TCS has an excellent track record for being super reliable. They are way beyond the garage build category. I've never seen or known anybody who had a reliabilt. My
TCS has 1700 hours on it with no problems so far. When I bought it two years ago I was also looking for the simplest machine made since I do my own repairs. I somehow kept a White Magic Commander running for 14 years and learned that simplicity is a good thing. The mechanic at Sunbelt wouldn't even work on the White Magic so I had to learn to do it myself.
As far as finances go, some of us are supporting a family on only the income of a high class janitor so the lower the payment the better. Especially when you have a wife who needs hundreds of $$$ a month in medicine for diabetes.
Sounds like the guy is doing it right by building his business with a porty and holding out until he can truly afford the TM. You can always move up again in machine later as your business grows and maybe even move up to the
Butler like all the elite carpet cleaners. I may reach that point someday if I don't retire first, but to be honest, the
TCS has all the squirt and suck I'll ever need. At this point I don't really plan on trying to increase productivity any more, I'm actually thinking I might cut back to a more reasonable workday next year. If I had a $1000 a month payment on a rig it would be harder to cut back being a slave to the lender.