I have two, a 9.21, and maybe the other is a 9.25 or something. I think they are both around twenty years old, and have seen plenty of use but are still in great condition. Other than cleaning them every year, never had to do much. Now getting a used one from a gym or fitness center is a different matter, as you really don't know what you're getting.

I've run on several at the gym. With only one exception they are the best and smoothest that I've run on. When I was shopping for a TM they were at the top of the list. That was a few years ago and the numbering system appears to have changed since then so I can't comment on the 223 specifically. Precor used to claim that they had a patented design where the motor would sense your foot strike and adjust the power to help with a smooth stride. When I was running in the gym a lot I'd work them hard and they were always very smooth compared to some of the others.

The only bad Precor I've ran on was really old and beat and they were not maintaining it with a plan to replace it when it finally failed. Anything above 8 MPH at a 8% grade and it would overheat. That was 8-10 years ago and it's still in service and works great for the light runners and walkers. FWIW I ended up not buying a TM but went with an elliptical because that's what my wife wanted.

 
Had a look at it - it doesn't have the long arms.

I use those for loosening my hip joints while walking. I anchor my body w/my arms and the legs force my hip flexors to full range. I can walk like that for 1/2 hr. easy at a time, it feels that good.

I also use the arms for backwards walking, and connecting therabands, even doing stretches ( belt off) .

3.0 Hp and 12Mph is good.
The belt looks a little narrow. I usually hit one side or the other if I am not paying attention. So wider is good.

Try running on a demo mill if you can. They all feel a bit different.

---

Training Tweets: https://twitter.com/Jagersport_com
FM Sports: http://fluidmotionsports.com

I have the 223 which I've owned about 11 months. I bought it after being unable to find a suitable used machine at a reasonable price. I did have a chance to run on a bunch of demo machines, and for a consumer treadmill I could actually demo, I felt it was the best value.

I quite like it - seems like a sturdy, quality machine. Not quite "gym rugged", but better than a lot of the more plastic-y home treadmills.

Pros:
Rugged for a home machine, very stable.
The Phone/Tablet holder works pretty well.
Incline/decline works great, machine is plenty powerful
I like the cup holders (as much as a person can)

Cons:
The 223 doesn't handle foot strikes as well as the gym versions. At 185 I can feel the belt slip just the tiniest bit if I'm running a bit sloppy and heel striking. This goes away after a couple minutes, either the belt warms up, or I do.
There are no programmable speeds. On the gym treadmills I could program 2 speeds and alternate between them with the touch of a button for intervals. On the 223 you've only got the up and down toggles.
There is about a 20s/km disagreement in speed between my garmin foot pod and the treadmill (treadmill is high), even after calibrating the pod out doors - I don't know which is correct.

Meh:
The belt length I think is 57". I was worried about it not being 60", but its a non-issue for me at 6' 2".
It will display the HR from a Polar Heart Rate strap, will not work with any other BT or ANT+ straps.
The hand grip HR sensors work fine (for the 3 times I've used them)
SharkFM mentioned the arms - they're a bit stubby - but I've found them fine for my purposes, which is just something to hold onto if I loose my balance or need to hop off
I have yet to try the 12 programs it comes with.
I thought being able to select between 2 users would be helpful (I have this fantasy where my wife gets into fitness), but we never use them, and I never use the treadmill odometer for keeping stats.

That's all I can think of. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

i bought an old commercial Precor and it has been wonderful. I can really feel the difference when I run on a heavyweight treadmill with a massive motor and drums when compared to even a decent home model like the Sole.

I had mine apart to flip the deck and replace the belt, I was impressed by the sheer size of the motor, the big heavy 6 inch drums and the inch thick wood deck sitting on rubber bumpers. Mine runs on regular house current and had a shipping weight in excess of 400 pounds, it was a bit of a challenge to get it in the house. It goes 4 minutes a mile too, though I do not.

I paid $500 for mine and did a little work on it after a while, but it is built like a tank. I'd buy a used club level machine all day long rather than a home model. All the screens and gizmos are meaningless, just speed and elevation are all you need

I'll add to this in that I've had a Precor C966 commercial grade treadmill for the last 7 years and it's been awesome. I have no idea how old it is but it's been running well over the years with only a couple of belt cleanings here and there.

2nd your point about quality.... there's really no comparing a home treadmill to a club level one. Speed and incline and durability of a tank will last you a lifetime.

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Mine is the model prior to yours, the 964. It had a jillion hours on it but the deck had never been flipped, so I turned it over, put on a fresh belt and waxed the deck and I suspect it will outlast me.

mine was sticking a little after some time in storage so I cleaned and tightened the belt. It's all good now, but I know flipping the deck and getting a new belt are on my horizon... how did you do that and who did you use to do it?

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

it's pretty intuitive, you remove the cover over the motor, the screws that run along the side of the deck and the back cover, loosen up the belt and remove the rear drum and detach the front drum, then you can lift straight up and the belt and deck will come off as one unit. There are a lot of online videos, it goes fast with a drill for screw removal, took me less than an hour. It's also nice to clean the dust out from around the motor when the cover is off.

There are videos that show how to apply the wax and re tension the belt, but you have already done it