Might be time to replace a very-long-serving Miele washing machine soon; the easy option is to replace it with another Miele, but I am wondering whether any of the brands from the Far East (Samsung, Panasonic, LG) are worth considering. It needs to (i) be reliable, (ii) wash well, and (iii) do its stuff quietly. Opinions please.

How much did you pay for the Miele (including any extended warranties), what has it cost you since and how long have you owned it?

And compare with a no-name/normal-name for £250 that will last a minimum of 5 years.

After chatter on here, I burst the piggybank for an ISE. A couple of years on and it’s faultless. In fairness though, so was the hotpoint it replaced until it broke. A washing machine beyond economical repair for want of a £10 drum bearing seems like hideous waste to me – with this ISE I should be able to fix anything that breaks for the foreseeable future. Looks sexy too! (if you like that kind of thing)

#edit# my secondary point being that the cheapy machines come with welded plastic drums and other such nonsense that prohibit cheap and easy repairs in favour of buying an entire new drum assembly/machine. It’s one of those “buy once with confidence, or several times with hope” choices.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/4-best-washing-machines-you-can-buy_round-up

After chatter on here, I burst the piggybank for an ISE.

They went bust

Sadly ISE effectively ceased trading during November of 2014 due to a number of factors that all contributed to there being no alternative available but to close ISE.

How can I get a warranty repair on my ISE?

Sadly, this is not currently possible as ISE was forced into a position where all staff had to be made redundant.

I’ve had a Bosch one for 14years now. Only ever replaced brushes twice. Don’t think you can go wrong with German.

maccruiskeen – Member

oh b*******
I’d not heard about that

We’ve just been through a similar thought process – our Siemens washing machine has finally given up the ghost after many years’ service. A Miele as replacement was rejected because the door opens the wrong way (why do they do that?).

The brand name Far Eastern ones look good and seem to have some innovative features that we’d probably hardly ever use but our Siemens did need a couple of replacement parts in its lifetime which were easy to get, whereas I’m told parts for Samsung, Panasonic etc can be hard to get hold of. I don’t know anyone who’s had one of the Far Eastern ones for long enough to know whether they’re reliable and consequently we’ve taken the German option and John Lewis are delivering another Siemens tomorrow.

Another option that we didn’t even consider was the disposable Far Eastern machines that go for £150. Environmentally these are obviously a disaster but when a replacement heater element for a German machine can cost £50 they make a compelling economic proposition!

“For ISE aftercare is about good service not profit. ISE make no profit on the sale of spare parts and make technical information and diagnostics freely available to repairers. This makes our machines economic to repair and recondition after the guarantee period has run out extending their life even further and helping small UK businesses. “

As business models go – a machine with a 10 year guarantee, endlessly serviceable, but with the parts to service given away effectively free and the money to make any repairs paid to third parties….. Its a lovely idea in every sense other than the one where you end up bust

LG here that is 12 years old and used heavily by family of 5. It has needed drum bearing replacing (I did it, silly quote as it is a long job, but parts were @£35 including new door seal that was beginning to tear. It seems very much a machine designed to be fixed if that makes sense – a good thing IMO.
I would buy another tomorrow – and not one of the uber posh new ones.
It is quite slow to wash as only downside.

My dear Mum just bought us a new Miele. Her last one has worked brilliantly for 18 years.

Hmm, mum & dad have an LG direct drive which destroyed itself about a week outside of its two year guarantee. LG’s goodwill consisted of sending a bunch of numpties from some third party outsourced care company to turn up and explain that it wasn’t designed to sit on a concrete floor.

Ive had a bosch for 5 years now. It’s run daily, if not more frequently and gets all sorts thrown into it: baby clothes, biking kit, 5-10s. No complains so far. (Of course, having said that, I now fully expect it to incinerate the next load).

We recently had this problem and ended up going for Panasonic, 5 year guarantee and quiet (when the wife doesn’t overload it). The Hotpoint it replaced lasted 12 years with a bit of TLC (motor brushes, drum bearings etc) as I was able to DIY. I very much doubt if the Panasonic will be as easy to work on.

LG’s goodwill consisted of sending a bunch of numpties from some third party outsourced care company to turn up

Yep, we’ve had that with an 18 month old LG fridge. Theyv’e written it off for the cost of a ‘rotating plate’ on the door. The fridge was £880 & a whole door’s only about £150, the rotating plate isn’t a separate part but It’s only held on with 4 screws. Ludicrous.

Thanks all for the comments. Current Panasonic deals (with cashback, 5 year warranty and free delivery/installation from local shop) look attractive, but I too wonder about the ease of servicing and availability of spares for the latest “direct drive” “intelligent” “load sensing” tin boxes. The tried-and-tested robustness of a bottom-of-the-range Miele may win out in the end.

Miele going for 5 years non stop so far. C/W 15 year John Lewis Warrantee.

Previously changing between different ‘cheaper’ models every 2 or 3 years with breakdowns and interruptions etc.

Wouldn’t go back. Not worth the hassle alone.

What you all doing with your washing machines ?

Never even managed to kill my parents one…… And that got a few kg of mud put through it as a result of mtb riding and me being lazy…… My stuff gets hosed off these days befre going int my machine.

