Bearings on old hotpoint have finally given up. have looked at the cost, time and effort required to replace a 10+ yr old machine bearings we’ve decided it’s not worth a repair job.

We need an integrated one, prices range from £300 right up to £1k. Any benefit spending a premium £ on one or just go for £3-400 one.

what’s good Bekos seem to get reasonable reviews.

Can I get back to you on this in about 2 years?

Replaced two ‘fairly good’ washing machines with £229 Beko’s 12 months ago. The one in our main house is used a lot for our family of 5 and has been faultless so far (the other one is a holiday place so doesn’t get much use most of the time).

Edit: I can’t see what paying double actually gets you, it’s just a drum that heats water up and jiggles clothes around!

We bought another LG after 12 years sterling service for a family of 5.
£350 from ao.com sale, with 10 year parts warranty.

My mate just buys cheap & always has. Usually he’s lucky.
Ours is old but insured, I think we pay £8 a month & It’s been repaired 3 times in 9 years (1 control panel & 2 sets of drum bearings, in which they replace the whole drum cos It’s quicker/easier)

We had a problem with our expensive bosh one, the bearing holder at the back (big aluminium spider that the drum bolts to) corroded to the point it pretty much disolved.

The MIL’s did the same.

Our (indesit) seems to be doing the same, but that was s/h off ebay. And TBH £50 if it lasts 3 years it’s done 25% of what a £200-£1000 machine might manage.

Dunno if it’s a hard water thing or what but it’s like it’s galvanically corroding the metal ends up as a spongy powder.

Even if the bearing is a £15 part, the spider is £150 and not worth bothering with (I guess this is why esselgruntfuttock gets the whole drum replaced, it’s easier than getting it apart).

I can’t see what paying double actually gets you, it’s just a drum that heats water up and jiggles clothes around!

£50 full suspension bike is just the same as a £2k one right? It’s just wheels, frame and a suspension that goes up and down.

It’s been repaired 3 times in 9 years

I’d expect no repairs in 9 years. 3 seems quite a lot. I expect washing machines to last 15+ before any issues.

Bekos

Get a good smoke detector.

Or, Bosch. Job done.

Our candy (cheap and cheerful) ate itself after 4 years of family duties.

Our washing machine engineer said “buy whatever has the longest warranty” and said he didn’t particularly rate the posh brands over others.

We bought a middle of the road Samsung for £370 with a 5 yr warranty.

It plays a tune to let you know it’s finished.

Which is nice.

My last one was a bosch which lasted 10+, so I replaced with this another bosch which is 4 years or more in without issue. I did go for the simplest unit I could find, with the least electronic to go wrong, though the buttons are ‘touch’ rather than press, which annoys me (seems a source of potential failure). It definitely doesn’t pay a tune when done, it beeps really annoyingly (5 or so time about a minute apart)

Bekos

Get a good smoke detector.

I’m fairly qualified to know which ones to avoid. Beko washing machine is not on that list.

Washer dryers are another matter

£50 full suspension bike is just the same as a £2k one right? It’s just wheels, frame and a suspension that goes up and down.

Interesting analogy. Surely the main difference is weight…. do you carry your washing machine around much?

Anyway, I never said cheap was better – it’s an experiment to see how long they last compared to the [somewhat more expensive] machines we’ve had in the past. They may last the same amount of time, they may not. But if they last 60% as long as a machine that costs twice as much then I’m better off.

(and it’s not a ‘features’ thing either, the machines I bought have at least as many programmes as the more expensive brands plus it takes a bigger load in many cases)

Comparing washing machines to bikes! Are you a housewife from the 50s?! 😆

My kitchen fitter supplied me with the Howdens own-brand stuff, Lamona, I think. Dishwasher, fridgefreezer and washing machine, they’re all as good as anything else I’ve used. Apart from the salt light never goes out on the dishwasher, but they are 3 years old now.
So I say budget-midrange, unless of course, you’re into that buying something posh for the lady of the house thing.

Just replaced a sub £200 Beko that served for about 10 years with about a £400 Bosch (is that mid-range, felt pretty posh to us).

The new Bosch is astoundingly quiet – to the point it’s not even obvious it’s on from another room. Much much happier to have it run overnight than the old one that it replaced. Not sure if that’s the benefit of a posh one, or whether motor technology has just progressed..

