Hi, our Bosch has just suffered drive motor failure. It is 8 years old, so not going to be worth getting anyone out to it. Plus we NEED to do laundry this weekend. Been looking on Currys website. It’s a bloody minefield. You can spend anywhere from 200 to 1000 on machines with similar on-paper specs. Even Bosch do 4 very similar machines within an 80quid price bracket!

Any recommendations for something that’s just going to do the job and keep doing it for a long time!?

8 years ain’t bad – another Bosch?

I’ve got a Bosch, it was 300 ish I think, 2-3 years old, runs everyday (baby in the house) and puts up with what must add up to a couple of buckets worth of mud and grit a year no problems.

Inde-sit (I forget the exact spelling) were always renowed for being simple but robust machines, and I think we’re marketed as such. Not sure how true that is today.

Cheers P-jay. Yep, got no beef with Bosch after 8yrs. I just wish you could see whether you’re getting better build for more money, or just more pointless gadgets!

Have you had a look at the motor brushes? Under a tenner to replace and easy to do your self.

I’ve revitalised our aeg twice in its over ten years life by replacing motor brushes.

Our 10 year old (near base model) LG is still going, it can be fixed easily and cheaply (so far two sets of bearings, one damper clip and a new door seal). I would straight away again when this one dies.

One up from the current base model Miele. Had ours 15 years and it has never missed a beat at an average of a wash a day. It was £400 new.

I think there is an element of pot luck with all white good purchases but we have had Indesit dish washers for best part of 20 years and are only just on the third one and the Indesit washing machine has already outlived the Hotpoint and the Bosch and is rapidly coming up on the rails towards the Zanussi. On a cost per year basis they have been well ahead of the others.

LG +1

LG -1
When they go wrong you get a pile of paid-by-visit outsourced imbesciles sent to your home to fail to repair it.

Bosch +1 or Miele if you’ve got a pile of burning fivers in your garage.

We’ve had a Bosch one for getting on 4yrs and it’s been on lots (baby now a toddler) and hasn’t skipped a beat.

When they go wrong you get a pile of paid-by-visit outsourced imbesciles sent to your home to fail topick up a couple of spanners and screwdrivers, plus a youtube video, and repair yourself it for not a lot.

FTFY.

Our Bosch failed on the last day of its Warranty.

Which was both dissapointing and a relief.

We’ve got a Beko – cavernous wash size, loads of programmes, A+ rated, cleans stuff. £200 from Appliance Online.

It’s coming up two years old and not had an issue with it, but if it broke and was unrepairable I would buy another – disposable at that price against repair costs.

Begore we bought our current machine about a decade ago I was lucky (??) enough to stumble across the blog of a washing machine repair man. I don’t remember the whole load if info but the following stuck:

Look for a machine with cast counter weights (not concrete as eventually it will break up and jam up the machine)
Stainless drum and internals
Find the ‘subrange’ and get the lowest model – his rationale was that the XM range (for example) have the same internals but as you go up the price points you get more complex electronics and other ‘add on’ features – these are the bits that will breakdown. So the xm800 at 300£ will last longer than the xm1400 at 450£

Using this logic we spent ~£400 on a Miele which has been faultless since. It’s done all our washing since our kids have been around (now 9and11)

@ianfitz well we did just that, more by luck than judgement. Our Miele has just zapped its main board and needs a door seal. It’s 14 years old and the first thing that’s gone wrong. The man looked at the brushes and said they’re still like new…

So that’s £400 for the machine and £300 for the repair in 14 years. Starts to make cheaper machines look more sensible if you can get a decent one for £350 with a 5 year guarantee (John Lewis?).

I have very little to add to this other than my parents have an AEG Lavamat washing machine which has been going a decade or so. Earlier this year I had to replace the 4-way intake valve which was a 15 min job and it’s like new now.

Don’t give me this “Bosch failed after so many years” business….

