Is an expensive washing machine worth the extra money?

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Ours is on its way out. I've been looking at new ones and the price range is huge. Realistically though, I only every use two programmes so is it worth the extra money for a fancier one?

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MNHQ

We got dragged into the 21st century when our old reliable finally bit the dust.

We got a direct drive, silent one. OMG! If you can afford one go for it. It has all sorts of additional bits and bobs on it that we never used, but we haven't regretted it.

I don't reckon so. When my last washing machine broke down and couldn't be fixed, the repair man recommended getting a basic version of a good brand. Basic because there'd be fewer bells and whistles to go wrong. The brands he suggested were Miele, Siemens and Bosch. So I got a bottom of the range Siemens with a reasonably fast spin speed and it's still going strong 15 years later. I only ever use two or three programmes too.

I usually spend about £400 and have a John Lewis make one that I'm happy with, I once had a cheaper Hoover one but it wasn't so good. I have never had a really expensive one because our kitchen is quite narrow and the expensive Miele ones all seem to be a bit deeper so never really looked at them.

Get a big one! I love being able to wash a king size duvet. My old one was so bulky the bigger drum one I have isn't any bigger on floor space.

Echoing what other said about going for size rather than millions of programs. Both my washer and dryer are 9kg, meaning I can wash our duvets and pillows. It saves a fortune on professional cleaning!

If you are open plan a quieter brand might be wort paying for. A larger drum is also useful.

Yes! Should have said our deciding factors were size and the promise of silent washing

The shittest one we’ve ever had was an all singing all dancing Samsung eco bubble which we paid about £700 for I think. It broke down every few weeks. They eventually replaced it for a new one (same again) and it did the same thing. Ended up emailing ceo of AO to complain and they let us pick whatever we liked and we chose a bog standard Indesit one (about £300 ish) and it’s been amazing. No issues whatsoever. Heavy use in a 4 person family with special needs children. AO gave us vouchers to spend to make up the difference in cost.

We have a bottom of the range Miele and it's great. Somewhere around 10 years old so no idea if the new ones are as good!

Thanks everyone. I'd like a larger drum but it's in the garage so noise isn't a huge issue. Ours currently is a fancy baumatic one but I wouldn't rate it.

Make a list of all the things you are looking for in a washing machine and get the one that best fits, regardless of price. My list would be :
Large load capacity
Adjusts cycle to size of load or half load facility
Quiet
Time delay
Quick wash cycle

I had no idea either how long they are expected to last. Which? says if over 6 years don't try and repair but replace. This must be 13 years old tbh.

My only requirements are large load & quick wash I think.

I have a samsung eco bubble. It’s The second top spec and it’s been going for nearly 10 years and is used at least once a day. Before that we had a cheap hot point and it was awful. Didn’t even last 2 years.

Basic Miele

My first Bosch lasted 11yrs and 2 babies/young kids. It was a fairly basic one.

Went for similar this time, Bosch again. £500. You get to add items mid cycle, they wash really well, spin well. Solid workhorses.

From my own personal experience, no.

Our old one was great but conked out from age. We decided to pay more than we usually would on our next one. It did not wash anywhere near as good as our old one. I had never had to pre soak anything with stains before but did with this one and even then they didn't always come out.

Then fate intervened and we accidentally left a coin in a pocket and after a while the washing machine was flooding.

We went for a cheapie - I think it was about £200 and I love it. So much better.

We have a mid-range Bosch and can't fault it. It's used heavily (baby in cloth nappies). We also have a cheapy Beko tumble dryer which is the bee's knees!

IMO they are all pretty much the same. We bought a mid priced Zanussi, at the largest load, 10kg. I expect them to last 5-10yrs.

We have had our Miele for 13 years and nothing gone wrong so far. Well worth the money! Got a Miele fridge freezer at the same time but it didn’t fare so well and broke down after 4 years 😩

washing machines are a definite case of 'they don't make them like they used to'. Almost all now have sealed drums which means the bearings (the bit that is most likely to fail) cannot be replaced. Replacing the drum costs almost as much as replacing the whole machine. So go cheap or spend a fortune on a Miele IF they are still doing non-sealed drums.

the only thing I would say is to make sure it has a square footprint, not a rectangle. We bought a 6kg capacity Indesit Mytime, with the theory that it would use less water and electricity with this smaller size. It will not stay in place on its own - it now sits on a wooden board with an extra piece in front to hold it where it should be, and a rolled up mat between the top and the underside of the worktop. It does wash well and quite quickly but is clearly made of cheese.

I swapped my expensive Samsung one for a hover washer and dryer in one as I don’t have the space for a dryer too. They wash both the same but this feels really flimsy in comparison. The first time I went to put the liquid in the pull out draw actually came out in my hand so now I have to be very gentle with it. More expensive one was sturdy robust but in comparison to washing the clothes there’s no difference

Basic Bosch has lasted ages.

Mid-range Bosch washer and dryer have both lasted us 10 years with no issues or repairs. The Bosch dishwasher lasted us around 12 years and could have been repaired at 12 years but we needed a full size model.

In-laws have Miele which are over 20 years old.