We’ve got the cheapest Beko washer/drier we could find, was under £300. So far it’s coming up to 7 years old and still going fine and hasn’t gone on fire yet.

Our Miele is into it’s 20th year, and when it eventually needs replacing we would take some convincing to switch to another brand.

It has dealt with a family of five, two house moves and has had three problems:

After ~15 years the control board went. This was apparently a common problem, and a ~£40 exchange unit from eBay did the trick.
After ~17 years it needed a new drive belt… £20ish direct from Miele.
Earlier this year the brushes in the motor went, and got some new ones from eBay which were a fraction of the price of original Miele ones.

The machine is obviously built to be repaired, and I did all the work myself with the help of youTube.

Step back. 8 quid a month to insure a 9year old washing machine .

Thats 800 quid paid for 3 repairs.

We have the cheapest indesit that came with a timer

£125 Indesit here, 5 years old, one house move, household of three, one of which is a two year old so lots of washing, no problems in the five years we have had it, could do with a bigger drum (its only a 5kg drum) but not going to replace it all the time is fine and worst case scenario i have to do 2 loads

Go for budget premium brand. Bottom of the range Bosch here – £235. First one lasted a good 15 years and onto our second…though in truth the first one could have probably been repaired but I didn’t even try…was having the kitchen done at the time so easy to just add another washing machine to the budget.

We normally just buy mid range big brand.  Current is a Bosch and it’s done us at least 10 years without a hiccup.  I’ve got a door seal downstairs to fit when I can be bothered it seems to have stopped the small leak that I bought it to fix

However… on holiday last year the place we were staying had some fancy pants Samsung thing at over 1200EUR.  I hate to say it but it actually washed clothes better.  don’t know how it did it but stuff came out cleaner.  It was magic.  Not sure it was an extra 700EUR worth of magic but it was impressive

We have a £250 Beko – it’s just shy of 6 years old and had nothing but a set of brushes (which I fitted and cost £15) and a snapped handle (which I replaced and cost £10). I cannot see sense in spending x4 what we spent for ‘better’ machines.

Blomberg (part of Beko) 3-year warranty (5 years if you buy from Euronics)

My old hotpoint lasted 20 years. a beko lasted about 4. I now have a bosch.

Our Miele was one of the ‘newer’ ones that wasn’t as easy to repair. Lasted 10 years with mucky MTB kit and a family of 4. Replaced with a med range samsung. Way quieter, takes a bigger load, big door opening, etc. And it came with an App 😉

We did some research, but eventually went for the Samsung as a) it was on offer on AO and b) it had a 5 year parts warranty.

Had a nice mid range Bosch that died after 7 yrs.

Replaced with a cheap end machine. It’s just more annoying how programmes work

eg sports wash defaults to 40deg and 1200 spin, so you have to manually set to 30deg and no 400 spin.

You can’t open the dam thing after it’s started

And it doesn’t alter the amount of water used depending on how much washing you have in it.

From ages ago with an integrated (AEG, washer/drier).
It was repaired a lot and then replaced. Under warranty. I think the location wasn’t great, but put me off all singing all dancing ones.

Had a Bosch one when we moved here, 15 years ago. was good for 10 years or so but after at least one repair to bearings, we started to look around. Luckily my mum’s AEG (I know…) was almost unused and she no longer used/needed it. We swapped them over, and it’s been – in last 4-5 years – impeccable.

[ for above — bonus was being able to open it after it had started. It doesn’t spin so fast – so I guess more drying, but probably less strain on bearings as well. Luckily we have an indoor pulley (very retro..) and a drying green as well.

It wasn’t cheap, maybe around same as a Bosch (local guy sourced and installed it) but it’s been a good machine.

8 quid a month to insure a 9year old washing machine .

Thats 800 quid paid for 3 repairs.

Incorrect. We only started paying for insurance after the 2 year warranty was up & IIR it was only about £5 a month initially but gone up as the machine got older.

You do know how insurance works don’t you? (hint, when our old washer is no longer viable to repair, we get a new equivalent model supplied. & It’s a washer/dryer)
WE don’t miss £8 a month but it would be a pain in the bum if we had to fork out for a new appliance every 5 years for a similar model.

I expect washing machines to last 15+ before any issues.

