We are happy with our Soirees. With the exception of dual flush, it has everything on your list.

Ours are 1.6 gal, so can't say how they compare to the 1.28 gal version (which are the only ones available now), but ours work very well. Our old toilets were 5 gal, so we were somewhat nervous about the performance of our Soirees prior to their installation (staining, which we expected given the drop in water volume, clogging,....). They've been fine though. Occasionally, but certainly far from daily, there's been a little staining, and also on occasion, some floaty bits. All in all, much better performance than we'd have thought given the drastic reduction in water volume from our old to new toilets.

When our Soirees (we have three) were first installed, they would often drip, drip, drip after flushing, which (as you probably know) apparently is common for all toilets, but usually not noticeable on older toilets with all porcelain parts (which help muffle the drip noise) and is especially noticeable on the Toto's because of their plastic Uni-fit rough-ins.

DH and I did the different things suggested by Toto to pinpoint the cause (to make sure it wasn't caused by the flapper,or other). I did some online research (where I first learned that this was a common, and KNOWN issue), and discovered that Toto had come up with a fix to address the dripping sounds--a redesigned Uni-fit (apparently shipped with new models, but not with our Soirees because they'd gone out before the redesign).

I called Toto, and not only did they send three new Uni-fits, free of charge, they also sent a check to help defray the cost of having the plumber uninstall and reinstall two of our Soirees (one hadn't been installed yet). IMO, that's a company that stands behind its products, and wants its customers to be happy, and satisfied with their purchase(s).

HTH!

You get your first 5 of the 6 items you listed with the Toto Carlyle II. We bought two of them this past year, and have been very happy with them.

The dual-flush models seem to get mixed reviews from what I've researched on this forum and elsewhere. I decided having a good, powerful, bowl-cleaning flush was more important to us than saving a little water on some flushes -- and unfortunately it's a trade-off between these two options. The double cyclone flush in a number of the newer Toto models, like the Carlyle II, beats the dual flush in bowl-cleaning action. Keep in mind that if you get a 0.9/1.6 gallon dual flush model, you're using *more* water on all full flushes than if you get a 1.28 gallon single flush model; if you get a dual flush model and use the half-flush half the time and the full flush half the time, you'll use almost exactly the same amount of water as a 1.28 gallon toilet.

-- Eric

cat_mom, thanks for the recommendation.

jacobse, thanks. One question about the 1.28 models. Can you hold the lever down to get more water than the 1.28 g?

Can you post on Terry Love's site and he'll suggest? I have Toto's EcoDrake and UltraMax in the 1.28 gallon. No you can't hold the handle down more water. It 'whooshes' really fast and refills the tank in seconds. They are great, have had them a year and don't need to flush twice.

Are you set on a one piece? We have the Aquia III, it's skirted, ADA, dual-flush, elongated, and have had no problems at all. It can be overwhelming trying to figure one out so good luck to you.

I bought two Toto Carolina toilets. Flushing absolutely not a problem. They're great. They are ADA, skirted, elongated and 1.28. No dual flush.

pharaoh, Coincidentally, even as I type this, we are having a new Toto Vespin II installed; but it is a two piece, and lacks dual-flush, so it would not meet all of your criteria.

The toilet that you want, though, is not a Toto, made (near Atlanta, Georgia) by Japan's largest plumbing fixtures manufacturer, but an Inax Dover, made (in Japan) by Japan's second largest plumbing fixtures manufacturer. (In the 1970s, Inax actually had a Washlet kind of advanced toilet seat on the market in Japan well before Toto did, but botched the introductory ad campaign -- the ad campaign featured a gorilla -- and the ad campaign has been a textbook study -- for what NOT to do -- in business schools ever since.)

The Dover is a 1.28/0.9 dual flush (not a huge savings for the lower flow, eh?), single piece, and certainly better suited as sculpture than any Toto model. To the extent that any toilet can be called beautiful, the Dover fits the bill. Inax's Dual Vortex is effectively the same as Toto's Dual Cyclone, and Inax's "antibacterial surface" is effectively the same as Toto's Sanagloss.

Among Japanese, Inax has the reputation and aura of being even higher-end than the top-of-the-line Totos, but Inax has just begun (launched six weeks ago) to sell its high-end toilets in the United States.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Inax Dover, which meets all of pharaoh's specs

Thanks herringmaven! That is a gorgeous toilet (truly sculptural).

So where can i buy it without breaking my bank ?

pharaoh, at the top of the page linked above, there is a link for "Where to buy."

