New Washing Machine Required

Can't fault Miele appliances. You'll get a washing machine for that money. Ours was bought in 2000, never missed a beat. Family of five; sometimes on more than once a day.

Thanks DS, looking now..

Basic big Bosch. The cheapest model for the size you want. Less to go wrong on something that gets a hammering. Ours is just over ten years old (family of five) and it’s had a new belt and door seal which were easy and economical repairs.

Miele are ruddy good but at a price premium

I like Bosch as recommended by my local repair chap - he recons of the normal price stuff its the most reliable  Half your budget will get you one

Miele are built to last 20 years but high initial outlay. Currently have a Bosch one which is serving well. If you’re in a hard water area then I would probably buy Bosch/Siemens and expect to replace every 10 years - that way you get all new rather than clogged up Miele hanging on…. Otherwise if budget allows then Miele are undoubtedly the best.

Thanks people, off to look at Bosch:)

Bosch/Siemens/AEG all seem to use the same components internally whenever I've looked (same part numbers).  Have had them last over 10years and they work well.  As above Miele aim for 20years life but that doesn't necessarily mean they won't go wrong.  They do work very well though

Also have a look at Ebac, UK brand with long warranty and designed to be repaired, brought one last year and very pleased with it. Local appliances engineer also highly recommends Beco

Our LG is nearly 12 and apart from needing a new seal once when the old one developed a small hole has worked fine. We have 2 kids and it is on most days.
I chose it because it has a direct drive motor with an inverter, like modern industrial machinery, so has no drive belt or motor brushes by design so has fewer mechanical components to wear out.
It has a slightly larger diameter but shallower drum so doesn't need to spin quite so fast for the same drying effect.
My gamble has paid off so far and keeping my fingers crossed I haven't just jinxed it.
Had a second hand Bosch before and broke it changing brushes because a few drips of water got into the control panel when I tipped it on its side to get at the motor. Went it went to spin a loud bang and flash happened as the electronic panel blew. Oops!

I vote Bosch, they are fantastic value for how long they last (+12yrs currently).

Sort of related, my wife bakes for a charity that provides birthday cakes for kids who wouldn't otherwise get one. She's just been asked to bake one for a kid who really likes washing machines.

I'll third (or fourth?) Bosch.   Ours is still going strong after about 15 years so far!  Had to replace one water inlet valve at about 4 or 5 years I think.

Its had a hard life too, in use most days of the week.

Would also consider Ebac when this one dies, as I heard a few years ago that Bosch aren't built like they used to be.

Ebac also still makes machines with a hot water inlet - a rare thing these days.  Never really understood why most manufacturers stopped doing them?  Must be more economical to use pre-heated water than heating a drum full electrically on the fly?

Happy with Bosch but would look into Ebac too.

7-year parts and labour guarantee

Miele. The cheapest (well, least expensive)/base models are 100% fine. They have an outlet store in Abingdon (stock list available on-line) with some decent discounts, too, if you don't mind slightly scratched/dented/ex-demo.

(Our plumber recommended Beco for a cheaper machine, apparently they're the filter-down brand of Bosch, so you get older Bosch tech and build for a fair chunk less money.)

apparently they’re the filter-down brand of Bosch,

Don't think that's true. I thought Beko was a huge Turkish brand in their own right

Bosch here, had to get the water inlet valve replaced under warranty after 2 months . Other than that its been faultless

Our Samsung washing machine is now 15 years old. At the time I bought it as it was the cheapest washing machine with a 3 year warranty. I think at the time it was £300 against £1000+ for a Meile. I know for certain I will never spend Meile money for any white goods.

Thanks all, been checking reviews all evening.
Wife will have the deciding vote on drum size etc. Cant complain as its her that uses it mostly.
🙂

Beko always get good reviews in recent Which website/mag reviews and I note At least 2 above have said professionals have recommended them. I've got a Bosch which has been fine but if it failed tomorrow then it's probably a Beko replacement if the price is right. Also possibly I'd be looking for something that can work with a time of day tariff, by either from built in smart controls or more basically on/off from the plug.

Had a Bosch machine completely disintegrate when the metal casting housing the motor and drum broke and completely destroyed itself - not covered by any warranty even though it was only a few years old. Got a non-integrated Hotpoint based on AO reviews - it sits inside a cupboard so badge-snobbery is irrelevant.

I’ve always gone Bosch everything, haven’t been let down yet.

I particularly value the 14 min cycle (even though in reality it turns out to be 20 min) on mine, perfect for chucking in gym/cycling kit for a tiny load quick wash

+1 for Miele. Had a washer dryer of theirs for 20 years. 5 years into a new one and all good. That is an amazing life for a washer dryer. Also try online places like appliance city for big discounts on Miele kit.

our bosch is ancient and still going strong despite my best efforst to break it in new and interesting ways (setting it solid with soap flakes was a giggle)

BUT

For god sake before you naturally throw the instructions away find out how to turn off the *finished* alarm

Hiya,

I have been using Hotpoint's for a few years. If you look at the warranties alone they make sense.

