# New Rancilio Silvia V3 Ex-display Machine ???



## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

I notice there are a couple of firms selling the above.

Has anyone bought one of these machines ?

They are described a good as new or with water damage.

Should I stick to buying a new one instead ?

They are advertised as £100 cheaper then a new one but with a one year warranty instead of two.

cslogg


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

"Caveat Emptor" or let the buyer beware, are these companies well known? and water damage could mean anything! suggest more information before parting with cash!


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## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

I understand.

Here is one from Coffeeitalia.

New Rancilio Silvia V3 Ex-display Machine !!! Details

Buy one of the best coffee maker available on the marke at the cheapest price possible !!!

This coffee machine comes from a trade fair and it is as good as new !

1 YEAR OF WARRANTY INCLUDED !

cslogg


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

I would advise caution ... put Coffee Italia into the search facility of this forum and check the comments from other members.


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## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks Mike I will do that when I get home.

In the meantime where is the best place to get one of these online as it looks I will be getting a new one.

cslogg


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

HasBean stock them online


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

cslogg - definitely stay away from Coffee Italia.


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

Hasbean seem about the best bet, think they retail at £425(check website) for the new model,reliable well known company used by a lot of members, does very good coffee as well!

I belive that Coffee Italia may not be UK based so aftersales/warranty issues could be a problem

Hope this helps!


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## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Looks like I will keeping clear of Coffee Italia.

This machine is for my wife who has been using a Pavoni Europiccola for many years.

She has narrowed her choice down to two models.

The Silvia at £425 and The Gaggia Classic at £233 from Amazon.

I do not drink coffee but is the Silvia really worth nearly twice as much as the Gaggia ?

She loves her coffee and I think she is leaning towards the Silvia

cslogg


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

The Silvia is a better machine, but requires more taming. It is not worth twice as much as the Classic, but from my experience if "she" is leaning then you have to take note


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

The Rancilio Silvia is a more stable machine, but punishes a bad grind, poor tamp or any faults in the coffee making process

The Gaggia Classic is much more forgiving. If buying the Classic then budget an extra £20 (or thereabouts) for the Rancilio steam wand - as the one supplied with the Gaggia Classic is next to useless. Plenty of steam pressure but I am not a fan of the design. That said you can get good milk with a little practice.

Is the Rancilio Silvia worth twice as much as the Gaggia Classic? In my opinion No. They have good resale values so buying a Classic, selling and upgrading may be a safe bet


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## liquidmonkey2000 (Oct 4, 2010)

Just to help your wife out here. I would say go with the Silvia as it holds it value better. Currently you can pick up a second-hand Classic for slightly less than £100 on average. You will be hard pressed to find a second-hand Silvia under £300. Why? simple supply and demand. There are a lot of Gaggias kicking about at the moment, whereas there are very few Silvias on sale.


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

Got to admit that I would probably go for the Silvia, and if your wife's been using a Pavoni, then she's serious enough about coffee to tame the foibles of a Silvia. I wouldn't be swayed by the residual value argument, though. Classic bought at £233, re-sold at £100, represents precious little difference between Silvia bought at £425 and re-sold at £300. At the end of the day it comes down to whether or not you/she thinks a £425 spend is warranted on a coffee machine.


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## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

Thanks all,.

I have passed on your comments to the one who must be obeyed and await her decision.

cslogg


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## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

Have now gone ahead and ordered a Silvia from Hasbean.

cslogg


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

Great. Let us know when it arrives and she has had chance to play.


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## sandykt (Dec 3, 2009)

Good decision


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## cslogg (Oct 10, 2010)

Well,she has now had the Silvia for a day now and although she said her first cup was disgusting she is getting to grips with it.

Just a couple of things though.I read somewhere that you can get a water filter for around £5 for it.Anyone know where?

Also,she was a bit disappointed that there was no water gauge as there was on her Pavoni.

cslogg


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## liquidmonkey2000 (Oct 4, 2010)

Drury Tea and Coffee sell it but for a little more than £5 http://www.shopdrury.com/prodtype.asp?strParents=146&CAT_ID=147&numRecordPosition=1


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

cslogg said:


> Well,she has now had the Silvia for a day now and although she said her first cup was disgusting she is getting to grips with it.
> 
> Just a couple of things though.I read somewhere that you can get a water filter for around £5 for it.Anyone know where?
> 
> ...


