Parts warranty?

In the US, we had a large-ish front-loading Samsung, and it never had a problem except for one dead blue LED. We owned it for years, and gave it to our neighbour when we pulled out and came home to Blighty.

Not necessarily washing machines, but long warranties on other goods are often dependant on being annually serviced or inspected by an "approved" trades person or dealer.

Items such as mattresses have conditions such as they must be rotated/flipped and completely aired each week/month. Plus, after a few years it's a diminishing discount off a new product at recommended selling price.

My machine's drum, of course, is one where the bearing is integral to the drum. No chance of removing and replacing it unless I teach myself welding. A new drum (with bearing!) is £200.

I have checked the Hotpoint Warranty and it specifically states that I need to use Hotpoint Service, at a 2016 rate of £110 per hour. Goodness knows what that is now.

I must conclude that I will be buying a new machine. I think that Hotpoint/Indesit will be bottom of my list of candidates. I wonder how long this bearing will last...

In fact, £109.99, it says! But that was in 2016.

Yes, I had a drum replaced on a Hotpoint some years ago. About £130 for the part, but £98 for the fixed proce repair (back then).

My figure is from last week!

Ah. I have my repairs done by a good small local company. They quoted approx. £200 for the drum, from Hotpoint, but their fixed repair cost would have been only £65. I'll be looking at Miele, Bosch, etc for the replacement.

So basically, £110 to £120 in 6 years. Could be worse.

The second time the bearing failed (just over a year later) I said sod it.

Bought a Bosch. The only thing I've had to replace is the pump, and that's because the filter cover jammed due to a lump of scale. I've refurbished the old pump as a spare. The dryer hasn't needed anything although I needed to clean a sensor once. And I also had to buy a cover for a non- replaceable inspection panel over the heat exchanger, but that was cheap.

I looked at Miele, Bosch and Samsung last night. Bosch and Samsung are both available for about £450 -£500, affordable. Miele are £700, not worth the extra money for my fairly limited use, (I live alone after my wife died last summer) although I would love one. We had a Samsung in the US, and it was great, so I like them. Thus it's down to Bosch or Miele. Next decision: Do I wait until I'm doing a wash and the bearing fails mid-wash, then order the new machine? AO deliver pretty quickly. Or bite the bullet and get it now, and wonder for ever if it would have lasted another 6 months before croaking? Life is so complcated!

I recently came across this video:

1. KitchenAid - 10.5% of sales needing service in the first year
2. Thermador 10.2%
3. GE Appliances 10.1%
4. Gaggenau 9.9% (Bosch brand)
5. Signature Ktichen Suite (LG brand) 9.3%
6. Miele 9.2%
7. Speed Queen (a 'don't make 'em like they used to' design) 8.9%
8. Bosch 8.7%
9. Maytag 7.4%
10. LG Studio 7.4%
11. GE Profile 6.8%
12. LG Electronics 4.4%

The 2022 numbers are here:

(worth watching the videos as certain categories within a brand have much different percentages)

I was interested to see LG came top - not a brand I would have considered. Not sure how good their parts/service availability is.

If you aren't in urgent need of a machine, one thing to consider is a used machine. Maybe you can keep your eyes open and pick up a fancy machine that's maybe a year old for less money, and still have warranty. For that, unless buying from a dealer, transport/installation then becomes your problem.

Theo

My one experience with an LG product was that it was basically useless at what it was supposed to do, so from an admittedly small sample, I ignore the brand now.

I don't see Samsung in your list. Do they not sell in the US now?

I am surprised that Miele are not higher, their reputation is excellent.

Apart from my car, I don't in general like buying used equipment, on the basis that it might well have been abused in its previous ownership.

These are just my personal beliefs and experiences.

An appliance, or something else (like a TV or a phone)? For mega-brands I don't think it's useful to compare across categories. Miele don't make phones, so nobody can have bad experience of a Miele phone. Samsung make ships, but I wouldn't buy one based on the quality of their toasters.

A comment on the video:

Morton Hamlette: I like Samsung Appliances Yale Appliance: so do i...when they work

(they don't sell Samsung. This may be a reason why)

That's why it's interesting to see data: 'beliefs and experiences' go a long way, but at the end of the day they're mostly beliefs, because few of us have had enough experience for it to be statistically valid.

Theo

Worth keeping an eye on the Miele Outlet

Jim

in the "Which?" survey of w/m reliability in the first 7 years Miele come second (to John Lewis own brand which are cheaper). But of course the survey ain't a representative sample of all users; and I've long wondered how much reliability depends on use & abuse.

Something purchased a decade ago and is still working doesn't mean that the products produced today by the same company name are the same quality.

You also have to know who makes the John Lewis machines and if John Lewis have changed suppliers in the past few years?

It's rather like some of the High Street (and on-line) retailers that now own the brand names of some highly respected companies of the past but now just badge engineer that brand onto something purchased from a no-name third party.

Thanks for that. Now I have to match the part numbers with a device...

That's uncommon, usually they get more noisy, don't usually just seize up solid.