Because Inax launched its toilet line (previously in the United States its product line was limited to two models of advanced toilet seats) just the week before Thanksgiving 2010, I imagine that some distributors and dealers downstream may not be fully clued in.

But Inax is a formidable company (all of the toilets in all of Japan's international airports are Inax, for instance), so I expect that a strong push from up top is underway to get the word out on the street, and somebody may want to make you a good deal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Current status of the

thanks for the inax info. I am now torn between all the Toto fans here and inax thrown into the mix. I love trying out new ideas and am willing to try this one too. Hope there is at least one other forumer who has this toilet.

pharoah,
We have been using our new Toto Soiree for about 2 months now; no problems whatsoever. It stays clean, no dripping sounds (as cat mom experienced). Ours is the 1.28 model, which I was worried about, but that is all there was available. I was told that for more 'power,' you hold the handle down a second or two, and that has been sufficient. Otherwise, just a quick press down on the lever does the job. We are very happy with it. Good luck!

pharaoh, if you are worried about taking a plunge (no pun intended) into the unknown, and you do not need to make a decision in the next 24 or 48 hours, it might be worth your while to look into Rose George's book, The Big Necessity: the Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why it Matters, a copy of which can be had at powells.com for $10.95 (as I type this). You will find it as amusing as it is informative.

Suffice it to say, there are so many Toto fans here because, up until a few weeks ago, Toto was the only Japanese toilet maker with a significant presence in North America, so Toto has been most Americans' only point of reference as to Japanese toilets. But just do a search on YouTube for Japanese toilet. As Ms. George notes in the book cited above,

"Japan makes the most advanced, remarkable toilets in the world. Japanese toilets can, variously, check your blood pressure, play music, wash and dry your anus and 'front parts' by means of an in-toilet nozzle that sprays water and warm air, suck smelly ions from the air, switch on a light for you as you stumble into the bathroom at night, put the seat lid down for you (a function known as the 'marriage saver'), and flush away your excreta without requiring anything as old-fashioned as a tank. These devices are known as high-function toilets, but even the lowliest high-function toilet will have as standard an in-built bidet syatem. a heated seat, and some form of nifty control panel."

And in Japan, Toto and Inax are like Mercedes-Benz and BMW; each has fierce devotees, and the relative virtues of Inax and Toto are even the subject of barroom arguments.

While I am happy that Inax is coming into our area, competition keeps you on your toes, I looked on their site and don't see much mention of replacement parts. Are they off the shelf parts like Toto? That was the primary reason I bought 2 Toto's so far, is finding replacement parts for other brands are either hard to impossible, or very very expensive. I'm looking to buy another toilet, but am unsure. For the price it's hard to look further than the Drake II, unless you want a skirt (then it's Vespin II). The dual flush modes don't appear to offer much real world water savings when you can get a full flush with 1.28 gallons.

herring- THAT is a thesis on toilets and bodily functions! Although I have only transited through narita, i am fascinated by the obsession of the japanese with bathrooms, hot springs, bathing, cleansing, soaking etc.

trouper, My guess -- and it is nothing but a guess -- is that by the time you would need a part for an Inax toilet purchased in 2011, you will have no difficulty finding them.

At the present time, the American toilet market stands about where the American automobile market did in about 1960. There were lots of brands of foreign cars that you could buy: Austins and Triumphs and Rovers from England, Renaults and Peugeots from France, DKWs and Borgwards from Germany, DAFs and Panhards from the BeNeLux countries -- and the VW. But only the VW had mainstream acceptance.

And, when in the mid-1960s, Toyota and Nissan (known on these shores as Datsun) made their move, American consumers, familiar with the problems in getting parts for exotic European cars, wondered, "Will I be able to get parts for a Toyota or Datsun?" Ten years later, when Honda was known primarily as a motorcycle company, consumers who liked the look of the new 1977 Honda Accord wondered, "But will I be able to get parts for it?"

Toto stands in the American plumbing fixtures market in a similar position to that which VW occupied in the American auto market in 1960, the one brand of import that had (VW) or has (Toto) gone mainstream. Caroma, for instance, an Australian toilet import, has not achieved Toto-like status, and Duravit, for another example, has been around in Germany since 1817, but its American market penetration almost can be ignored.

But Inax is huge company, involved not only in the plumbing fixture business, but also in building construction (Inax makes tiles and bricks), and it looks to be trying to launch a push into this market similar to the one that Toyota and Datsun made 50 years ago in the auto industry.