 (estimate)
Mytee redline sinner - $600 (estimate)
2" hose and solution - $400 (estimate for 100')
So if my math is correct, that puts you at about $4400. Keep in mind those are estimates off the top of my head, so it may be a tad more or less. But if you look at what you'd have versus blowing $5000+ on a cobra, then another $2500+ on a 360, it's no contest. You'd have one sweet porty, it would obliterate that POS cobra, and you'd have the necessary tools to do your carpet and tile work. Heck, if you're seriously going to spend that much for a cobra and 360, you might as well go get a decent used TM.
