My rowentas seem to work for about a year then they leak, I've heard that from alot of other people. I had a old iron for years that you could used for weight lifter, but then it died, in a puff of smoke. I've gotten all my rowentas from yard sales or thrift stores, I never paid more than $10 for one.

I've had every type iron out there (I'm death on irons... I use them every single day) & for my money, I like cheap ones. My DH bought me a Rowenta a couple of years ago & I HATED it! It took forever to heat up. It was heavy. It spit. It leaked. It had an auto shut off (I don't like auto shut off because sometimes it's a little while between pressing sessions when I'm really sewing up a storm & I hate to have to wait for the silly thing to heat back up). So I just buy whatever kind of cheapie I can find that doesn't have auto shut-off. There was a thread a while back about irons & someone referenced a good, cheap, non-shut off iron that I wish I had made note of.

I don't mean to be Debbie Downer & I hope you get many happy years out of your new iron. I just wasn't impressed with mine, but then again... I'm too picky... LOL!