washing machines packed up - recommendations?

[Wendym]

What have you got, how long have you had it, any problems? I've read the American toploader one but it won't fit, need a standard British size. I've had a Hoover Logic wash/dry ( must be about 10 years old poor thing - RIP) but no longer need the drying facilty.

Wendy
just bought a Bosch WFL something or other, based on the which report recommendations. Only had it 4 weeks, but seems good so far. Previously had Zanussi which was ok, but not as good as this. Didn't have time to look around, so i just bought based on the Which report, from the first shop (Currys) which had one in stock that I could put in my car. Turnaround time from old washing machine collapsing completely to new washing machine on its first run was less than 24 hours - not bad eh!

I also have a Bosch WFF 2001 and its great, never gone wrong in over 2 years (famous last words...). Also when my Bosch tumble dryer broke they came out the next day to fix it.

I've got a Whirlpool 6th sense (only since March so can't say how solid) but I did want to suggest a washer with a starter delay to get your washing going in the middle of the night (electricity is SO much cheaper then).
I am very pleased with my washer - I use several programmes (I didn't with my previous one).

We've been AEG fans for years. Ours is 10 years old, really quiet, good wash and spin and easy on power and water consumption. It's not a particularly fancy one for the price, but it's ultra-reliable.
Someone from my NCT group has just bought one of those giant Dysons and is totally in love with it. Fancy being able to wash your king-sized duvet after your dd has puked on it.

I'm an Indesit fan. We recently replaced our indesit washer with an a washer/dryer of the same brand. Not because it had broken down, despite being over 10 years old, but because we wanted a dryer for the new arrival. It has the lowest power consumption, water consumption etc, and was the cheapest one avaliable as well.

we have an AEG - its about 4.5 yrs old and still going strong - its good - the clothes come out really clean which is the important bit - it uses less powder and water than most but the wash takes forever as a result (the quick wash takes an hour).

Thank you for the advice. My husband decided to take off the cover and give the solenoids (?) a tap from his hammer. So now its working again. As we worked out it's 12 now and this is its third breakdown (one new pump and one switch) we'll still buy a new one but at least I can afford to wait for one not in stock.

Update - we decided to go for the Bosch and it's now installed. Just to prove it needed retirement the old machine stopped spinning! Thanks again to everyone who responded.

Just like to rant about "Box Clever" - previously Radio Rentals - who I rent a washing machine off.
Machine stopped working properly and reported fault on 22nd of August. Since then I've had four men out to fix it - so I've wasted four days staying at home waiting for them - and made numerous phone calls to get the matter sorted. The machine still isn't working and they are coming to replace it tomorrow. Bearing all this in mind, I asked them for a service credit - I was originally offered just over £1. After several lengthy phone calls, they have now offered the almost lottery like sum of £5 (basically the rental cost for the days the machine hasn't been working properly). Blimey, they sure know how to treat their customers properly don't they? So much for compensation for time and phone bills.

Willow2, I hope you don't think this is cheeky, it's not meant to be, I'm always facinated (don't get out much ) when I see companies renting things like washing machines why people rent them rather than buying them. With so many good interest free deals going round does it not make more sense to buy one?

We don't rent any appliances but it must be nice to know that you can upgrade to a new model without forking out a huge sum or to have engineers at your beck and call whenever there is a fault with no bills to pay.

My very basic Servis was £99 when we bought the kitchen from MFI 3 years ago. So far I have had no problems with it but it doesn't have a delayed start timer or half load option - just a plain old turn around dial. IMO the mechanical dials are more reliable than electronic settings and probably less costly to repair. My old Hoover lasted 10 years but needed new bearings after 8 and the door seal was leaking a bit towards the end - oh and DS broke the dial by turning it the wrong way but it was very cheap and easy to replace. I normally to 7-10 loads a week so my machines see plenty of use.

I think Comet are doing a good deal on a Whirlpool at the moment but I don't know any details.

Demented - know what you're saying. We rented initially because we moved in to a rented flat that didn't have a washer or a dryer, as we didn't know whether our next home - which we planned to buy - would come complete with white goods, as is so often the case. Anyway, we got mucked about dreadfully with things breaking down - so I mentioned that I worked for a rather well known consumer programme. Suddenly, everything started to work and we were compensated with a cut price rate for the machines. Almost eight years on this rate still holds and is considerably less than I'd be paying for new machines - plus when they do go caput someone comes to mend them (or not) for free or they replace them (as is happening today). Sadly, I can no longer use my old job as a stick with which to beat them, hence the delay in getting a new machine.
Plus, from what I've learned about the cheaper brands of white goods, I am loathe to buy until I can afford to splash out on a Miele or Bosch or similar that I know really is built to last.

Bet you didn't expect such a long response!

We've got an AEG - basic but solid, and seems to work well, although a cycle takes a long time to run, as it's cold fill only. It's economical though.

On a different note, has anyone else tried these laundry balls that Lakeland sell? It's a plastic ball with these little beads inside, which you stick in your machine instead of detergent. They're ultra eco-friendly as you're not using detergent, and you can also skip the rinse cycle, for the same reason (no soap to wash out). I've been using one for just over a week now, and so far am very impressed - even got grass stains out of ds's cream trousers.

