to expect a washing machine to last for more than 5 years?

multitasker The bearings have gone. I would get it check as it can't be safe using it like that.

Our Zanussi gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago after 7/8 years.

Our neighbour, OTOH, has a cheapo Bejam own-brand one (they are now Iceland I believe??) that has been going 15 years.

my downstairs neighbor (in new build with brand new whirlpool washer/dryer in when we moved in) had it break down pretty much dead a week after her years guarantee.....absolute rubbish. i only use it for washing and its ok...got a tumble seperate as the washer/dryer was a crap combo.

these things should last but dont anymore, worth investing in a more expensive one so it will last!

our bosch lasted 9 years

would have cost £200 to fix but we bought a new one

the new ones are more efficient energy wise

I overload my Miele all the time I know I shouldn't with hindsight I should have got one with a bigger drum but I don't think they were easily available 8 years ago. You can also get a Miele service engineer to update the programmes on the machine by computer but I've never had to have the Miele service engineer out so have never had this done.

Ah but Frogs- you may not have a son with a passion verging on demented for collecting rubber rands in his pockets. Rubber bands are apparently pretty much the only thing that will stop a Dyson (dunno about a Miele) in its tracks, as they get wound around the out pump and have to be removed by a specialist (no damage to the actual machine though). Even these two incidents were covered by the Dyson guarantee. I can't remember what happened to the electronics, it might have been related to the rubber bands, but the guy who came reloaded their new and improved programme that made it run 4 mn faster. We liked the Dyson because it also used the reduced amount of water of the Miele and Boschs, but doesn't take 32 hours to do it. Also has a 7kg+ load and can do a double quilt. Which is a boon in a 3 (muddy) child house with frequent visitors.

Can you tell that I am in love with my Dyson? Also it is purple and silver- what's not to like? ahem

i have to get a new one every 3 or so years. i overload them though so its my fault.

my mum has had hers since i lived at home (about 20 odd years) she is careful with hers, she never overloads it ect. she has a fit at me whenever i have to get another.

I had an Ariston which only lasted a couple of years before the bearings gave out - never again. My present one is AEG

I have a Miele - it cost a 1000 quid in the Selfridges sale in 2001

Not had one minute of a problem with it.

Best thing I got in the divorce

But duchesse, the point about the Miele is that they don't need fixing. Ours has been run pretty much every day since July 1999 (old inherited Hotpoint died 4 weeks after ds was born) and has never broken down in all that time. My mum's has run seamlessly since about 1980, apart from the little incident with the beach sand, which was entirely our fault.

It's worth paying the extra -- it's the difference between buying a jacket for £80 and wearing it for 5 years, and buying one for £18 and wearing it for 6 months.

No - my Bosch is 10 years old and never once gone wrong

Had my whirlpool for 13 years. 10 loads of washing a week and never seen a Calgon Tablet (despite living in South).

My DH inherited an AEG washing machine from the people he bought his house from (they were emigrating to Australia and couldn't take anything with them). It must have been 12 or 13 years old when we got rid of it to replace it with a Hoover washer/dryer. I really wish now that I'd stood my ground with DH, and just got a dryer (DH argued there wasn't the room for one-like how often does he do the washing!?) because the Hoover was bl**dy awful. After 18 months, the door fell off (2 days before Christmas and 3 weeks before DD2 arrived) due to the hinge being badly cast (I could see air bubbles in the hinge) and 2 1/2 years after that, the door fell off again.
Finally this year, it stopped pumping out/spinning. It probably was "fixable" if I was bothered enough to actually pay for someone to look at it. But I couldn't be bothered. I was so not sorry to see the blasted thing go! We've now got a Zanussi one and later in the year, we'll probably look for a separate dryer to go in the garage. While researching which make to go for, I read that Hoover, Hotpoint and Candy (which I think are all the same group now) washing machines and dryers are one of the worst for breaking down and needing repairing. Miele and Bosche are the best makes to go for.

Have had my Dyson (roughly the same price as a Miele of same size) since 2001, running it routinely 4 times a week. Thanks to Dyson's excellent service and repair policy (have had to call them 2x for rubber bands and once for electronics problem), it is running at least as well as when I first got it (faster too, as one of the engineers who serviced it updated the software programme that runs it, to make it 4 minutes faster). Can't say enough about Dyson, frankly. Their after sales service is superb, and in keeping with my eco-credentials as they prefer to repair than replace, and produce machines that are able to be repaired at low cost to the owner. Seriously worth considering.

themoon66, I was going to make the same suggestion as frogs. It is a very basic Miele we have and it has been fab.

I have just had my washing machine(indesit- DO NOT BUY!) condemned, it was just over 4.5 yrs old. Have just ordered a Bosch machine (WAE28465)- £450 at John Lewis but only £350 after shopping around online!
Loads of mumsnetters on previous threads recommended the Bosch as next best after Miele. Would a bought a cheaper Miele but only a 5kg wash load- I couldn't go back to that I'm afraid! The repair man recommended Bosch and Siemens as best makes.

I have the Hoover bog standard one I got 12 years ago as a wedding present, and tbh I wish it would give up - the noise of the spin cycle is akin to a freight train, but it has actually given no real bother over the years - none that my dh can't fix. I had heard great things about Beko machines.

Could you not buy the cheapest Miele and buy a separate electrical timer switch that plugs into the socket?

Thanks for the link MrsSpoon. My washer is on its last legs. I fancy a Miele after reading the comments on here, but the cheapest one with a timer switch seems to be £800 , although it does have a 10 year warranty.

Guess I'd better start saving.

My xdh has still got the washing machine we bought when we bought our 1st house (14yrs ago) and has only had repair man out once in all that time. It was/ is Hotpoint. I however, have had 2 separate ones in the last 7 years. Shouldn't there be some kind of ofcom thing that supervises shoddy goods needing replacement. If they could make them to last 15 yrs ago, then why not now? Someone could clean up using old fashioned ways of making them, no?

Mine lasted 2 years!
It is terminal. The bearings have gone and you may need a new drum. It is just what happened with mine 2 weeks ago.

Some here from around the £500 mark.

My Miele is over 8 years old now and I have never had a problem with it. It was £700 at the time and I think the same machine is cheaper than that now.

No. You're not. Our Bosch is second hand (although still fairly new when we had it I suspect) and has lasted 6 already. And no signs of wearing out.