[andygrif]

Originally Posted by iadom

I will quote you a reply I got from a colleague who has been in the trade for almost 40 years, his firm employ 15 engineers doing a large amount of contract work, including LG appliances. I was asking him his opinion on the LG machines.

"On these the weights come loose, the suspension legs have been upgraded and the pump although £43.00 to buy trade is little more than a £3.50 askol. On top of that the suspension pins come out of the units and they do suffer from vibration unless the load is perfect.

other than that they are mediocre "

The increase in many manufacturers machines under 2 years old that are BER'd has increased dramatically in the past couple of years.

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.

Originally Posted by handyman

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.

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.

Originally Posted by handyman

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.

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.