Long lasting washing machine?

[sergeantmajor]

So our washing machine has died, perfect timing. It's a Zanussi, 10kg capacity, spent about £500 from memory about 5 years ago. This time I'm prepared to double the budget for something that lasts longer.

Is Miele worth it? Are other pricey brands comparable - Samsung, Bosch etc - cos there are not many Miele ones that are big enough?

My pet hate is the digital controls every product insists on having, which is just one more thing to go wrong, when a twisty knob works much better.

Please share your washing machine wisdom!

We have Miele. 12 years old. We have extremely hard water and it's been fixed one as the element went. It's a work horse for sure. The automatic setting is 1hr15 and it has a 3 hour 95 degree wash. The limescale will kill it for sure so I am monthly doing a descale- fear it is a bit late. I also bought an entry level Bosch about 8 years ago at another house and that was rubbish as the wash times were so long. Apparently they like the Miele at nursing homes as it's so robust -no idea of that is true.

AEG - finally died after 16 years and two house moves.

Bosch my previous one was over 16 years old.

When we moved into our house 12 year ago we inherited a mid range Hotpoint from the previous owner. We had it 10 years and lord knows how old it was when we moved in. It was fab and never broke.

2 years ago we replaced it for a Hoover. 2 big faults and last week had to get it replaced.

The faff of sorting it I was ready to abandon the useless peice of junk for a Hotpoint again.

Miele, Siemens or Bosch.
With Bosch there are some made in Germany and some not (the cheaper ones).
That explains why some last for 10 to 15 years with no problems and others dont.
From memory, when I bought my last machine, one of the giveaways was the lock thingy at the door. The better machines had a metal one the other ones plastic...
As far as I remember the extremely large retailers (starting with C) had different machines, produced specifically for them with less info re reliability and longevity available.
I bought mine off an independent shop and it was no more expensive.
If you want the cheaper end of the market, Beko is probably the best and is repairable when things go bad.
The well known companies like Hotpoint, Electrolux, zanussi etc went bust years ago. Only the brand name was sold on. So all the machines under those (and a few other well known ones) are all cheaply designed and produced.
The well marketed Samsung and LG ones are near impossible to repair when something goes wrong.

My hot point is in year 10, but only 4-5 washes a week

Maintaining your machine will help lifespan: checking pockets empty (esp hairbands/tiny items), not over loading, ‘balancing’ any heavy items (eg bathrobe ) with another heavy item in same load, and maintenance empty hot wash regularly (eg every month) will all help. Also mesh bags for under wired bras/tiny items like baby socks or colour catcher sheets to prevent damage. You may already do all this but thought I’d mention

If you like your knobs, I can thoroughly recommend a Beko. My first cost £200 and lasted a decade. The next one cost similar and was still going strong after five years. We only got rid of it because we wanted a washer/dryer when we moved house.

They are very much 'no frills'. You bung it on at cottons and it takes however long it needs to take. No quick washes. Which is why I think it lasted so long. So many people put their washing machine on quick washes, failing to realise the machine isn't designed to do a full load on a quick wash. Then the machine packs in from too much wear. If you want to wash 9kg, it needs to be done on the 3 hours wash. The 60 minute and less washes are for a small load.

I LOVE my LG. 10 years, still going strong.

I'm renovating my kitchen though and need an integrated one. If they did one I'd buy it in a heart beat, sadly though they don't. So I'll look at the wash times and probably get either Bosch or Siemens depending on which has the most sensible was options & solid controls, not Wifi nonsense.

I have a John Lewis own brand washing machine which is 13 years old and still going strong. It gets all lot of use - probably 6 /7 loads a week as we are a big family.

They still sell it and it still has a twisty knob.

Another vote for Bosch. Just replaced our 13 yo one with a new one - and with 4 DC born during those years, we'd had more than 13 years out of it.

The tumble dryer we bought at the same time is still going strong.

Think there is a thing about new models not being good as the older, though, so I'd check out reviews carefully. Bought a new Bosch dishwasher three years ago and had to replace it earlier this year as it developed the same fault twice in a three year period. Was fixed the first time under warranty, not the second and it was cheaper to buy an Indesit machine (on the advice of a local repairer).

Washing machine fine so far, though!

Our Zanussi lasted 14 years. We've got a Samsung eco bubble (with the pop out door) and it's being going for 3 years so far.

We have one of the cheapest Miele - does a 20min wash. Has knobs & no fancy cycles on there. Works well. Our last one was probably 20 years old before we had to replace. I think good brand is worth it.

We bought a cheap, basic Hotpoint washing machine more than 20 years ago. It’s so ancient that it was actually made in Britain.

It has absolutely no clever features whatsoever. It just washes clothes then spin drys them. We have replaced the door seal once and the motor bushes twice. It’s still going strong, it doesn’t owe us a single penny and we have no plans to replace it with some inferior unreliable modern product until it finally dies.

Love my 14 yr old Miele, when I bought it I was doing 2/3 loads a day and when I looked at electric and water consumption this used so much less than any other on the market, this alone would have covered the extra outlay without 14 yrs of life !

We are extremely heavy users of our washing machine (adult DS with SN means we wash a LOT of bedding!). I buy a washing machine based on how long the guarantee is and look at value of money assuming that will be it's life span. Our last was a Siemens with a 10 year guarantee and half the price of the equivalent Miele at the time. It was replaced under guarantee at 6 years, the replacement also lasted 6 years with a few repairs. I looked at Miele when replacing it but most now only have a 2 year guarantee so went with a Samsung which has a 11 year guarantee. It does have all the fancy extras which I wasn't interested in either, but do find myself using now!

My folks had a knobbed Bosch which lived to 16.

They did want another but due to knobbage ease (hand problems) they went with a Samsung.

Folks have been very impressed. More so as it sounds like a whispering kitten. The lovely old Bosch sounded like a plane trying to take off towards the end.

I wish manufacturers would realise that knobbage is wanted and in some cases needed.

We have no idea how old our Miele is... the previous owners of our house left it behind, only because they were moving abroad. We have been living here six years and the only problem we've had was the door seal needed replacing. The repair guy said to never get rid of it

My Bosch washer and dishwashers both died within 3 years. Both been replaced but Miele and I am very happy with both. The washer is 3 years old and was around £550. It's got a twisty knob but it does have a digital panel as well. 90% of my washing is on the 30 minute wash and it cleans like a dream. It's on every day, sometimes twice