Been using a KitchenAid bowl-lift Pro for over a decade, but that time has not been without issue. Wife used to manage a store that carried them, so we got a great deal, but the honeymoon was pretty short. With five kids, I was baking a lot of bread, so double batches were the norm, and it could almost muscle through, but whole grains and thicker doughs would bog it pitifully. Took about two months to destroy the plastic in the gear head. Replaced that and over the years had to do it again (even ate the metal ones), as well as replace the motor. Granted, we used it a lot more than most folks, with the joke being that our oven never got a chance to completely cool off, but for the prices that these sell for, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect better. Since the last round of repairs, probably about five years ago, it's been okay, but I have fewer mouths to feed and it still labors and runs dangerously hot, in my opinion. Granted, I was spoiled by having previously used Hobart commercial mixers and true professional attachments, but if you're gonna call it "Pro" it really ought'a be able to cut the mustard without eating itself.
When new I'm guessing that ours was over-greased, because once it started to struggle with a 7 cup white flour batch of bread dough, grease began leaking out of the gear head and dripped into the bowl. I think I read that it had a claimed capacity of 16 cups of flour, which is complete wishful thinking. Even at 7, and at the appropriate low speed, the machine has always labored.
The original beaters were junk. The finish on the dough hook & paddle deteriorated, and the whip was just totally sad. Replaced the dough hook with an aftermarket spiral with wonderful results. Found a replacement whip that was much sturdier and fitted with twice the number of wires. Result there was also a huge improvement. And finally, replaced the batter paddle with one of the new-ish bowl scrapers types. I'm not as fond of this latter element 'cuz it's very difficult to scrape the copious amounts of batter that adhere to it, and anything that I've made with it seems to cling quite tenaciously to the silicon scraper blades, but it does a better job overall than the original.
It seems that the new ones come with a spiral dough hook, finally, but if it's the same material as their regular beaters, I'd plan on replacing them. Same goes for the whip, if it's still as sparse on individual wires. Adding that to the cost, even on sale, starts to make this mixer a lot less appealing.
I have honestly tried, many times, to use the pour shield, but in all honestly, all that it manages to do is get in the way and make me cuss. The mess that you make trying to pour stuff through it is actually less than you make just going without.
It's huge, eats a lot of counter space (but a lot of folks seem to buy them just to show it off I guess), isn't the best design for ease of cleaning, and the general fit and finish was overall sub-par. It is extremely heavy, and yet still manages to walk on the counter, so this is not something that you will want to routinely stow in a base cabinet. I say that now as I consider taking the plunge on a new Bosch Universal, having had a chance to bake with a neighbor who is a retired baker, and who has one. I've only had a chance to use it for baking bread, but the results were absolutely superior.
Lastly, the power hub attachments were another disappointment. We bought the pasta roller at an auction real cheap, used it once and went back to using our old Marcato Atlas. The grinder/stuffer attachment was an absolute joke. We raise our own pigs, so we make a good bit of sausage, and admittedly that's a lot more than most folks will likely ever see, but the design and function was just silly. The feed tray felt like something that was sized for an Easy-Bake Oven child's size kitchen, and its limted size requires constant attention to keep feeding. The throat being as narrow as it is also requires that you cut everything up that you feed into it into such small pieces that it's ridiculous. Lastly, the quality of the knives and their sharpness was pretty sad. They didn't so much grind our 70/30 blend as simply mash it through the die. We ended up buying a new LEM dedicated grinder and reconditioned a hundred year old stuffer that do a spectacular job. More gadgets and a hundred and change more money, but it works, works extremely well, and it will all last forever. The KA kit, not so much.
The grating attachment was about the same. We make a lot of pizza around here, as well as our own cheese, so it seemed like a great idea. Yeah, maybe for a mouse. I dunno, maybe we're just really big eaters, but the time and work that you put into just getting everything cut small enough to feed into it makes it just not worth the squeeze. Again, we found an alternative that worked light years better, but compared to the KA attachment I could out-do it pushing cheese through a grater by hand.
Got the ice cream maker as a Xmas present, and it was sorta okay. Doesn't make a full 2 qts., but like I said, I've soured on mine and am ready to move on.
My advice; see if you can figure out a way to try before you buy and think about what sorts of things you'll likely be making with it. Wife does wedding cakes, and she's much more favorable to it than I, so maybe the best answer is one of each?