Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

When I repaired washers we saw many many indesit cheapo £200 washers break down and be un ecomonical to repair after 14 months. So not only do you have the poor wash performance of them they are going to need replacing all the time.

Miele washing machines are designed and tested for 5,000 wash cycles - that's a life of 15 to 20 years at an average of 5 washes a week. :eek:

just look at the other features...

direct enamel casing that won't chip, flake, scratch, yellow or corrode
drum axle which is as strong as that found on a prestige motor car
unbreakable cast iron cradle that stabilises the machine and will never crumble as a concrete block can
chrome porthole door and metal door catch that is designed to be opened and shut 60,000 times

How many door catch's and door buttons and door rims have you been out to iadom? I dropped a bottle of beer on one the other day and it bounced off the rim not even scratching it, that would have smashed a hotpoint one.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

I'm not trying to be difficult here (no really, I'm not!) but I don't understand if you're supporting my argument or countering it!

So your colleague suggests one fault (presumably not evident on ALL LG machines, and certainly not TV's ;) ) but apart from that there are mediocre, which means they are average. But so is the price. And every manufacturer places large mark-ups on spares, which is how they are able to offer machines at such a low price in the first place.

If I could get an LG machine for 200 quid and it was warrantied for two years, I'd be happy. As I said before, I'm not saying they're great, but I am saying there is as valid a place in the market for a Beko or LG as there is for a Bosch or Miele.

Whilst I of course bow the superior knowledge of household appliance experts on hand here...both of you are only seeing this from the point of view of repairing them. You don't get to see thousands of cheap machines that DO NOT go wrong within two years.

The name you suggested there I can offer some real-world experience of. My first washing machine was a cheap and cheerful Indesit unit. I had it for 9 years and it NEVER went wrong. In the end the vibration caused the screws holding the front panel on to sheer, and then we bought the Miele. But I paid less than 200 quid for that back in 1992 and I'd say that's pretty good value to me. If my 800 quid Miele lasts that long I'll be happy too.

Ah yes, there are the REALLY expensive ones that have a ten year warranty. Mine was the cheaper one (800 quid?!?!?!?) and it (according to the John Lewis chappy) is tested to last 10 years and has a two year warranty.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

I cannot see the logic in buying a mediocre washer for £200 with sub standard wash performance and water ecomomy with a 2 year life when for £441 you can have a AA washer with a 20 year life? Miele 500

[edit] all the Meile washing machines are designed to 5000 wash cycles not just the expensive ones. As for Indesit the older machines where great, solid built and had good longevity. The new cheaper ones are crap and the chassis folds under its own weight in many cases. Contrast this to the Miele which makes me fold under its weight :p:

Is this your machine andy?

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

For 'cheap and cheerful' you now need to substitute 'cheap and nasty' for a good many machines on the market today, that includes all £200 appliances. The real problem arises because the manufacturers then charge a riduculous price for the spares. On some of the latest Indesit machines costing circa £200, the motor costs £110 and the notoriously unreliable electronic control module costs £100. It also has a one piece welded plastic outer drum. There is no provision to do any repairs on the bearings, inner drum etc. Any fault requires a complete drum replacement, cost of drum £150, add on a reasonable labour charge and you can soon see why so many machines are scrapped within 2 years. From that you will understand why most of the trade inserts a letter 'h' between the 5th & 6th letters of the companies name.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

I can understand both points,take your chance with cheap stuff or pay for reliability.

I tend to go for cheaper makes when it comes to certain goods.Some of them perform very well.

A friend bought a top brand american style fridgefreezer for £800,it broke down after 13 months.
My £200 LEC is going strong after 6 years.

You don't always get what you pay for,i know that from car tyres when i was a mechanic and tools/paint no i'm doing building work!

Maybe what i should have asked is what are the best of the cheaper makes?

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

There are always exceptions to any rule, we all know of the heavy smoker who can tell us about a relative who lived to be 100 on 60 fags a day, but it doesn't convince me to start smoking. You may get an occasional lemon even if you pay a decent price for it. You are far more likely to get a pile of junk if you pay £200 for a washing machine. look to spend £375 to £450 if you can possibly afford it, for a Bosch or similar which includes a full 2 year g/tee.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

But if i have a tank of hot water that was heated by gas and will cool slightly overnight why not use that water rather than heat some more

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

I'd go for Siemens/Bosch. I have a Siemens branded washing machine and it's fab.

As for LG - I have a Goldstar TV, still going well, an LG microwave, 4 years old, still as new, and a LG dvd/video combi - absolutely fine. LG are great IMO. :tu:

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

i expected so, i know someone who works for John Lewis and they SERIOUSLY push Miele machines.

