Disappointed with Maytag quality

[Ignoramus20878]

We have a maytag washer. It broke down 2 years ago and again this year. In both cases, the cause was that the plunger that activates the washer when the cover is lowered, wore itself out, shortened and no longer could reliably actuate the switch. The previous time I adjusted the plastic thing that pushes the plunger, this year I screwed a screw into the plunger to make it 1mm longer.

I am disappointed that Maytag decided to save perhaps 50 cents, and went from using a metal part that would not wear out, to plastic part that they knew would wear out (and would bring them a few bucks each time customers need to replace it).

I guess Maytag is no longer a quality brand. If they did it intentionally so that customers pay them $X each time the plunger wears out and they need a new plunger, I would even call it dishonest.

i

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Maytag used to be the best washer and dryer made. Our washer lasted 22 years and the dryer is still going after 24 years. Times have changed, unfortunately. The problem is, the other brands are not any better and some are much worse.

[CJT]

As with so many things, it's a race to the bottom.

[Commodore Joe Redcloud©]

Just replaced a Maytag dryer for my parents. It was 5 years old, and the motor went. The Maytag name means nothing these days except higher purchase price.

Commodore Joe Redcloud©

[Travis Jordan]

Sounds like Lucas Electric design. I had an old British sports car that had a phenolic rubbing block on the points. Every time the distributor lobe hit that block it would wear it down a bit. After 5K miles the block would be so worn that you couldn't adjust the points far enough to meet spec, and so they had to be replaced.

Consumer Reports reported in February that Maytag washers are now less reliable than Roper, Frigidaire, Whirlpool, and Kenmore brands. And of course there is the Neptune disaster still hanging over them.

Now that Maytag has been bought by Whirlpool I think we'll see some changes, hopefully for the positive. There is a valuable asset in the legacy name.

[Ignoramus20878]

That's quite sad, and most likely very true. I mean, let's get real, their engineers know everything about use of wearable plastic for plungers, and yet their management decides to do it.

i

[Ignoramus20878]

I never heard of the Neptune disaster.

Nor do I trust consumer reports, too much.

i

[oren]

While under warranty my washer blew a "circuit board" and would not spin, etc. They fixed it. The repairman later stated to me that the dryer door was mounted at the factory and could not be changed to swing the opposite direction (hinged on other side). Little did he know I had already changed the door. The mounts were there, they just needed to be moved to the other side.

Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Maytag came out with the Neptune front loading washer a few years back. There were many problems with the door seals and some other parts. After a lawsuit they did repair many thousand of them that were defective.

I don't care too much for CR either, but the Maytag fiasco is a matter of record. Do some Googling and you will see a lot of it.

[Travis Jordan]

What is there to not trust? The statistics on repairs come directly from their subscribers experiences.

[Commodore Joe Redcloud©]

I remember one test where they declared the best car stereo was the factory AM/FM Cassette unit that came in an AMC Hornet. It beat out Kenwood, Alpine and all the rest!!!

Another time they rated a VCR as the best, and rated another one as the worst. The "actual" only difference between the two units was cosmetics. They were internally identical units, off the same assembly line, from the same parent company. Some experts!

Commodore Joe Redcloud©

[Travis Jordan]

Well, that would have been their reporting 30 years ago and I suppose I wasn't as critical an audiophile back then either. (Actually, I don't recall ever seeing them rate car stereos. - Did car stereos exist in the early to mid 70s? - Alpine wasn't founded until 1978.....).

Citation, please?

[Commodore Joe Redcloud©]

This was around 1985-86 or so. I may be wrong on the exact model of AMC, but not that it was the factory radio in an AMC that was the top rated unit.

Oh, please! They produce bloopers like this all the time. Fortunately, they know that they have a steady supply of non-critical followers who will believe anything they print, just because "It sounds right".

The funniest story I ever read about Consumer Reports was from a man who took away his kid's favorite toy after Consumer Reports said it was flammable. The kid responded by putting a match to the old man''s copy of Consumer Reports.

Commodore Joe Redcloud©

[Art]

I agree that Maytag sucks but they actually took care of our Neptune problems and it is still going strong 8 years old.

[Art]

The Neptune had mildew problems. Even before they settled the suit and maybe before they were sued they came up with a free fix. They replaced the mildew prone parts with mildew replacement parts and added a venting seal and venting door panel. Fixed it great for free for me. But my Maytag dishwasher was pure crap and I dumped it after it broke 4 times in 2 years.

[Joseph Meehan]

Not to defend Maytag, I have also seen the loss of quality, but mine has a plastic switch as well, but in over 18 years it has never malfunctioned. The one I had before that was also plastic and it lasted at least ten years.

[Ignoramus20878]

Was the plunger also plastic (I assume that there is a plunger in your washer, that actuates the switch)?

i

[rider89]

hey travis, take it easy on the guy. Maybe he is a recovering CBS News producer.

bill

[marilyn]

The first time CR rated VCRs I bought their highly recommended cheap "tabletop" VCR with attached remote. My mom has it now, it still works fine, never needed a repair. But it weighs about 50 pounds. Those old VCR and tapes were heavy!

Marilyn

[Frank Boettcher]

I bought a Maytag top load washer about ten years ago (non neptune design). I did so after having a Whirlpool crap out completely (transmission) after four years. I was sold on the design difference in the transmissions. Back then all the other washer brands looked exactly the same when you turned them over. Maytag was clearly different and the stoutness of the design sold me. In that ten year period, I've had one problem. Guess what, that top door plunger/switch hangs up. I can live with/repair that to get a reasonable life out of a washer. It may be an indication that an engineer made a mistake on that component but it does not change the fact it is a better designed washer overall.

I also have a Neptune drier, four years old and it has been a dream.