Just got back from the Bonty 24-12, with a heap of washing and a very moist sumo suit, to find the washing machine has pretty much expired. The bearings have been on the way out for a while, but it now sounds like a cross between a chinook spinning up and a steam locomotive at full chat. This can’t be good (and I just hope it makes it through this wash without distributing machine parts and shredded washing all around the kitchen.

So any recommendations?

Budget is a bit tight as I’ve just had the boiler replaced last week (these little problems are like buses 🙄 ) but want something that is going to last a bit longer than this Hotpoint – about 3 years – and is relatively quiet. Oh and simple – I only need 2 wash settings – colours and white – I don’t buy the missus fancy underwear or anything like that 😀

And please don’t say Miele, I’d rather spend my money on bike bits

I think washing machines are like bikes. You get what you pay for (within reason). Our washing machine/appliance repair man urged us to get a Bosch the last time we were in the market as he said he’d never had to go back and repair a bosch machine that he’d sold. A few years down the line and it’s still working flawlessly. And there ends, thankfully, my knowledge of washing machines 🙂

Avoid Panasonic.

I have had two machines, both have had the same fault 🙁

Bosch or a decent/higher end zanussi – end of 😆

Avoid the cheap brands as the old saying “you gets what you pays for” applies, but by the same token avoid machines with stupidly high spin speeds, 7kg+ load and over complicated programmes.
If it matters, I repair `em and bought a Zanussi ..

Combination of small kids and my wife and I have probably had more washing machines than cars. So my advice….

Large load capacity (7kg)

High spin speed (1600rpm)

Avoid elelctronics like the plague. You dont need a ‘computer’ to do a bit of washing. electro-mechanical timers simply do not break, LCD sh1t do, and for 99.999% of the poulation 99.999% of their washing is done on 1 or 2 basic settings.

make sure its got a pre-pump gunk trap you can get at from the front.

dont bother commecting the hot tap, just the cold.

that is all.

Sorry to say, miele. Had ours 10 years, only replaced door seal so far. Never let us down and does 10-12ish loads a week (all heavily overloaded). Placed in the kitchen, still looks great. Even if it dies tomorrow it would be great value.

Had a Bosch before that which was pants! Had 3 new control panels and the door fell off in the few years I owed that. That was over 10 years ago though, and I think some Bosch machines were built in Spain at the time. May be better now.

We had an AEG – washer/dryer. I think the combination of the two, and the electronics involved, meant that it was flawed from the start. It was repaired multiple times under warranty and eventually replaced. Would steer clear of that in future.

Our Bosch has been recently repaired, motor brushes gone. But it’s been good apart from that. Repair chap (local) said some stuff about higher spin speeds not being worth the extra (it’s a 1600rpm I think) and that some Boschs are no longer made in Germany, but in central America..

Mieles have a good rep because they are more or less mechanical, when everyone else has stuffed theirs with circuit boards..

I couldn’t possibly recommend Miele because you told me not to, but our one has been perfect, it does 3-4 loads per day 😯 It really is a pleasure to have in the house (I’m sorry but I can’t comment on the operation as my wife won’t let me near it), the only “bad point” is that the ten year warranty isn’t actually what it says on the tin, it is ten years of “average use”, which we quite clearly don’t fall under.
Years before I bit the bullet & spent the best part of £1000 on a poxy washing machine I got fed up or replacing them after about a year or so & rented one for about £12 PM, but then the guy renting it to us got fed up of the call outs & replacing the machines so we had to part ways 🙁

Suck it up 🙂

Just get the bottom of the range Bosch they are fine,300 quid odd if you get 10 years out of it that’ll do. Our one has been going strong for a solid 12 years now. It’s going to break soon and I’ll just buy another.

Zanussi here. Ragged daily for the last 7 years still going with no issues. I think it was from John Lewis and had 5 year warranty.

Bought a bosch about 7 years ago and it has been faultless. It was about 330quid or thereabouts. Clearly it will blow up tonight but unless the missus wants a miele then I would drive directly to the washing machine shop and get another one with no hesitation.

If a hotpoint lasts 3 years, and a Mi**e lasts 15-20 years, then how much more will you have to spend on bike bits if you only buy one expensive washer rather than 5 cheap ones ?

