Washing machine - is Miele worth is?

[morechocolateneededtoday]

Our washing machine is on its last legs and we have been looking at a replacement. When we bought our house, Miele was first choice but out of our budget, we have had a trusty Siemens for nearly 10 years which have been happy with but now we are replacing, we want a larger drum to wash duvets and curtains (DD has allergies).

Plan was Miele, budget £1k but have discovered they no longer offer the 10 year warranty (one of the big factors pushing us towards them). Warranty is now 2 years only and the machines with 9kg capacity are upper end of the budget as they had a price rise at beginning of the year.

Looking at other brands, we can get Samsung/LG for around £500-600 with 10kg capacity and all the same features as Miele. Samsung also have 5 year warranty.

Struggling to justify the Miele price tag with lower warranty - I know the parts are superior and machine made well but the fact they no longer back this with even 5 yr warranty has put me off completely. Can anyone advise if they really are worth the extra?

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MNHQ

You are correct OP - you pay extra for a Miele because of the long comprehensive warranty cover. Without that, they are 'worth' as much as an equilavent Bosch/Siemens etc IMO.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4467524-New-washing-machine-as-Mieles-worth-it?pg=1

Similar thread. Consensus seems to be no.

We're on alert for needing a new one (though our Siemens will probably limp on being noisy and randomly glitching for another year) and nothing about them is tempting me.

We bought a new larder fridge, a few months back. The Mieles we looked at had very cheap, flimsy fittings, which didn't impress me.

I use about three programmes and have Bosch washing machine and dishwasher. Both are heavily used and my view is that the time over 6/7 years is a bonus. We may use them less as grown up children slither away. My mother gets 15/20 years out of similar appliances but uses them half as much.

I had Miele engineer for another appliance and although he liked tumble dryers, dishwashers etc he said he didn't think the washing machines we anything special and not worth the money.
I think luck plays a part in how long they last. My washer dryer from 1991 still going (hoover) but demoted from my house to daughters. My current one - Siemens I think - still looks new after 10 years.
I have bought for elsewhere a dryer that was the cheapest on AO and although my Miele had been going for well over 10 years, I don't think I would fork out 1k on a new one. The performance of the cheap one is indistinguishable (Electra)
I was advised to buy a liebherr fridge (a little cheaper than Miele) as local independent retailer said build quality better and didn't think the Miele hinges would take the weight of the solid wood door (integrated)
So in short, I wouldn't get one

I recently bought new washer after my 21 year old Hotpoint died.
I looked at an ebac washer as it was the only washing machine I could find that had a hot and cold fill.
7 years parts and labour warranty.
Made in the UK.
Was very tempted but unfortunately delivery time was too long a wait for my needs but may be of interest to you OP, if warranty and green credentials are a factor.

Thank you all and thanks for posting link to the other thread - I did look before starting this one but all the ones I found focused on value because of long warranty which no longer applies. I obviously did not look hard enough!

Thanks for outlet tip, I did have a look there too (although am not local to Oxford), cost is around £850 for the model I would be interested in vs £500 for Samsung/LG. Siemens seem to bridge the price gap between the 2 (can't believe how much more they are today, I paid less than £300 for mine almost 10yrs ago with a 5yr warranty!). I can't complain about Siemens, it has seen us through 2 children in cloth nappies and into primary school. I now have the muddy sports wear coming for the next machine to deal with!!

My hesitation is that 10yrs back, people used to comment how Miele machines used to keep their clothes in 'like new' condition whereas others were more rough, if this were still the case, I question whether worth paying for. I don't see such comments now, majority focus on longevity and reliability.

Thanks for ebac tip, will take a look

I thought this was very interesting regarding appliances
Greener kitchen goods could save thousands, Which? suggests www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59161949

I've got a twelve year old Zanussi, never had an issue with it.

It's also partly that I got a lot of baby clothes passed on from friends, some with stains (they thought I'd like them for weaning!). One go thru our Miele washing machine and they came out completely clean!

We had always intended to replace our 17 year old Zanussi with a Miele when it finally expired, attracted by the 10 year warranty, the repairable for life philosophy at Miele, and the sheer solidity of the things when you poke and prod them (or try to move them!), as well as our very positive experience of owning a Miele dishwasher and vacuum cleaner.

When the Zanussi went bang last month we were disappointed that the warranty has been reduced to two years, and that prices have shot up substantially since we last looked. As it happened we just didn't have the money for the cheapest 7kg one, so went for a Bosch Serie 4 7kg one at literally half the price (£359) - it seems to keep coming up in recommended buys. Even if we'd had the money we'd have had serious doubts about whether Miele was worth it.

Unlike some cheaper Bosch ones made under license in Turkey, the Serie 4 is made in Bosch's own factory in Poland. It's been brilliant so far - noticeably cleaner clothes, very effective spin, and is virtually silent because of its brushless motors. Unfortunately it has gone up by £20 at John Lewis since we bought it a fortnight ago!