I’ve just (today) bought one to replace a 10 year old Miele that lunched its drum this week at Beyond Economical Repair levels.

I mean, if a Miele can’t hack it, I might as well MCWCB-flounce right out of this place now!

When my then girlfriend (now wife) moved into our first house together eighteen years ago my mum advised her to spend a fair chunk of money on a washing machine because, in her words, “it’s going to get used and abused” When she walked in with a AEG larva and said it cost £500 which considering we had just bought our first house and mortgage/bills were crippling us it certainly raised my eyebrows. In that time though it’s only needed a new set of bushes on the motor so in my eyes it’s been money well *spent* when the bushes needed replacing we got an AEG engineer out to do the job ( my wife didn’t trust me to DIY) he said that this certain model was/is a great piece of kit and unfortunately AEG outsourced the manufacturing to Turkey and the quality slipped. Also he mentioned that as they became more “computerised” washing machines started to fail more, the delicate circuit boards can’t take the consistent shaking that a washing machine does on a full spin.
*i have now jinxed it and it will blow up in flames later today*

When they go wrong you get a pile of paid-by-visit outsourced imbesciles sent to your home to fail topick up a couple of spanners and screwdrivers, plus a youtube video, and repair yourself it for not a lot.

FTFY.

Ha! Not the direct drive ones you don’t, especially while they’re under warranty. Think my Mum’s LG is on its third drum/motor assembly (so basically the whole core of the machine). It wins prizes for the most outlandish launching of itself around the utility room -like that video of the guy with the brick and the old machine in spin cycle. The latest excuse the spanner wielding Generally Not Very Quick-ist “technician” has come up with is that it’s not designed to sit on a wooden floor. That’s great, only its on a concrete floor, on the special concrete floor feet that they supplied, which apparently it’s also not designed to use.

Go for the bottom of the range Bosch – cheap, work and last for ages. Mine is getting on for 15yrs old and still going strong (I can hear it on fast spin as I type – just as quiet, smooth and well-running as day 1). Had a similar bottom of the range dishwasher too that was going just as strong but it was retired early due to new kitchen – but replaced with another bottom of the range Bosch. When their bottom of the range products are so good I see no reason whatsoever to spend more on the higher spec models. Its a washing machine – it just does one task. I have no use for superfluous functionality i’ll never use.

Yup, we have a Servis that, give it it’s due, has done well over the 5 years we owned it (plus however long the previous owner had it) with only the brushes needing done. Armature is on its way out though and unless I can get a second hand motor at a decent price it’ll have to go. So lesson is don’t go for obscure brands with rare parts.

Siemens dishwasher on the other hand is absolutely fine barring the odd corner it won’t clean glasses in. Another basic model Bosch clone.
Will probably be a Bosch we replace things with.

AEG, we have had ours 8 years with no issues (clearly going to have a flood later), it has had a hard life, on nearly every day at least once, two babies with reusable nappies, muddy bike kit three times a week and in the last two years two sets of kids rugby kit twice a week.

We have had whirlpools and been fine. Current one packed in 2weeks ago, bearing goosed, so got another as last one lasted about 7 years. Parents have had indesit and its been good for them, but doesnt get much use.

Those with washing machines that last, are you reasonably careful with how much you pit in, or do you, occasionally, ram it perhaps a little too full?
Not that we just replaced ours or anything…

Have been known to get my moneys worth until my missus gave me grief (to be fair it wasn’t rinsing right). I’d say ridiculously small loads would be worse though as they have more tendency to bunch up and put the drum out of balance.

My Beko has been hassle free for a few years

Those with washing machines that last, are you reasonably careful with how much you pit in, or do you, occasionally, ram it perhaps a little too full?

I’m pretty sure that’s what did for our Miele. And at £360+VAT+fitting to repair, it was cheaper to spend £400 on a new low-end Bosch with a much bigger (8kg) drum.

8kg?

Our Beko is 12kg.

Even if it does break down sooner, it did wash 33% more with every wash.