JeZ

For god sake before you naturally throw the instructions away find out how to turn off the *finished* alarm

Please please tell me how to do this, it drives me insane. Once would be fine but the bloody thing just beeps and beeps endlessly.

But yeah I'll add a vote for Bosch. Ours is now 11 years old and the only thing replaced has been a door seal and that's just because it got a bit manky rather than failing. All of our other white goods are Bosch (dishwasher, tumble dryer, fridge/freezer). The only thing that has ever broken on any of them was something on the fridge which was causing everything to freeze, turned out to be something to do with a polystyrene thingy in the back which was fixed under warranty.

I have had a LG for about 12 years now, live in a very hard water area so use a descaler every few months.

For the beeps, find the model number inside the door and search it up with the words ‘finish beep’

Mine at https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/turn-off-the-end-of-cycle-alarm-for-bosch-waq283s0gb.340352/

Beko always get good reviews in recent Which website/mag reviews and I note At least 2 above have said professionals have recommended them.

I have 2 x Beko that I bought in 2018 for £220 each - no issues whatsoever. You could easily buy 3 within your budget and I'm struggling to see how one washing machine can be 4 x better than another!!

My feeling is that the added electronics in todays appliances make them shorter lived - the bosch dishwasher and washing machine I had previously both died from electronics failure.

our samsung ecobubble is 6 years now, its a good machine but we 90% use daily wash, the circuit board is known to start pausing mid cycle.. lots online, anyway thought i may need one soon. as it kept pausing/stopping in november decemeber
but ran a few dark wash / cotton wash cycles in recent weeks, and now daily wash works again..

plus with the ecobubble it feels like a ryanair on time arrival when its finished,

After Bosch machines that didn’t last as long as expected we bought an LG. Brushless motor with 10 year warranty and A+++ rating. It weighs the washing before adding water and adjusts the program accordingly. It’s been absolutely faultless despite me washing filthy work clothes, cycling gear and dog bedding. I clean the filter out every now and then when I remember - it plays a lovely little tune when it’s finished - once! Excellent results at 20 degrees. Hope this helps.

We had a Bosch from new (mid priced model) which did good service for probably about seven years or so before its bearings went, and I discovered the "sealed tub" design meant you couldn't replace the bearings for 50 notes or so but instead had to replace the whole sealed unit for something like the cost of a complete new machine.

So we ended up scrapping a mostly fine machine for no real reason. Soured me on Bosch a bit sadly ☹️. I appreciate we'd probably had our money's worth, in some sense, but that sort of designed obsolescence isn't tractable these days IMO.

Have since gotten a used Miele. It's a bit "well loved" and I've had to replace a brush on the motor twice but it's a lot easier to work on than the Bosch was, and the fact that it's designed for a 20 year life encourages me that it should be possible to fix for fair while to come.

Miele. Ours laster over 20 years and was only "retired" recently when the neighbours gave us their Samsung free as they were moving. I liked the robustness and design. They will all wash at 40C and spin at 1200 RPM. The technology is in the detergent. Buy one up from the base model.

I second the Abingdon outlet store. Ours came from there in about 1996 when we lived locally! It was serviced twice by a proper Miele engineer who said he had one customer with a 40 yo model still running.

our LG just spat a load of plastic into the filter after around 13 years of service.

I think it's the bearing and the back part of the drum that's gone, however, it's going to the recycling/fixers yard.

we've a hoover on it's way, it may not be as good, time will tell, but it met the relatively cheap/efficient requirements we have.

if it lasts 5-6 years I'll be happy.

Bosch.

That's us all the way. Almost all our kitchen whitegoods are Bosch. Had very good service, etc etc.

Siemens AEG seemed a little pricier last time I looked (although that was a fridge).

Caveat with Bosch... From memory:

Some Bosch are German made with good QC. Get one of these. Usually mid-tier upward, depends on what sort of unit, can't remember all the details, sorry.

Some (the cheaper tiers) are not. YMMV on those.

I would buy Indesit washing machines because they're cheap and they seem to last forever. On my second one in 24 years, but the first we only sold with the house because it was easier... At < £300 don't really fit your budget though 😉

I splashed out on a Miele.

It came with a full 10 year warranty.

It washes really well and is very efficient.

However, the touch screen display went after a year so not bomb proof.

If I had known about them at the time I might of went for an Ebac.

Why bother with Meile? There’s nothing in a modern LG machine that can’t be DIY’d in an afternoon.

Who wants to be using the same mouldy washing machine a decade from now? You’ll need to change door seals etc anyway.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lg-front-load-washing-machine-with-stain-care-white-4066194

Less than half the cost. ^^

@gooner69 As my comments above, ours is the LG 10.5 kg upgrade, identified with the rectangular filter door and the induction motor (10 year guarantee), which can be found in the post above from @Flaperon. It’s been faultless!

I just go for cheap ones, I've had 3 machines since 1991 a Candy lasted 12 years, hotpoint lasted 11 years and the latest is a beko which is currently 8 years old now all been heavily used.