Be that as it may, imho a water softener is going to ruin the taste at the benefit of reducing scale. Ion exchange resin is the way to go.

Best off with a brita filter, depending on what your º hardness is, then just dealing with descaling occasionally.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

+1 for the Brita filter


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## BanishInstant (Oct 12, 2009)

+1 Brita filter


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## mike 100 (Jul 15, 2010)

with regard to the water filter for about £5.00 you may be thinking of the in tank type that Happy Donkey sell,I belive they should be used in addition to something like a Brita to help combat scale and not used by itself


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## RisingPower (Dec 27, 2009)

mike 100 said:


> with regard to the water filter for about £5.00 you may be thinking of the in tank type that Happy Donkey sell,I belive they should be used in addition to something like a Brita to help combat scale and not used by itself


Yes, inline filters. However, generally they don't recommend them also as they put additional strain on the pump. I'd say to avoid them personally.


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## DonRJ (Apr 3, 2010)

Brita Maxtra for me, just ensure you change the cartridge once a month and keep an eye on Amazon for deals on the cartridges.


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## gfunk (Sep 14, 2012)

I was watching the prices of used Silvia on eBay for some months. Considering what they go for in the US, it was a bit shocking. Then I stumbled onto the CaffeItalia Silvia V3 demo offer. I hadn't found this forum, so didn't know anything about what people thought of the company, but since it's located in London, I figured if I had any problems, I could go down and raise hell.

On the phone, they told me it would be shipped to me from Italy. That gave me a degree of assurance that it would be manufacturer refurbished. After I put in the order, I got an email telling me it would be a new Silvia V3! Sure enough, it arrived from Italy less than a week later via UPS even though the shipping charge was only £8.

It is definitely brand-spanking new. I took off the upper cover to have a look under the hood and couldn't find any evidence of previously used parts. Many of the metal surfaces had protective peel-off film. It took many flushes and pulls to get the new-machine taste out of the brews.

In the end, I spent less than what I would have paid for a used Silvia on eBay and without the worry that I'd be getting a poorly maintained machine.

I realise this is my first post and probably seems like astroturfing, but I was just trying to find out some solid information on how effective a Brita filter is in softening the oh so very hard London water and stumbled on to this post.

I'd definitely recommend CaffeItalia, with the proviso that I've only had this single experience with them.

<edited for spelling></edited>


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## lookseehear (Jul 16, 2010)

I'm glad it worked out for you. Another member on here (DWalsh I think) bought a really expensive Faema Legend from them and couldn't be happier.

The only thing I would say is that I've heard that if you have any problems then it involves shipping it back to Italy and waiting a lot!


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## gfunk (Sep 14, 2012)

Well, that is a very valid point. It's not a light machine, so shipping would be expensive. However, I rebuilt my La Pavoni and have rebuilt a few motorcycles, so not a big worry for me. One of the things that attracted me to the Silvia was the ease of access to the fiddly bits.


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## PolarBearDave (Jul 24, 2012)

I also got my Silvia from Caffe Italia, in a bundle with the Mahlkonig Vario for a good price. While the items were fine, the transaction was marred by them originally being sent via UPS with the COD ('Cash on Delivery') option filled in by accident. When the delivery truck arrived, UPS wanted the whole amount in cash before they would give me the parcel. Obviously I wasn't going to pay twice so they had to take it away. A call to Caffe Italia later, they said they would be contact with UPS and it would be sorted for the next day and I could go and pick it up. So slightly frustrated, I went to the depot the next day, but no message, no release of parcel.

Rang Caffe Italia, they said they had been in contact and faxed through the details and maybe would be sorted for the next day. Went again, no message, no release of parcel. Taking to UPS, they said there was in fact no way to remove the COD requirement, other than to pay the money or let it go back to the sender to send again. Anyway, many phone calls and empty promises went back and forth for about a week before it got sent all the way back to Italy, and they sent a replacement parcel without the charge. I never received any sort of apology or compensation.

I was fuming at the time as it took about a month in total before I got the machine from ordering, despite being 2 foot away from it after about 10 days! They are cheap but you may need to keep your fingers crossed that all goes smoothly!


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