Their machine was a 15yo bosch – mines a 3 year old bosch

Could buy 3 of my machines or the cost of a miele….

We have got a mid range Zanussi washing machine that I think cost £300. Must be at least 7 years old now and shows no sign of giving up.
But, as with all these types of products there’s probably loads of Internet tales of them going bang 1 day outside warranty.

Ratty’s utility room

That looks like a japanese hotel….

Could buy 3 of my machines or the cost of a miele….

Which is why I was curious to how long these expensive (to buy) machines lasted. Our current 2 y/o big-drum (will take a horse-rug) sub £300 Indesit replaced a previous 11 y/o £200 no-name.

Buy one up from the cheapest Miele. They all wash at 40C and have a quick wash. Ours was about £400. It’s over 10 years old, used daily and has never needed so much as a service, let alone a spare part.

I am of the opinion that longevity is more important than serviceability. Keeping something going will still be an inconvenience, come breakdown time. Part of the Miele ownership is not having to put up with the inconvenience.

Had a Samsung a few years back that lasted 3 months before it broke down and was uneconomical to repair. Went for a Horpoint that lasted 10 years with only a £50 self replace circuit board. Went for another Hotpoint on that basis otherwise would of been a Bosch as my mums had one that lasted over 15 years.

We’ve got a Zanussi we were given (used) about 10 years ago now. It’s been caned – muddy bike kit 2 or 3 times a week.

I did let the bearings get to the point of collapsing once (doh!) before replacing them, which means the shaft seal is no longer perfect and means beaings “only” last a couple of years, but now I know how to do it, it’s about 2 hours work and £10 worth of parts to replace them. The motor has just started playing silly buggers too, and I’m waiting for an ebay one to turn up today.

I’d buy another Zanussi in an instant – so long as it’s possible to still do stuff like replace bearings. In this day and age there’s no excuse for electronics going kaput, but mechanical parts will still wear exactly the same, so my choice would be based on that.

Bosch one here. Faultless after 6/7 years despite the kids thinking its some kind of computer game every time they enter/leave the house and start turning dials/pressing buttons etc.

Not long replaced my bosch with another bosch, a cheapish classixx model with as few ‘options’ (to go wrong) as possible. As the old one was about 10 years old, good enough in my book.

Miele all the way! I’ve just ordered my second one (lost the first one after splitting with the ex!). I went for the WDA110 on a Black Friday deal. Both the WDA100 and 110 have 30degC options.

Incidentally we did have a warranty issue on the last one (cosmetic and not mechanical) and Miele UK were superb in getting it fixed.

Easiest way to work out what washing machine brand to buy is to go look at your bike. It will either have Chris King parts, in which case you should buy a Meile. Or it will have other parts, in which case you should buy something else. Simples.

I used to work at a pharamceutical plant where they tested various liquids/scents etc on fabrics in washing machines.

The only washing machines they used (had to be availble to the genreal pubic) were Miele, and these were running for 8hrs a day.

After speaking to the ‘operators/testers’ and thier testament for reliability I’d not go for another brand.

5 year old AEG washer & tumbler here.

So far nothing has gone wrong with either.

We bought the John Lewis rebadged versions, as it cost the same but had longer warranty.

dickster – Member

I used to work at a pharamceutical plant where they tested various liquids/scents etc on fabrics in washing machines.

The only washing machines they used (had to be availble to the genreal pubic) were Miele, and these were running for 8hrs a day.

After speaking to the ‘operators/testers’ and thier testament for reliability I’d not go for another brand.

I can understand that I suppose, but given my £300 Indesit washer dryer has lasted more than 5 years already, and has some features the cheapest Miele does not have plus a larger load size it seems like a no brainer to me.

I could buy one and have 4 complete units as spares out in the garage for the same price!

After my second £5-600 washing machine died after the normal ‘just about 5yrs’ cycle I decided to change my buying process.

These modern washers are all going mega spin cycles with mega heavy loads. Mine seem to be used all the time (Not saying everyone elses isn’t) and after the required amount of time you seem to get the ill fated DRUM SHAKE that rattles the entire household. This is from zanussi and hotpoint washers.

The 5yr life cycle is just about acceptable but the warranty really gripes with me. Lifetime warranty, 10yr warranty etc etc. Small print clarifies its a parts only warranty. Guy comes to check the fault with a mimimum £70 call out fee. Then they issue a cost for installing and suddenly you have a £150 bill to fix a 5yr old washing machine that will have other wear issues just waiting to happen.

Instead I went and bought the cheapest washer I could find with a reasonable load and spin speed. I think it was £170. Its now into its 3rd year. Works fine and I don’t have to worry about a call from the wife to nag me to either check it out or repair it. My response will be “I’ll collect one on the way home from work”.

I could buy one and have 4 complete units as spares out in the garage for the same price!

£1600 for a same-size Miele as our Indisit, which was £300…

These modern washers are all going mega spin cycles with mega heavy loads.

And at reduced cost, apparently.

As the man said, fast, reliable, affordable, pick any two…

Don’t completely fill it with washing in each cycle.
Drop the spin speed to about 700 or 900.
Wave goodbye to a bundle of mechanical stress.