Unreliable Toilet Brands To Stay Away From (& Better Alternatives To Consider)

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Remodeling your bathroom can be one the most exciting and stressful processes that anyone can experience. So make sure you check out these rules to follow when designing your bathroom to make this process a little easier on yourself. But aside from picking out new tiling and potentially revamping your shower situation, you also may find yourself looking to purchase a brand new, upgraded toilet to put a cherry on top of your efforts. At the same time, picking out a new toilet can be hard, and if you end up picking a poorly functioning one, that can add a whole new level of unnecessary stress to your daily life. So for that reason, today, as our special treat to you, we're going to go over some of the worst toilet brands on the market so that you can be 100% clear on what to avoid.

Not only will we cover unreliable toilet brands to stay away from, but we'll also take a look at the best alternative to consider. After all, you work too hard to be worrying about any plumbing-related issues that may come with installing the wrong toilet in your bathroom. So with that said, let's explore the toilet brands you need to avoid (based on a myriad of problems including poor construction, plumbing issues, bad reviews, and more) as well as some of the best brands out there.

While one of the most important rules to follow when designing your bathroom is to pick a well-functioning toilet, let's be honest — some of the most efficient brands can be pretty expensive overall. However, with that added cost, you likely will also be ensuring a greater degree of efficiency. While the models made by this brand are more affordable than most, they also come with a whole host of other problems that ultimately make their value not worth it.

Glacier Bay is certainly one of the more affordable brands on the market. At the same time, even though some models can be purchased for under $100 at places like Home Depot, don't let their affordability fool you. The reason that Glacier Bay is able to price their toilets so cheap is because they are composed of poor-quality materials. Not only that, but because the flushing power is extremely weak, they are known to be highly susceptible to becoming frequently and easily clogged. And what's even worse is that all of the aforementioned issues can lead to the toilet's tank cracking relatively easily, which can lead to a whole host of other unwanted problems like leakage. So in a nutshell, it is highly recommended to avoid purchasing Glacier Bay toilets at all costs.

Although we mentioned in the last section that it's important to not sacrifice cost for quality, in reality, not every expensive toilet is a good toilet. This is one of the less commonly raised points you need to know before buying a new toilet for your bathroom that often goes relatively unnoticed. That being said, this point is rather simple: just because a toilet has a high price tag on it does not mean it is also a quality model. While this can apply to many different areas of consumerism, it's something you're going to want to keep at the forefront of your mind before buying this brand of toilet: Duravit.

Despite the high price tag — with many models reaching the $3,000 mark — Duravit toilets have some of the worst reviews on the market. This brand has been plagued with a plethora of negative reviews regarding poor performance, clogging and leakage issues that lead to expensive plumbing repairs, weak flushing power, and high repair costs — if you can repair it, that is. Once a ceramic element of the unit is damaged, it's unable to be repaired, leaving you with no option but to replace it.

The seats are prone to cracking, and one customer even complained that when one of their relatives sat on the toilet seat, it cracked so severely that it actually ended up stabbing them in the behind! So not only are Duravit toilets expensive, but they also come with high maintenance fees and poor overall performance.

After sifting through many customer reviews, it appears as though all poorly rated toilets have the same downsides in common. Clogging issues, cheaply made parts, bad customer service, weak flushing power, and leakage issues are problems that most unreliable toilets share. For that reason, we figured it'd be a good idea to share two more dishonorable mentions that suffer from these issues before we can finally get to the good stuff. After all, with so many options to choose from when purchasing a brand new toilet, it's important to cover all the bases in order to make your search more easy.

For starters, Mansfield toilets are well known for having significantly weak flushing power, which can lead to clogging that causes tanks to crack very easily. Outside of that, American Standard appears to take the crown as one of the worst rated brands out there amongst consumers. People have complained that this brand has terrible customer service and won't stand behind its product, and that the units suffer from clogging issues due to their weak flushing power. 

If you're looking to buy a reasonably priced toilet, Gerber brand is the way to go. These are typically priced in the $200 to $300 range and are held in high regard for their superior flushing power. This was further emphasized in a review conducted by a group of experienced plumbers based out of St. Paul, Minnesota. After all, who would be better to accurately review a toilet's efficiency than someone who is professionally trained to fix them? That said, these plumbers tested two different models of Gerber toilets by installing them in their own homes and regularly using them over a period of two months. 

In the study, they referenced work done by an organization called MaP that publishes tests on the efficacy of different toilets' flushing performance. What they discovered was that, from a technical standpoint, the toilets have very efficient flushing power and are composed of quality materials in order to make this possible. If you look at the MaP website tool, which is used to rate the flushing performance of toilets, you'll see that Gerber models across the board have an overall score of over 800 (out of a possible 1,000). You can use this tool to rank and compare other brands as well. Regardless, if you're looking for a specific Gerber toilet to purchase, both the Avalanche and Viper models have consistent 4.7 star ratings on the Home Depot website.

According to several home improvement publications and product review websites, as well as another recommendation from experienced plumbers, the absolute best toilet brand on the market right now is Toto, which also scores over 800 on the MaP website's ranking tool. This brand is widely available and relatively affordable considering the high quality and additional features that it provides. In fact, Toto brand toilets are so efficient, you may not even have to worry about this common toilet mistake you're likely making every time you flush. That said, let's explore what makes this brand so great.

The Toto Drake Two-Piece Elongated Universal Height Tornado Flush toilet can be purchased on Amazon for $381. This toilet is super comfortable, with a ceramic glaze finish that makes it incredibly easy to clean. Not only that, but its tornado flush system (which sprays water from dual nozzles inside the toilet bowl), creates an incredibly strong flushing mechanism that efficiently prevents clogging. However, it is worth noting that the actual toilet seat for this model must be purchased separately if you're shopping on Amazon, which can be annoying. If you're looking to avoid this, then purchasing the comparable Drake Modern 2-Piece Elongated Comfort Height toilet will provide you with the perfect solution. This option is a bit larger than the previous, but has all of the same features and benefits. There are several models to choose from, and all with great reviews, so you're sure to be able to find one that suits your needs.