I bought many sets of magic bullet blenders over the past 15+ years. I would say its quality has gotten worse and worse. After 4~5 months of light use, it not only made big noises, but also leaked some black tar looking liquids into food which is really a health concern (you don't realize it until you blend some light color food). Totally lost trust on this brand and switched to another brand.
I used my girlfriends old black unit and it works great, so I bought one. The new unit was orange and was weak and overheated quickly. They sent a new blade but that did not help, so they sent me a new grey unit that worked better but not as good as the old black one. Both newer units bog down under load, then stop in less than a minute, and smell hot/burning.
Got this for a birthday present. Everything works great, EXCEPT it leaks like a hole in a boat. When I take the cup off the blendwer it leaks right into the base. The cups are useless as they will not lay flat and fall over if they are just off tilt a tiny bit. Waste of money.
I got this 11 years ago as part of a 2-1 deal with a baby bullet. The baby bullet survived at least 5 yrs and 4 babies before I lost track of it. My bullet is still going strong and I have only come to this site to order a replacement blade. I ordered a substitute replacement blade from a different company and it barely lasted a year.
I got an original Magic Bullet around 12 - 13 years ago and I just had to replace it because the gear on the base finally broke after years of constant use. I absolutely love it