Best sub £500 washing machine?

Coffeekup

I bought my last washer on advice from a friend that works/worked at a big retail outlet we all know. 
I said I was looking at brand A/B and C to replace my broken washer, they replaced "you should get a LG", I chuckled and said they make TV's. Apparently all brands of washing machines went back with issues apart from LG, so was enough for reason for me to invest in one.
9 years later my direct drive is still going strong, I do look after it tho, empty filter regularly, after every wash I leave door and tray open to let the air through to reduce/stop mould 

Woolsery

Coffeekup said:

I bought my last washer on advice from a friend that works/worked at a big retail outlet we all know. 
I said I was looking at brand A/B and C to replace my broken washer, they replaced "you should get a LG", I chuckled and said they make TV's. Apparently all brands of washing machines went back with issues apart from LG, so was enough for reason for me to invest in one.
9 years later my direct drive is still going strong, I do look after it tho, empty filter regularly, after every wash I leave door and tray open to let the air through to reduce/stop mould 

When we spoke recently to a supplier to small B&Bs and similar establishments on the coast she said her faith in Miele had been dented in recent years and she now recommended the much cheaper option of direct drive LGs.

To put this in context, we were there on a different matter, but just mulling over the inevitable replacement of our Miele, now 22 years old and still going, but it can't be for ever! She was potentially talking us out of a buy that would have made her more £, but that's why we go there and not to some box shifters.

lohr500

Unfortunately our LG machine has not been great.

We bought it because of the 5 year warranty (10 years on the direct drive motor). It gets used around 5 times a week but is never overloaded.

After about 18 months the suspension mechanism failed causing very bad vibration. It needed the entire plastic base of the machine replacing as well as the suspension dampers.

Then just before the end of the 5 year warranty the main bearing on the drum started to get very noisy and had to be replaced.

From day 1 it has always been noisy and difficult to adjust to stop it moving around the hard floor, even with friction pads under the feet. 

I wouldn't buy another LG. Trouble is, I don't think many machines are built like they used to be. Prior to the LG, we had two old school Hotpoints that served us well over a 25 year period with minimal maintenance. They were built like tanks.

roddydogs

No good posting links to "which" as they are behind a paywall.

Auti

roddydogs said:

No good posting links to "which" as they are behind a paywall.

We can access ‘Which’ in the local library for free - maybe other libraries do too?

liberty_lily

I can also highly recommend Haier (bought from AO)...large 10kg capacity, extremely quiet (ours is in a laundry cupboard off the kitchen) and overall great value for money 😃

Bluebell1000

Another Heier owner here, very happy with it. Way better than our previous Samsung ecobubble, which used to randomly tear holes in our clothes.

GDB2222

roddydogs said:

No good posting links to "which" as they are behind a paywall.

You can take a trial subscription.