Very disappointing mower - I regret buying it

Replaced my very old Harrier 56 (sold for £50) with the new Harrier 56 model (bought for £1100 in 2017) based solely on the strength of the Hayter brand and my previously good experience with the 'same' Harrier 56 model. I was looking for a long term purchase and willing to pay over the odds for good quality.

I was immediately disappointment with the quality from new and my perception has steadily got worse over 3 years of use. Each time I use it, I constantly regret not fixing the relatively simple issues with my old one as it was so much better.

The problems I have experienced are: it doesn't cope with wet grass like the old one did, at 'top speed' it is much too slow to walk behind, the carb has no guard / protection and the spring gets damaged/lost with any overhanding bushes (I've since made a protection guard from aluminium plate at the recommendation of the chap that fixed it), the handle knobs rattle loose and fall off, the carb is way too sensitive to any fuel impurities such as pollen or dust which seem to leak in around the flimsy air filter casing, the grass collector is often awkward to fit, my wife says that its heavier than the old one and hates it even more than I do... And I'm pretty sure the lack of a pull starter (I got the Instastart version in error, incorrectly assuming that there would also be a manual start option in addition to electric start) will be an issue due to high cost when a replacement battery is eventually needed.

All in all, it's very poor quality for such an expensive machine. Hayter is no longer a trusted brand for me and I'm actively looking to PX it for a different brand.