Washing machine recommendations

thespacecowboy

OK

New washing machine needed.
I generally would like a 'decent' one, so have narrowed it down to

Bosch
AEG
Siemens
Miele

Now, the Bosch and AEG ones have two year guarantees, and are around £300-£400. The Miele one is £600 but does come with a free Miele hoover which we need (Miele's recently won in a which consumer tests against dyson etc).

The Siemens ones come with a 5 year guarantee from john lewis as well.

my question is, its it worth the extra for a Siemens for even a Miele? It is likely to last longer / be more effective etc? I wil check out the spins / efficiency ratings etc . as well

Thanks in advance

Rob

MATH

The word on the street of some of the other chat boards I go on suggests that the Miele won't wash any better than a Bosch, but will probably last longer. All the brands you have listed are considered better quality than ya bog standard 5yrs life span if ya lucky Hotpoints/Hoovers etc.

Pegleg2001

Warning on expensive white goods:

We bought a Miele at circa £750 in 1998. I know - it seemed a lot then too!

It came with an extra 2-yr warranty making 3-yrs total. I thought "at this price it will last 20 yrs and should not break down". Wrong.

2 years later the electronics completely failed and a new PCB had to be installed. The service engineer said if it hadn't been in warranty the part would have have cost £200+ to replace and fit. Phew!

No problem since (touches wood) - but at these spares prices next time we will go for a mainstream model.

walsgravematt

sorry to divert you a little, but I always buy Zanussi washers - they seem to have always done best from "which?" reports

HTH

WalsgraveMatt

RedOnRed

We had a Zanussi and I lost count how many times it needed repairing it the time we had it.

You can't beat Bosch for performance, reliability and overall value. Our last Bosch lasted 6 years before it needed repairing. I could've got it fixed easily but just wanted another one anyway, which is a very nice new 1600 spinner with a delayed timer which is very useful.

You can get a Miele for 2 or 3 times more the price but what's the point?

lisyloo

You can get a Miele for 2 or 3 times more the price but what's the point?

Because a Miele last 4 times as long and hence is cheaper in the long run.

I recently got a Miele and one of the reasons was the promotional 10 year warranty (the promotion has now run out).

Not sure which I would have chosen without the warranty (which is "worth" about £350).

thespacecowboy

Thanks for all the replies.
The Siemens ones have a 5 year guarantee from John Lewis, parts and labour, which is quite attractive. Finding it harder to justify the Miele!

RedOnRed

Because a Miele last 4 times as long and hence is cheaper in the long run.

Well if you're prepared to have a Bosch repaired just as one of the previous postings had to have their Miele repaired after a few years, then perhaps the Bosch would last 20 years too.

Unless of course you're a museum curator, who on earth wants to run a washing machine for 20 years? You'd be bound to find not only does it look dated but it would be highly inefficient.

You can get a 1000 spinner Bosch for just over £200 here for example, that's pretty much the same price as all of the ropey brands but in another league.

lisyloo

Well if you're prepared to have a Bosch repaired just as one of the previous postings had to have  their Miele repaired after a few years, then perhaps the Bosch would last 20 years too.

From everything I've heard, the Miele repair sounds highly unusual although I wouldn't claim these things never happen.
I don't think 1 case is a good basis for making a decision (whatever the brand).
I am not sure whether that kind of repair would be viable outside of warranty and this is generally the reason that people don't keep washing machines going - it just becomes economical.
From all the research I did, it did seem that 15-20 years was realistic for a Miele (without going to the extremes of uneconomic repairs).
This did not appear to be a realistic timescale for a Bosch (not without the unconomic repairs you mentioned).
The infomation I got is that I would need 4 Boschs to 1 Miele.
If we look at the warranty it is Miele 10 years (promotional only) and Bosch 2 years.

Unless of course you're a museum curator, who on earth wants to run a washing machine for 20 years?

I will be very happy if I don't get trouble from my machine for 20 years.
Wouldn't everyone want that.

You'd be bound to find not only does it look dated but it would be highly inefficient.

I'm not bothered about looks but I agree that it will be quite dated in terms of technology.
I agree that it's a downside to buying a product that will last a long time. Personally I rate the "no hassle" factor as higher than the "technological advances" factor but that's a personal choice.

You can get a 1000 spinner Bosch for just over £200  here for example, that's pretty much the same price as all of the ropey brands but in another league.

That's a good deal and I agree about Bosch being in another league.
I may well have bought one had the 10 year warranty not been available on the Miele.

MATH

I got so fed up with having to replace my slogged to death washer every 3-6 yrs that I changed to a top loader with an estimated life span of 15yrs although most American's run a washer for 30yrs+ and think they are just breaking it in I hope I'm as lucky!

KK

I have Miele, purchased about 1 year ago, for just under £500 with a 1400 spin speed and I am thrilled with it. We replaced a Zanussi washer dryer which we ran for 13 years with only 1 repair - new bearings. I think I was lucky with my Zanussi, but decided not to replace it with a washer dryer but a washer only. My Miele does everything I want, and I have to say things haven't changed that much in 14 years except it uses far less water. My Miele is also 'pc upgradable' (heaven knows if I'll need it) which means you can keep up to date apparently - it washes brilliantly and I now have a separate tumble dryer. I love the idea of an item lasting 20 years because I think we throw things away far too easily nowadays. My brother's washer dryer packed up after only a few years which I though was shocking.

Who knows how long my machine will last, but I know it has better components than a cheap high street machine. My camera is 25 years old and I still love it - I also use a digital one, but can trust my old 35 mm one I got to take decent piccies. Personally I'd rather pay a little more and get a good quality item that lasts better.

I have no guarantee that my Miele will last 20 years, but I'd like to opportunity of it doing so. When I bought my original Zanussi, I never thought it would be washing my own baby's clothes and how my life would have changed but it was nice that it lasted so long!

The way I look at it, if you want an item to last buy a quality one e.g. big purchases like white goods etc, if you want a cheap item to last a short while, buy cheaply and be happy to chuck away.

I bought a new cooker about 5 years ago, and now really regret buying a middle of the range average priced one, when for a few hundred more I could have got a really robust one that did everything I wanted - but my old cooker broke unexpectedly and I didn't have much money at the time.