Can't see the point of expensive ones, all mine have been 250-300 max, I just pick whatever is on offer with good reviews on AO or similar these days. Same for fridges and dishwashers. Never had a problem with any cheap white goods from Indesit, Hotpoint, LG, Beko or Candy

Siemens here. We are on our second one. First one lasted 11 years. Bought from a Euronics centre, life time call out and labour free, 5 year warranty from Siemens.

Same internally as a Bosch or AEG.

Someone mentioned AO earlier in thread. So we looked there and found a budget option that is reviewed really well onsite and at Good Housekeeping. Its a lot less than we could have spent so if it goes wrong after the warranty runs out (5yr labour 10yr parts) we can get it repaired/replace again.
I reckon the overall cost of these machines comes out at about £100 a year whatever you buy. Once you factor in servicing etc on the expensive ones.

I just bought a reduced F&P washer drier from a local supplier £750 (supposedly reduced from £1k), its amazing up to the total crap Samsung we had. Its so quiet, quick and sensible, like being able to open the door without switching it on (which doesnt sound much but it is, especially when the pooh washing machine then plays a 45 second tune at you because you need to switch it off, rather than say switching itself off!!).

The machine was a Fisher + Paykel WD8060P1 98136 Washer Dryer for £729 delivered.

Must be more economical to use pre-heated water than heating a drum full electrically on the fly?

Depends on; the temperature of your normal wash (a lot of folk use low temperatures with Bio powders), the run of pipe from your boiler to the machine, what the machine does with the cold water in the hot pipe before the hot water flows, whether you have solar heated water, how often you run boil washes, etc

Good summary article here:
https://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/cold-fill-verses-hot-fill-washing-machines/

I reckon the overall cost of these machines comes out at about £100 a year whatever you buy

Nah. If that was the case then my £200 machines should have died over 2 years ago!

Can’t see the point of expensive ones, all mine have been 250-300 max, I just pick whatever is on offer with good reviews on AO or similar these days. Same for fridges and dishwashers. Never had a problem with any cheap white goods from Indesit, Hotpoint, LG, Beko or Candy

That's kinda where I am at. We had the cheapest available Beko dishwasher and it failed after 3 years, got a second one and that lasted 5 years (imploded last week). Before that I had a Siemens and two Smegs and none of those lasted any more than about 4 years but cost significantly more.

I've had a Siemens (it's pretty much Bosch with bit better QC) i500 series washer-dryer for just over 5 years now. It serves my family of 4 very well. Really quiet. Very happy with it. If I was about to buy another one, definitely I'd consider Siemens again. There's a new WG44G290GB going on eBay now for £450.

Bought a new washing machine and fridge/freezer earlier this year. Just remember sorting by energy efficiency, and those with longest warranty. Ended up with Samsung for both.

Our Miele was marking the clothes after 15 years use (& 2 bearing changes).

So we bought an Ebac. A bottom hose elbow got nipped and it leaked a fair bit of water in the house before we noticed. Then a recirculating pump needed replaced as it was so noisy. All this was in the first year. With I'd just stumped up the cash for another Miele.

At the same time we also replaced our 15yr old Miele dryer with a Samsung heat pump one - again wish we hadn't, literally takes 3-4 hours to dry clothes, so if its a marathon wash day it cant keep up with the washer.

I don't buy the cheapest but usually next tier up - about £300 odd would be my expectation and the £100 a year absolutely doesn't mirror my experience. Seems to me they just get more complex, in the end it's a drum that goes round, sometimes fast for drying, and a programmer that we use about 5% of, we have a standard program, a hot one for towels, and a fast one for sports kit. And about 15 others with various button combinations to add to them - prewash, delays, etc. that are never used.

The Hoover-Candy we currently have has been going now for 8 or so years. Sadly i got duped into paying a service plan for it which while only a fiver a month, means that I've paid over £400 to 'insure' it. Then I had cause to use the service plan and they WERE AN ABSOLUTE BUNCH OF INCOMPETENT, I'D EVEN SAY LYING CHARLATANS. Engineers not arriving when they should, being told I'd cancelled the appointment, then when one came they did a 'fix' that then went wrong again 6 weeks later. Finally a decent engineer did come and told me what was wrong (float valve getting silted up with detergent and erm, maybe some MTB mud :oops:) but showed me how to fix it by taking a tube off and blow through but also to put a cleaner through every couple of months.

So i cancelled the service plan and vowed to never touch Hoover-Candy again. And it's now gone on for 18 months since without a murmur.

As we use the WM so much and the H-C service was so shit, the second time it went wrong I bought one off Facebook local for £30 that worked just fine while we waited for the repairman again. That now sits in the second shed and has replaced my insurance policy until the main one finally goes tits up.

Then my wife and i will have another argument in which my opening offer will be that the £30 back up is just fine, she'll want some fancy dan thing with a million programs and noises and lights, and we'll both settle on another £300 option. Which will not be a Hoover-Candy.

Our Miele dishwasher broke on its first day. Miele said they would come out in 2 weeks to fix it. Got AO.com to swap it for a Bosch which was £150 cheaper has proved to be very good a year on now. Very impressed with AO.com