Recommend a brand of Reliable Washing Machine.

[KneesUp]

Every washer I've ever owned has been great until it stopped working. Ergo I think the current one (Samsung for reference) is great. But I've only had it 6 months. I might not think that when it inevitably breaks. It depends on how long it takes to break.

Never have I thought "I fancy a different white good - what shall I drop a few hundred quid on?" They get replaced begrudgingly when they fail.

The Beko washer drier that the Samsung replaced was great for n+1 where n is the length of the guarantee in months.
The 'oh God I can't remember' one before that did 7 years or so. Hotpoint? Candy? No idea.
Same for the one before that - 5 years plus. No idea who made it.
The Beko drier we had - to be fair to it - never broke, but it got given away when we got the washer drier. I did have to replace the belt on it once though, and because I couldn't work out how to remove the bearing without buying a tool, I have a scar on my hand from doing it without fully disassembling it. So don't do that.

 

[gbb]

They're now both Whirlpool.

I drive past their factory the other day and can't remember if the signage had been changed to Beko...
Sad if that's the case, it became nothing more than an assembly line for foreign made parts (for the most part) when the first takeover of Hotpoint happened way back. Being local, you do naturally bemoan the demise of local manufactuting, and there was a LOT of it in Pererborough, now mostly gone or at least in foreign ownership now.

Anyhoo, is it the case there are (like cars) actually very few poor brands out there now? All ours, mostly Hotpoints but others too, have all lasted quite well enough.

 

[oxoman]

My OH is very hard on washers and killed various makes within 3 to 4 yrs, the only one to last is a basic miele one which is about 10yrs old. LG has good rep as is samsung, anything else is dubious at best as all made in same the factory. Reliability beyond warranty period isn't on manufacturer's bucket list when designing new products, sadly they load them with gimmicks. I mean who really cares if the toaster, washer, fridge etc communicates with them via WiFi and an app.

 

[Pblakeney]

Bosch has never let me down. Sold my flat with a 9 year old one still working perfectly. Current one is at 5 years. The wife's choice of two Hotpoints in between failed.

 

[presta]

sadly they load them with gimmicks

My new one has a 'steam clean' function. I've no idea whether it's any good, I've never tried it.

 

[Psamathe]

The trouble with recommending a reliable long lasting washing machine based on experience is that the recommendation will be very out-of-date.

eg. I've had my washing machine for over 25 years and still working. But the current models from the same brand are likely manufactured with very different price/quality components, probably in a different country likely a different hemisphere with a very different price/quality balance as part of the brand's perpetual struggle for ever higher profits.

But then for somebody who purchased a washing machine last year then it has no longevity/reliability experience yet. Wait 10 years and they can expound its reliability but by then current product will be very different.

But I guess (some unfortunate) people can do the opposite of the OPs request and identify unreliable brands eg when they purchased one last week and it was DOA or failed a week later.

Ian

 

[presta]

The trouble with recommending a reliable long lasting washing machine based on experience is that the recommendation will be very out-of-date.

eg. I've had my washing machine for over 25 years and still working. But the current models from the same brand are likely manufactured with very different price/quality components, probably in a different country likely a different hemisphere with a very different price/quality balance as part of the brand's perpetual struggle for ever higher profits.

But then for somebody who purchased a washing machine last year then it has no longevity/reliability experience yet. Wait 10 years and they can expound its reliability but by then current product will be very different.

But I guess (some unfortunate) people can do the opposite of the OPs request and identify unreliable brands eg when they purchased one last week and it was DOA or failed a week later.

Ian

The best you can do is choose by manufacturer and not model on the grounds that reliability is about company culture, and use large scale surveys on the grounds that any one individual's experience is virtually meaningless due to random variations. In car reliability surveys, all the ones I've looked at have shown me that almost any model/manufacturer can find itself at the top or the bottom of just one survey, but only two manufacturers have been in the top five of every survey.

My new washer dryer has a couple of intermittent faults that strike me as examples of the clever bits not being quite clever enough, which seems to be a common problem with cars too these days.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

My new one has a 'steam clean' function. I've no idea whether it's any good, I've never tried it.

Yup - I think ours has that - it is a button that we have never pressed
it also has 15 setting

SWMBO likes me to use the Bed and Bath 7 Days for the bed clothes - no idea what it does or why 7 days

other than that we just use "Colour Care" - again no idea why this is different to a normal wash

I suppose I could look at the manual

 

[Pblakeney]

I suppose I could look at the manual

Don't be silly!

 

[presta]

Yup - I think ours has that - it is a button that we have never pressed
it also has 15 setting

SWMBO likes me to use the Bed and Bath 7 Days for the bed clothes - no idea what it does or why 7 days

other than that we just use "Colour Care" - again no idea why this is different to a normal wash

I suppose I could look at the manual

I only use two or three programs, and as I mentioned upthread, Maytag commercial machines only have two or three. The rest are mostly marketing gimmicks.

 

[simongt]

We've done the deed and bought a Series 6 Bosch. Five year guarantee & good reviews on t'net.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

We've done the deed and bought a Series 6 Bosch. Five year guarantee & good reviews on t'net.

Bosch do seem to be good

until they go wrong - when they need expensive Bosch spares and not just standard thing

but then if they don;t go wrong for many years then.....

 

[rogerzilla]

My Samsung is going strong after 11 years, although it's always been very loud. Miele, if you can afford it, although when it arrives you'll wonder what you paid for. They can be quite basic for the price!

The problem is that a standard Hotpoint cost about £300 in 1990. Now a standard Hotpoint costs...£300. That's why they're rubbish. A Miele costs about what a standard machine did back then, adjusted for inflation.

 

[BrumJim]

Just been downstairs and we have a Bosch. It has taken the abuse of washable nappies throughout my son's toddler years, and is now suffering the abuse of an avid cyclo-cross racer. Has over 11 years of sterling service, and was one of the cheaper ones.

However, as per comment above, Birmingham water is very, very soft.

Just remembered - changed the brushes on mine. That was fun.

Stopped working. Man came round to look at it. Prescribed worn bushes but didn't have any in the van, and recommended that I consulted YouTube as it would be cheaper than another call-out charge.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Just remembered - changed the bushes on mine. That was fun.

Stopped working. Man came round to look at it. Prescribed worn bushes but didn't have any in the van, and recommended that I consulted YouTube as it would be cheaper than another call-out charge.

Bushes or Brushes? Brushes are the dark coloured ( usually ) things with springs attached and relatively easy to fit, bushes are the bearings and more of a job. One thing to watch out for is that on some motors the brushes wear down and then the commutator gets scored and pitted which can cause rapid wear. The better ones such as Bosch have an ingenious arrangement of a tiny plastic button on a spring that's embedded in the main brush. As the material wears away the button gets more exposed until the spring forces it down onto the commutator breaking the circuit and stopping the motor to prevent damage 😎