Willow2, once again sorry for asking, my DH was standing behind me saying, "ask her why she rents", "go on", he keeps getting me into trouble these days, between that and his suggestion that Mumsnet sell the mailing list, I think I will tell him to shut-up in future!

If you get round to buying your own I would recommend our Miele Premier NOVO (the cheap one, ha ha, as if any of them are cheap). My DH's idea (again!) after our washing machine packed up when DS1 was six weeks old, I thought it was horrendously expensive but he knew of a family who had a Miele washing machine that was still going strong after about 30 years. Ours is about 3 1/2 years old now, it is extremely reliable and makes a nice job of the washing (it'll probably blow up now). My Mum has a Bosch, not sure which one, it seems to be very good as well, probably better value for money (we will wait and see which one packs in first), but it doesn't have the option to do a shorter wash, probably just the model she has.

Tetley, thanks for that about the Lakeland ball, I know they're quite dear but do about 80 washes (?) so I was wondering whether to try one, DS1 plays football at school - in uniform! - every day and gets covered in mud. He also plays cricket in whites occasionally and gets muddy and grassy. It's good to have independent verification!

Just thought I would add my two pence worth. My DH bought a Zanussi when he bought his first flat 9 years ago. It broke 4 months after the 12 months warrantee. The engineer that pronounced his machine dead said that in future he should steer clear of Zanussi. Basically an element exploded, but as they have a plastic drums (which he said is very uncommon and cheap), the explosion tore through the drum - which of course isn't sold as a seperate part.

We've been renting a machine for the last 8 years at £30 per month (I know - we've done the sums!) all because of this, but we finally took the brave step to buy one the other week with new baby on the way. We have a bought a washer/dryer from Ariston (£299.00) - but we have also heard that Hotpoint are brilliant, and for those with a little extra to spend, then Bosch is the creme de la creme!

nic1stbaby, completely agree re zanussi. ours has just broken down for the second time in a year!

nics1stbaby, you don't have to spend a lot for a Bosch and, as somebody else has mentioned, the ones with a mechanical dial (not electronic) are more reliable - less to go wrong - and they are much cheaper. (You can get an 11lb load, 1200 spin speed for under £300 on the internet.)

My next door neighbour bought a top of the range electronic Hotpoint washer and the engineer lived at her house until Hotpoint eventually cracked and gave her a new one - not singing and dancing! (She also has Hotpoint fridge/freezer/cooker/dw so has Kitchen Cover which is just as well in her case. She used to have a Zanussi dw, it caught fire because the insulation on the wires was rubbed away by the door opening and closing - good design!)

nics1st baby, that happened to my Zanussi after 2 .5 years, scale builds up on the element and the plastic housing surrounding it splits and eventaully the whole thing can explode and catch fire. I had someone do an estimate and then rang Zanussi, they condemned my machine and offered me any machine for £100 as long as they could have the old one. Done deal, got a brand new machine!

Now have a Siemens, was supposed to be a Bosch Maxx, but on delivery day they hadn't got it in the warehouse, computer error, I said I need it here and now not a weeks time when it comes in as I had three lots of rugby kit to wash. They only had the Bosch 1200 and I wanted a 1400 spin.
They offered me the exdisplay £695 top of the range for the same price! It sings and dances, Well, it does tell you when it's doing things like adding softener etc and when it's finished, quite handy knowing exactly when a wash is going to be finished and I sometimes choose a wash according to the time it takes! It is very versatile, very sad getting excited about a washing machine!

...I hope our machine works out,.. but with all the baby clothes washing coming up in the next month or so, I'll be undertaking my own market research!

p.s. I've had family and friends that have also experienced that Zanussi magic with broken fridges, etc.!

For anyone who fancies a new 2 drum Dyson, be careful. My friend wanted one but the salesman at Comet/Curry's told her that they had about 90% of them returned as faulty. This may have just been teething troubles that could have been rectified now but it is an awful lot of money to be stuck with a bad machine.

nic, I don't know anybody with an Ariston washer but somebody I know had one of their fridges for about 20 years!

waited in all bloody day only to find that the machine they gave me sounds as though it has someone trapped inside who is trying to get out using a pneumatic drill whenever it goes in to a spin. Am waiting for the manager to call me back ..... where's my nearest Miele stockist?

We bought a Bosch WFL something or other last year on the internet via COOP. The first machine they delivered fell apart as they brought it through the door (top fell off!)

The next machine misbehaved from the start. It had a mind of its own and never washed a load right. The engineer came to mend it about 5 times over several weeks (under guarantee thank God!) but couldn't work out the problem. After replacing the whole computer board costing several hundred quid and taking 3 hours, which didn't solve the problem, he finally discovered the problem was a temperature gauge costing £1.50!!

Moral of the story : don't buy things like this over the internet (COOP denied all responsibility, saying it was up to Bosch) and if you don't need a very complicated machine, don't buy one!

A lone voice here to the defence of Zanussi! Mine is 15 years old, has never had anything go wrong, and since birth of dd's 5 1/2 yrs ago has done between 7 and 20 loads every week. I reckon even if it dies tomorrow ( and it probably will after this eulogy!) I've had my moneys worth!