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 a Beko. Turkish. Brilliant! Larger drum, lots of wash options. Really good. And excellent service from AO.com too

The worst one we had was an indesit moon. looked nice but couldnt clean. wasnt worth the hype.

I've a 13 yr old Miele, it's bearings are just starting to go but local 'fixer' reckons we can get another 2 years before we need to fix them.

When I looked at water consumption and electric consumption- then compared it to others quickly realised it would pay for itself

Generally for washing machines I go cheap and large drum.
I did once buy an all singing bloody expensive one years ago. It lasted less than 2 years.
So now I look at drum size then at cost and £250 is my limit.
Same with dryer. Biggest size cheapest.
I do a lot of washing though.

The more features there are, the more there is to go wrong.

Plus they are more expensive to fix because it's normally the programmed part that breaks.

We've had two mid range ones costing £400 and £250 and they lasted 11 and 13 years respectively (replaced due to house move and then because 'it was very noisy and moved all over the kitchen' but I suspect both were on their way out) although obviously £400 in 1995 when we bought the first one was relatively a lot more money than the £380 that we've just paid for our latest one a few months ago.

First two were Zanussi and the new one is an 8 kg AEG that I'm very pleased with. It weighs the washing and reduces the run time significantly if not full, has more than enough programmes, is quiet and washes well.

I've always avoided the cheapest ones, although I don't know if they're not very good (but we do have a cheapy Indesit condenser tumble dryer but that is shit) but I couldn't bring myself to pay ££££s for a Miele.

I really rate Bosch. Wouldn't bother with AEG, but if you're splashing out, Miele - mine has moved house 4 times (moved country twice!), is 15 years old and is still fantastic.

The only thing is the capacity - and it's the only reason I'm thinking of buying a new one - something big enough to do everything at once would be lovely.

I had a machine once. Somehow 10p got between the two parts of the drum, except it wasn't flat. It was wedged in position as if it had been stood up in its edge.

I didn't know until it cut my drum clean in half.

I use about the same 3 basic programs all the time.

I agree a bigger drum is better than lots of fancy cycles.
Also get a well known make. Spares and repairs will be easier to source.
And John Lewis often give a decent warranty.

Our Beko one with an 8kg drum cost £240ish and is still fine 6 years later.

The shittest one we’ve ever had was an all singing all dancing Samsung eco bubble...

We went Samsung Ecobubble at ~£400 which was £100 or so more than the ‘cheap’ machines at the time. A few months later, two friends bought similar/same model after seeing ours.

We’ve owned it more than five years now and it’s the best machine we’ve ever owned. The efficient programmes available mean that we saved the extra £100 in electricity usage very quickly. That saving is based loosely on previous ‘good’ make machines running typically twice as long for the same programme. (Bosch - avoid, avoid, avoid)

The friends have had no problems at all…

I have an LG Direct Drive. It's 10yo now & fabulous. It was around £450 from ao at the time.

I am gutted they don't do an integrated version and if it was possible I'd change the design of the new kitchen to allow for a non integrated one, but I can't (stupid tiny kitchen).

I have a Bosch.
Lots of brands boast about the 'add to wash' capability, but Bosch don't. It's great for the socks that I always drop bringing an armful downstairs.
It's also very quiet.
You don't have to push the boat out.
I bought mine after lockdown. It cost £329 to give you an idea.

Just got a Hoover, £300. It's got the countdown timer, 9kg and it's so quiet! I know that's not a problem got you, but it really is great!

I have a fab LG direct drive one and it's amazing. I had a Samsung ecobubble before and hated it.

That saving is based loosely on previous ‘good’ make machines running typically twice as long for the same programme. (Bosch - avoid, avoid, avoid)

Counter intuitively, longer washing machine cycles often use less water and energy. The long programmes have the washing sitting in water for a longer time. The short programmes use more water, so more energy to heat up, and swoosh it around more.

I have a Miele. It's about 14 yrs old and just keeps going. It came with a 10 year warranty and had one small repair in about year 9. Very heavy use as there were 6 of us in the house for a number of years. It's still used for 2-3 loads per day.

It cost a lot at the time, about 7 or 8 hundred but I can't really say I haven't had my value from it. My only slight niggle is I would quite like one of the large drum ones that fit duvets in but as long as the machine keeps going I can't justify a new one.

Be warned though just because the washing machines are great this doesn't translate to other Miele products. Bought a dishwasher because I was so impressed with the washing machine and it was dreadful, broke down all time and never cleaned properly! My Bosch dishwasher is much better.

When my Miele washer drier finally died after about 15 years (had a tiny kitchen in a flat when I bought it) on the advice of the Miele man, I bought separate washer and drier. He said go for a basic model of a very good brand - less to go wrong. I'm very happy with them. My first washing machine was a much cheaper Zanussi and was always going wrong.

We have a bottom of the range Miele with a 10 year warranty, and are about 3 years in, with quite heavy use. It's been brilliant so far. I was very impressed with the apparent build quality - it's very solid.

I had Indesits til I moved abroad and you couldn't get them, so I have an AEG, that I think has been going since 2010/11. It was in a sale so reduced from €795. It has survived a couple of moves, living in cellars, and being transported back to the UK. It was worth the money.

I have a Samsung eco bubble and its great, had it a year and a half with no issues. The worst I had was a Servis but I think they went out of business anyway.

Counter intuitively, longer washing machine cycles often use less water and energy. The long programmes have the washing sitting in water for a longer time. The short programmes use more water, so more energy to heat up, and swoosh it around more.

Sorry, not true for us. The smart metering confirms this, and the significant reduction in our bills. It is possible to precisely measure this. The long drawn out programmes also stop you from getting three washes done in the cheap electricity period.

The Ecobubble also weighs the wash/assesses it and does not use more water, it uses less, ie: less than a machine that doesn’t weigh/assess.

The last Bosch we had was wearing out our clothes with 2.5hrs of thrashing around for no obvious benefit. That’s now a 35 minute wash for us. Being able to individually adjust the heat, rinses and spin speed also saves time/money.

Definitely a large drum. I hate washing water/energy/detergent etc and try to teach the children to be environment aware so only do laundry once a week. A big drum let’s me do that. Quick wash is useful on odd occasion or to wash something very delicate.

I hate my Samsung eco bubble, I’ve had years and years of problems, fixed every 4/5 months I’ve spent a lot of time waiting for it to be repaired (it’s 5 years old not so out of warranty) when it goes wrong again I’m going to do what I should have done originally and spent the extra £300 and got a Miele.

The old John Lewis one I had lasted the best, around 8 years before it died.

My only 2 requirements are a 9kg load or bigger and a quick wash with adjustable temp.

Saying that our Samsung fridge freezer and tv have been great, sadly their washing machines (in my experience) are rubbish.

Another vote for a mid range Bosch - 12 years and still going strong