Average lifespan of a washing machine?

CathWales

I've had my compact Zanussi for nearly 14 years, its just me I need to do laundry for but do about 5 loads once a week as drum is small ( towels, bedding and clothes) I have noticed for a little while that it leaks some water about an hour in of a 80 min cycle and it usually comes from the bottom of the machine, tho tonight I did a load and had water running from the door and drawer:( Compact machines are hard to come by but I've found the same size model online for £373 @ John Lewis, but also am wondering if I should get it looked at as there is usually a plumber in my building at the mo as we are having kitchens fitted, but don't know how much to give him for looking at machine or wether just to ask if its worth repairing or replacing it?

anniemf2508

Mine is about 12 years old, has never been serviced or repaired and is used on a daily basis.

Lunar_Eclipse

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I tend to do about 3 washes every month

Three washes a month?! I'm guessing your underwear must be the same colour as your clothes and probably not that much different to your bedding.:D

I also have a Hotpoint. It was expensive when we bought it in 1996, but doesn't have the spin speed of modern machines. It's been in daily use since then. From memory, it had a belt change fairly early on in its life (ie within the first 3 years because we then moved house.)

OP - I would definitely choose the repair route, for environmental reasons alone. I also suspect it will be cheaper and there's no reason why it couldn't keep going for another 10 years (although it could always go the other way too.)

emweaver

I had a Servis one was very cheap it lasted us 6 years then I changed it as I wanted a bigger drum and wish I never. We had a Beko which lasted 7 months before it was repaired then it completely died at 13 months old.

We then got a Hotpoint which lasted two weeks before plaaying up so it went back and we got a Bosch. Ive had the Bosh 2 years and 3 months and its dead! In that time its broken down so many times Ive lost count.

property.advert

xbrenx wrote: »

Calgon does what it says.. stops the build up of limescale. But, it's not often that limescale is the cause of break downs. So, while it does what it says, there's not necessarily a need for it.

Anyway, my first washing machine lasted 18 years, was a wedding present from inlaws. In the 7 years since then I've had 2 more, so they're definitely not built like they used to be.

Cobblers. Which? debunked the Calgon lies time after time. Far better to keep your cash and put it towards a new machine.

xbrenx

property.advert wrote: »

Cobblers. Which? debunked the Calgon lies time after time. Far better to keep your cash and put it towards a new machine.

Well no need to attack me like that - we agree, there's no need to use it so keep your cash.

gyromain

I have a whirlpool american-style toploader for the last 15 years. It cost £600 but is built like a tank. The motor is direct drive (i.e. no belts). It is hot and cold fill and has no heater to go wrong. The only problem over the last 15 years is that I have had to replace the pump twice (easy enough job) when socks have become trapped in the pump.

FatVonD

I can't believe this thread has resurfaced!

In the end I called a local service engineer and said I thought it was the belt and he asked if it had been noisy leading up to it (which it had) and he said if it had been then the bearings had gone and that's what had caused the belt to malfunction. He then said that it was a big job and he'd probably charge about £180 and I'd be better off getting them to fix it as you get free parts for the first 5 years.

Anyhow, I ended up taking out another years warranty where they would have replaced the machine if they couldn't fix it (kicking myself now.) They sent an engineer and it WAS the bearings and he was able to fix it but I asked what *exactly* has to go wrong with it for them to replace it and he said the parts would have to be obsolete but, as it's a newish model, they won't ever be so it did end up costing me more than if I'd had the free parts and just paid for labour so fingers crossed something else goes wrong with it in the next year so I get my moneys worth

delain

People complain about comets repairs a lot... But I've found their repair men to be very nice (one of them came out for the cooker from comet and ended up replumbing my old leaky dishwasher as well ) and they replaced the front panel free on my old washer front panel because I cleaned the writing off by mistake

I have been happy anyway. I got a free 4 year warranty from bosch with my new one and its the nice repair men from comet that will honour it

lori64

FatVonD wrote: »

Ours is about 3.5 years old and the belt that turns the drum has gone. We don't have extended warranty and I recall the call out charge when our tumble drier broke down wasn't an awful lot less than the cost of a new washing machine (Mr T have one for £150.)

DH thinks we should just get a new one and that washing machines don't last longer than a couple/a few years but I'm sure I've had washing machines that lasted for years before (though there was only one of me then so it was used less than it is nowadays with 3 of us.) Should I just bite the bullet and buy a new one? It seems awfully wasteful for it to end up in landfill but on the other hand I don't want to pay for a repair if something else is likely to go wrong again soon.

My mums old machine lasted 20 yrs...it was a zanussi, they are a bit more expensive, but well worth the extra money if you can afford it! She has another Zanussi now and its 10yrs old with no problems so far either.