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