Repair or replace Samsung washing machine?

Worriedandalone

Before I start I'm not asking for anyone to diagnose anything here and it's a gamble on an unknown fault (although if you can diagnose please do! ) I'm just asking "what would you do".

We've had a Samsung Ecobubble washer dryer since 2015 and yesterday it now sounds like a bag of spanners. As the drum turns there is an horrific clanking sound and when you empty the machine and turn the drum by hand the drum feels quite unsteady and makes the same clanking/scraping sound as you turn it. Nothing has changed in terms of positioning/levelling and I can't find or see any obstructions.

So now the decision is whether to spend money getting someone to repair the machine or just plump for a new machine. It cost £600 in 2015 and a replacement now would be £600. I'm swaying towards a new machine but something is niggling at me in case it's a cheap fix. What would you do?

TELLIT01

It is a difficult decision, despite the old machine being nearly 10 years old.  Build quality now doesn't seem, generally, to be anywhere near as good as 10 years ago so the replacement model may or may not be as good.  I would be inclined to contact an engineer and ask what their diagnostic fee is, then take it from there.

scrummy-mummy

I was in the same spot with my nearly 10 year old samsung eco bubble washing machine a couple of years ago. I replaced it.

Worriedandalone

I've just called a local repair company and they want £80 just to visit. Feels like throwing money away

Jaybee_16

That noise is possibly drum bearings and likely costly so I would buy a new one.

Risteard

Worriedandalone said:

I've just called a local repair company and they want £80 just to visit. Feels like throwing money away

That's a very fair fee.

FreeBear

Jaybee_16 said:

That noise is possibly drum bearings and likely costly so I would buy a new one.

Drum bearings would be my guess too. Unfortunately, with many washing machines it is next to impossible to replace the bearings. You often have to buy a whole new drum which is expensive.

Edit - Had a quick look at one exploded diagram for a Samsung WM. The drum assembly is listed as a complete unit, and it appears that it is possible to replace just the bearings. Bearings not listed, but they will be a standard part available from any bearing supplier (even small towns will have one). If you are paying someone to do the job, labour will be a major cost, so might still be cheaper to buy a new machine.

BarelySentientAI

Worriedandalone said:

I've just called a local repair company and they want £80 just to visit. Feels like throwing money away

Out of interest, what do you think they should charge for having an engineer on call to visit you and diagnose the problem?

If they turned up and said "oh yes, it's that part, there's one in the van" and fixed it for £20 on top of the callout charge, it would end up being a decent deal and not throwing money away at all.

You're right though, it is sort of impossible to know beforehand whether it's worth them coming or not - sort of gambling the £80 against a chance of not having to spend £600.

If it is the drum bearing, which seems possible from your description, that could well be a couple of hundred pounds to repair.  (£30 - £50 or so of parts, plus the labour

Worriedandalone

Risteard said:

Worriedandalone said:

I've just called a local repair company and they want £80 just to visit. Feels like throwing money away

That's a very fair fee.

I'm not contesting the fee, they have to charge for their time etc. My issue is that it is 15% of the cost towards a new machine so spending that to only find out that I still need to spend £600 feels like throwing away £80

Albermarle

If it has been used quite a lot then in fact lasting 9 years is not that bad, even for a good make.
I would bite the bullet and buy a new one, although not necessarily the same one. Have a look at some recent reviews .

Alanp

If it’s the bearings it will make a rumbling noise as you turn the drum, if you hold the inner drum at 12 and 6,and try and move the drum up and down, there should be no movement ( or very little) , it could be something caught in the outer drum a coin or bra wire, but you won’t know for sure until the engineer visits..