Bosch here after a £200 managers special hotpoint that lasted two years. Deliberately went for a simple one with minimal led computer schnizzle.

Think it is a case of not getting what you don’t pay for here..

Bosch.

Unlike many of the others your common or garden repair guys can fix these / get parts.

There is a forum http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/forums/

Try Samsung. I bought one in December with a five year guarantee included for free. So far it’s performing very well, at least according to Mrs Oldboy!

Miele is not what it used to be! Quality and reliability has gone downhill and did not expect an engineer to repair both washing machine and fridge/freezer when only a couple of years old. One person household too.

Bosch FTWashing.

Go for the basic Bosch. Would happily go out and buy another tomorrow if our 12yr old one gives up.

LG direct drive. Has a 10 year warranty on the motor assembly.

I used to work with a guy who was a consultant to all sorts of companies, including many of the large washing machine brands. He said two things that stuck with me….

1. He would never leave a washing machine on in an unattended house, unless it was a Bosch. He didn’t rule out other brands, just that he was confident that a Bosch wouldn’t leak/catch fire. Of course there is a bit of irony there, as I think it was Bosch dishwashers in the news recently for catching fire. Not seen him since to ask him about that.

2. Secondly, and probably most interestingly, was that most of the major manufactures (including Bosch and Miele if memory serves) farm out their cheaper models to other companies. Its not till you get mid-range and above that you get the real deal. This, I think, is evident in the fact that the longer warranty’s only come on these models, and not the bottom of the range ones.

YMMV

Isn’t the thing about appliance fires that they tend to happen to dishwashers because unlike other appliances the writing looms go through the door and get metal fatigue?

Cheap zanussi for me. Last one was 5 before the bearings died, at which point I replaced it with another cheap zanussi. Could have replaced the bearings, but at 5 years old I would expect other things to start failing too, so best to start afresh.

lg for me quality and ok price

10yr warrant and the most quiet washer we have had “on our 2nd now” as we just wanted a new one after 7 yrs as needed a larger load model..

We got a mid-priced Zanussi that gets a decent amount of use.

I reckon we must have had it for over 5 years and it seems fine. I think we paid about £340.

Just bought the Indesit IWE91281 – bloody brilliant!
A+ rated, 9kg load, has settings for everything including “Refresh”, “Sports”, “Trainers”, etc.
Technical kit comes out almost dry enough to wear!
On offer in Currys

Another vote for Bosch, the electric motor specialists. Thats what they do well with the bizzillion worldwide starter motors and alternators etc. I have a rule that if it’s got an electric motor inside it then see if Bosch do it before looking elsewhere. I was fed up with replacing motors in washing machines and lawn mowers etc.

We bought a Siemens. 5 year manufacturers warranty and life time labour through a Euronics centre. Delivered free, installed and took the old thing away. Proper service.

They also recommended a brand called Gorenje. Slovenian high end maker. Very big in Europe, especially Germany.

EDIT: Micky. Very similar reason why we bought a Seimens.

Own brand John Lewis one, think it is a Bosh in disguise but comes with a 5 year warranty

Zanussi here to, previous one lasted 12 years (and could have been fixed but wanted a new one), new one has been fine for the last 4 years. Mind you I only do 2-3 loads a week so probably had an easy life compared with others.

My AEG is probably 10 years old, but only does 2-3 loads a week.

Candy. Cheap and effective.

Replace the bearings?

This thread has just re enforced my choice for buying another Bosch. We have been using one on a semi commercial basis for three years, approx 3 loads a day. Along with my constant supply of filthy cycling clothes. Still going strong, but we are moving house and need to buy another.

Point to note is that many of the older machines are standing the test of time due to better build quality, simple electronics and designed to be repaired.
Wonder how many of the machines bought in the last couple of years will be still going strong in 10 years ?? 😉

The bearings are (mostly) still the same size on the old 6kg 1000 spin machines as on the newer 7+kg 1600 spin – it`s only a matter of time.
Many modern machines have a sealed tub so if the bearings go west you cant renew – easier/cheaper to buy a new washer. 😥

Don’t muck about with that cheap Miele tat. What you want is a nice Swiss V Zug. I’ll let you do the currency conversion……. 😯

Cheers all. Bought a Bosch today, although JL cant deliver until next friday, so dont stand too close in the mean time 😳