We find that the drum is completely full with about 4kg of anything we'd ever wash. To put even 7kg in would require either lead-lined clothing or really stuffing stuff in, to the point I couldn't imagine it agitating properly. More to the point, we can only get up to about 4kg on the indoor drying racks. As a result, I'm far from convinced that 9kg machines are worth it - there's a mathematical limit to the size of the actual drum and our 7kg machine is already at it. If we need to wash heavy massive curtains or anything, then for the sake of the once a year we do that then they can continue to go to the massive coin-op 18kg thing in the Tesco car park.

@morechocolateneededtoday
You simply cannot compare quality of wash unless you try out various machines!

I have had a very long lived AEG and a shorter lived Siemens. We are now a Miele house. What you get with Miele is build quality. My washing machine is heavy! It’s frugal on water and it’s perfect in every way. Other washing machines don’t have the build quality and they definitely retain this. My TD, hob, oven and DW have never had anything wrong. My DW is very very quiet. That’s what you pay for. My AEG in my holiday house really swishes the water around! I’d never buy anything other than Miele now.

Mine is 15 years old. It's on virtually all the time. It gets serviced every year.

Without the ten year warranty, a Miele is a very expensive purchase that you can only bank on having 2 years. If they are so good why did they feel the need to remove the warranty? They obviously have no faith in their new machines?

I loved my last Miele that lasted 17 years but the new machines are not the same as the old ones. There is no reason to believe the new ones will last as long - they are completely different.

Samsung offers a 5 year warranty on their machines and they are 1/3 -1/2 the price of a Miele. So that's what we got. It washes the clothes fine.

Be wary of people recommending a manufacturer because they have one of the 100s of thousands of machines they made that year - it really means nothing.

My Miele washer lasted 20 years, the replacement must be on 5 years now. My Siemens dishwasher however is 12 months old and shite !!! It doesn't wash

I disagree. My Miele is a grand piece of engineering. It is well built. It’s significantly better than other makes. No whizz bang electronics. But high class engineering with the best components. What Mieles go wrong just after 2 years old?

@TizerorFizz
Miele appliances have exactly the same kind of electronic in that all the other makes have. If you put a new Miele washing machine next to a Siemens or a Bosch you would not be able to tell the difference. The company I work for repairs machines and I order the same amount of Miele electronics as I do any other make.

Lots of Miele machines go wrong after a short time just as any other makes do.

@TizerorFizz

I disagree. My Miele is a grand piece of engineering. It is well built. It’s significantly better than other makes. No whizz bang electronics. But high class engineering with the best components. What Mieles go wrong just after 2 years old?

I think you'll find that they do have 'whizz bang' electronics. The grading system for washing machine energy efficiency changed last year and what was a A+++ is now only a D under the new system, to allow for future improvements which can be described more meaningfully than by adding ever more '+' symbols.

There are several ways of achieving a higher rating. One is disruptive technology such as using polymer beads instead of water, which is some way off mass commercial introduction. The other is by incremental efficiency gains in the current technology itself and the way that tech works. So brushless motors - new, unproved - is one way, but better weighing of the load and analysis of the dirty water, for example, allows newer machines to use and heat much more precise (i.e. lower) amounts of water, dispense smaller doses of detergent and so on. That's a lot more technology in a high end machine, or even a mid range one.

I would go for a Miele. Ours is 12 years old and still going strong. I don't know if all Miele machines have this feature but we love being able to open the door after it has started. There always seems to be just one more sock!

@ TizerorFizz
"What Mieles go wrong just after 2 years old?"

Miele no longer offers a warranty that supports this assertion. It was perhaps the best feature. If Miele will not stand behind their new machines, why should I? Maybe they had too many machines to fix to be able to afford to offer this anymore.

Whilst they may have been good in the past their actions today are telling you all you need to know.

@TizerorFizz

I disagree. My Miele is a grand piece of engineering. It is well built. It’s significantly better than other makes. No whizz bang electronics. But high class engineering with the best components. What Mieles go wrong just after 2 years old?

I think it is a bit disingenuous to suggest that no Miele machines fail after 2 years. There will always be the minority who are unlucky, shame that Miele no longer feel it is such a minority that it is worth them repairing it when past 2 years. A family member bought all Miele appliances many years ago, something went wrong with the machine at the 9yr mark and Miele replaced the entire drum amongst other parts. The machine is now into its 18th year. For me, that is a good investment from the financial and environmental perspective. However reading this and the other linked thread, I am also thinking that they must do not stand by their machines to last for 10 years and therefore not worth paying double for.

(Whilst Which is not gospel, from their research, proportion faulty for Miele/Bosch/Sansung/LG are 8%/10%/13%/11% respectively. So the likes of Bosch are just marginally higher in failure rate)

Miele are still better made. Their ovens are solid. So is my washing machine. I don’t doubt other machines last snd don’t go wrong but you don’t have stats for under 2 years. My DD has an Aeg oven. Half the privet of my Miele but it’s not the same bit of kit in terms of build quality. Ditto her Bosch washing machine. Referring to whizz bang I really meant displays and lights etc. I don’t have them but I am very happy with my appliances. You pays your money and you takes your choice!

Got a bosch over 8 years ago which has been through a house move. No complaints, think it only cost £280. Tbh, if it broke down I would just buy a new one.

Yes! Mine is 8, MiL's is 20 and my parents is 22.

Never had any issues with them.