I wonder why that is? profit margin maybe ;)

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

?? Why would it cool slightly overnight? It'll remain the same temp until you use it......

Cold fill are great. You never have to worry about not having hot water to do a wash, or about the washing machine taking all the hot water when you need a bath etc....

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

The point is that there are millions of people in this country that simply cannot afford 441 quid. There are also lots of people who don't need 5 washes a week - that's why I bought my Indesit in 1992, I was a young single bloke with lots of clothes and probably did one wash every other week or so. Aside from the fact that I had to buy everything else for the house in 1992 as well, I simply didn't have disposably cash to fork out for expensive kit back then. Over the years, I've become older, richer, paired-up and have replaced old and worn out kit with higher end stuff.

Maybe I've been lucky, but I took the old fridge-freezer from my sister (which was also an Indesit) that they bought SECOND HAND about ten years before I got and it lasted another ten years for me before various bits fell off it. Technically it was still perfect, it was cheap when new, and lasted at least 20 years and still worked at the end. Now I've got a big American job, and that's fine too.

The old tumble drier I had was slightly less good. I paid about 100 quid for it, it was some no-name unit. That only lasted me seven years before a strange burning smell came out of it, and I upgraded it. But 100 quid for seven years isn't bad.

No, it's a few years old now, doesn't have a digital display. I couldn't tell you the model number without looking at it I'm afraid.

You might be right, but I would hazard an educated guess that whilst there might be a lot more appliances chucked that are less than two years old now, comparted to the good old days, I would still suggest that the vast majority of all 200 quid machines are NOT scrapped in this time frame.

:LOL: I like it

No, John Lewis sales staff are not comissioned in the same way as Currys and Comet et al. That's why I shop there for this kind of stuff - they price match any other store, the staff actually know what they are selling and there's no pressure at all.

I guess they recommend them as they are the best, and as has been pointed out, it does out cheaper to own one of these with a ten year warranty than it does to replace a cheapy every couple of years. But I wouldn't say they pushed us into picking a Miele, he was equally complimentary about Bosch and Siemens.

We did end up spending more than we wanted to (a couple of hundred more) but if you can be happy with a washing machine, we are! Although we're moving house next month, and the sheer weight of this beast is unbelivable, so we may regret it a little then.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

This is mine - except I got mine for £499 including 5 years warranty :D

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

Cold fill also has the benefit that the water going into the machine is clean, keeping your whites whiter. Heating / HW is not clean drinking quality water after it has been through the HW/CH system.

Surely also a cold fill will benefit you as you will have more HW for using as HW for washing you hands, body, dishes that will have been heated on E7 power.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

This is the one ive got. http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/49_265624.html
I chose this brand as my mam had one for nearly 20 years.
Its seams really good quality, and quite.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

However as IADOM mentioned modern washing powders work much better if slowly heated to the washing temperature and you get a much better wash. Plus the are very efficient at it. Our miele completes a 40 non colour fast cotton wash in 31 mins start to finish including heating from cold.
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You can convert any hot fill machine to cold fill by feeding it 2 cold supplies.

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

Just bought a hotpoint after my beko concrete weight snaped off , after 18 months. Got hotpoint from tescos after finding it on there web site. Free delivery , Free connection , and they take your old one away Free. Ordered it on a sunday night and was installed on the wednesday morning

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

Is it not possible to just connect the cold (i.e. purposefully not connect the hot) or would that not work?

Just curious, doesn't matter to me as mine is cold only!

Re: Buying a Washing Machine
 

Siemens/Bosch/Neff (same firm, just charge more for the Siemens name on virtually the same product ) are just below Miele in terms of quality and considering the price of machines now and twenty years ago represent very good value for money, unless it is a Bosch made at the old Balay factory in Spain, not the same quality by a long way. The thing about a washing machine as opposed to TV's DVD players and even microwaves is that they do not suffer from the same use, misuse and general abuse that most washing machines get, by under/overloading, incorrect use of detergents and wash cycles, leaving coins, bra wires, penknifes, tweezers, pens, watches, necklaces, false teeth, dog leads, table cutlery, bottle openers, etc, etc in the washing. The more expensive and robust machines will handle this abuse far better than the £200 tin can. Last month I had an 18 month old Indesit with a stainless steel outer drum, ( as thin as tissue paper ) that had been sliced open like a sardine tin by a 10p coin, totally unrepairable at a cost of around £50 more than it cost new.:(

PS. I have pulled all those things and more ;) from the inside of customers appliances
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No, because if the machine is recent (last ten years) mixed fill machine the the water is routed into the correct side of the drawer, using the hot fill valve to flush the detergent in, also some machines 'sense' the incoming water temp and switch the cold on and off to compensate if the incoming hot supply is to hot for the programme selected.