I think that’s optimistic, mind you my mum had a Bendix which seemed to go on forever, but that was when things were built to last.

We went for the cheapest one with the highest spin speed. Hotpoint, was £400 in 2007, still works fine. Little bit of rust inside though, but that might be our fault.

I think that’s optimistic, mind you my mum had a Bendix which seemed to go on forever, but that was when things were built to last.

Oh don’t start with that nonsense.

Re apps, my parents have a ‘smart’ one and think it’s nonsense, however I quite like the idea that I could load it up on the way out of the house and then set up a trigger to start washing when I’m 90 mins from home. Which should be possible, in theory.

LG here, bought 6 years ago and has thus far been faultless albeit for a family of three and not used daily but laundry is done constantly over the weekends. 10 year warranty on the motor, whatever that means, it’s also I believe direct drive which was one of the reasons I plumped for that one. IIRC it was about £450.

Keep an eye on the Miele outlet store stock list. They have occasional absolute bargains on there. Ours cost less than £200, and now with free delivery.

As for the MTB £50vs£2k… and the weights. In this case heavier is likely better!

Just bought a Miele. It was £1000 after cashback and came with a 10 year full warranty.

It’s broadly true that the more you pay the better performing and lasting you get but there’s always exceptions on both sides of the spectrum. I’d start off buy checking reviews and if it’s got a decent warranty then wouldn’t be too worried about getting something on the cheaper side of things.

That said I generally end up in the middle price range myself, my current Siemens one is a revelation when it comes to quietness (IQ Drive, whatever that does), washes well and has so far been faultless (only had it a couple of years though).

One up from the cheapest Miele. Ours is now over 14 years old and has a hard life. In that time it has had one service where the dampers and one seal were replaced. They are built to be maintained.

They all wash at 40c, have a short cycle and spin at about 1000-1200 rpm. But there is the convenience of not having to replace them every few years. Miele service engineers are a pleasure and really know their stuff.

After mrs B declared her list of options quick wash/quiet spin etc etc. We She went for a bosch WIW28500GB at a spendy £640 inc discount code. Time will tell.

Given I can spent near £700 on forks, I cant complain too much

I bought a Miele as they are designed for a 20 year life apparently.

My Miele dishwasher is a lot heavier than the equivalent Bosch-type device, as the fitter can confirm 🙂

Our AEG is 15+ years old, never missed a beat. Mind you I think it was about £600 when I bought it.

@z1ppy you can turn the beeps off on a Bosch.

We have a budget Bosch here about 5 years old and it gets a right hammering. I occasionally have to get coins out of the filter (easy) but it’s been very good and you can open the door mid-wash which I think is ace.

Here’s a nice related story – so my lady friend buys a cheap Beko. 14 months down the line the bearings are screwed, neither of us are loaded, middle-class, fond-of-white-goods buyers, so I go on Gumtree to help her get a replacement. My error is to tell her which one, so she can approve – I chose one close to where I live so I can pick it up and know the seller’s address.
It’s a nice looking Samsung btw. This morning, she’s contacted the chap and had it delivered to her house, paid him cash and not got a receipt or any of his details… I’m a bit stressed!
So, what do we reckon, has she been ripped off, or not..??

Miele, all day everyday. Tough like Rocky!

My old hotpoint lasted 20 years. a beko lasted about 4. I now have a bosch.

But no brands are built to the same standard as ones built 25 years ago – unless you spend really silly money (ie Miele territory) I don’t think you can expect many brands to go on for 20+ years and I don’t expect your Bosch will.

And at around £1,000 for a Miele I could get four Bekos – ours is still going with constant daily use for the last six years (family of four with the kids now 10 years old) which is going to be much more use that I would guess yours gets TJ?

Is the insurance thing not a false economy?

I mean, I get that it’s a lot easier to pay a few quid each month than get surprised with a three-figure bill one day, but would it not be better to stick £10/month into a shoebox (or another bank account) and then have insurance that will cover your washer, your fridge, your cooker, your TV, your phone…?

It’s a nice looking Samsung btw. This morning, she’s contacted the chap and had it delivered to her house, paid him cash and not got a receipt or any of his details… I’m a bit stressed!
So, what do we reckon, has she been ripped off, or not..??

It is probably ok but expecting a receipt for a gumtree buy is hopeful! If you want garentees best to go to a shop.