Jack Lalanne Power Juicer Review

The Jack Lalanne Power Juicer line has one big thing going for it: an advertising budget the size of Texas. The big question is does it live up to the hype? Read our review to find out....

The Power Juicer Line Overview

There's no disputing the fact that Jack Lalanne has been an American health and fitness icon for over half a century. He opened a health spa at the tender age of 22 back in 1936. By the 1950's his popularity had sky-rocketed and he debuted with a fitness show, "The Jack Lalanne Show" which ran until the 1980's.

Now in his 90's, "Juicer Jack" is still going strong with his late night infomercials featuring what is touted as "The Ultimate Juicing Machine".

The line features the Power Juicer Classic, the Power Juicer Express, the Power Juicer Deluxe, the Power Juicer Pro, and the Power Juicer Elite.

With a lifetime warranty on the motor, a 60 day money back guarantee, and claims that it produces 30% more juice than any other juicer out there, who can resist the temptation to pick up the phone and order one now!

Let's hold off on that phone call for a moment and take a good look at this product first. While Jack Lalanne's reputation makes the sales, the company working behind the scenes to build the product (made in China), ship it, and handle all customer service issues is Tristar.

Tristar is an infomercial giant, focused on taking celebrity endorsed products, spinning an infomercial around them and skyrocketing them to temporary success. Whether the product is durable, well-designed or long-lasting seems to be on the backburner for this company.

Take this quote from the Tristar company website, "Tristar Products understands how to reach the consumer and how to deliver the sales message for maximum sales and profits! With Tristar Products uniquely integrated marketing system, every avenue of a promotion is covered allowing the company to dominate many market channels throughout the world."

With Tristar it's all about the marketing. So let's delve into the Jack Lalanne Power Juice line and see how some of those marketing claims measure up to reality.

30% More Juice with the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer

It's stated that the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer extracts 30% more juice than other juicers. Hmmm. Could that be true? A centrifugal design beating out single gear, twin gear, and hydraulic press juicers? Not likely. Let's take it to the people: In an Amazon review by customer Mike Zdyrko says, "The pulp that falls into the pulp catcher seems to be too moist. This leads me to believe that it's not getting most of the juice out of the fruits and veggies."

And a few more customer juicer review quotes:

From Cynthia Nunez, "According to the commercial, the pulp is supposed to be dry. I used this item once and I was able to extract more juice from the pulp."

From S. Williams, "The Power Juicer Deluxe can just barely juice a carrot."

From Nick Franco, "I find this juicer very wasteful, it leaves the pulp extremely wet and it does not matter what type of vegetable or fruit I use."

A blanket statement like, "The Jack Lalanne Power Juicer extracts 30% more juice than other juicers," requires a bit of examination. Especially when you have companies that have been making juicers exclusively for 20, 30, 50, even 70 years.

Could this new line manufactured in China really beat out a Champion, a Green Star or a Norwalk for juice yield? No. What is true is that the Jack Lalanne power juicer line probably extracts about 15% more juice than the cheapest centrifugal design $30 juicers. Users of comparably priced juicers like the Breville Juicer line, and the Juiceman Juicer line find that these two brands produce more juice than the Power Juicer.

Now let's explore another statement by the company, the lifetime warranty on the motor.

Lifetime Warranty on the Motor

Wow. A juicer with a lifetime motor warranty? Amazing! Unheard of in the juice extraction industry! Most centrifugal juicer lines offer a 1 to 3 year warranty and even the top of the line warranties are 5 years to 15 years. Let's look a little closer at the fine print to see how the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer can offer a lifetime guarantee.

From the power juicer website, "The Power Juicers motor is warranted for the lifetime of the original purchaser, and all other parts and components are warranted for 60 days from the original date of purchase."

They further state that they will repair or replace the motor if it is found to be defective due to normal wear and tear conditions. The customer must ship the juicer to them along with a check for $29.95 to cover return shipping costs.

Let's do the math. Shipping the juicer to them is roughly $30 and paying for them to ship it back is another $30. A total of $60. Considering the purchase price is $99 to $149 depending on which model you choose, the cost to repair your machine due to manufacturer defect of the motor is a whopping 40% to 60% of the original cost of the juicer!

What if something else goes wrong? It better go wrong in the first two months or else you're not covered for any claim. Their warranty is just on the motor. If something other than the motor does blow within 2 months, you'll still be paying shipping and handling!

So let's look at how durable the motor and other parts are.

From customer J. Tan, "I was so excited to use the juicer but we hadn't even finished making 1 glass of apple juice and the motor just stopped. It wouldn't start again and now we don't know what to do. If we send the item back to the US through courier, it would cost as much as the juicer so we made the most expensive half glass of apple juice ever!"

And some more consumer juicer reviews...

From Geneaux, "This juicer stopped working after 2 weeks - the power switch broke. Check the manufacturer's website - they want you to ship the unit back at your expense, AND include a check for $30 for their return shipping!"

From C. Muenchrath, "I put one carrot in it and the motor blew, smoke came out, and my Jack Lalanne juicer was dead."

Celia said, "I've only used it a dozen times and the rim cover broke off - it was glued on to the housing. The machine is poorly built: plastic coating is peeling off; parts are cracking and falling apart - it is all plastic; the motor is very touchy- it shuts down in the middle of the cycle and you have to take it apart to start it up again."

And finally a small issue that could have been easily resolved. See how the service department handled Victor, a customer with a brand new juicer, "The pusher was broken when I received the Power Juicer. Customer service said I would have to pay 4.99 plus shipping and handling for a new pusher even though it was defective by their fault."

Who Should Buy It

So there you have it. We haven't even touched on juicing performance issues, and we're not going to here. The Jack Lalanne Power Juicer is a fly-by-night juicer brand that is being sold through the celebrity endorsement of Jack Lalanne. Similar to the Magic Bullet Juicer its name will fade with time and customers will be left with a juicer that they can no longer order replacement parts for because it is no longer being manufactured.

We give the entire line of Jack Lalanne Power Juicers our Don't Buy Warning. Spend the same amount, and go with the Juiceman Jr, the Juiceman Juicer Pro or the Breville Juice Extractor Compact instead.

Of course if you absolutely have your heart set on one, you're going to go for it regardless of our review. Soooo, we've gathered the best prices on the internet for the the Jack Lalanne line of juicers. You can check them out below: