Congrats on the nuptuals Maroon- stay away from MAYTAG....the engineers at Maytag were smoking crack when they went into the drawing rooom. Computer chips are very bad, can't get parts from local people. My stepmother had holiday dinner for 15 people planned two years back when all of a sudden the night before the Maytag oven starts flashing this warning message :" Your oven will not work contact an authorized repairman right away, back away from the oven...anyway it was something like out of a Tim Burton movie...all the surrounding neighbors helped and had a dish cooking in their ovens...pretty funny actually. Another friend had a dishwasher and oven installed by Maytag and same problem. I have Whirlpool appliances and they are still working after 15 years, Kenmore is very good too and they have service contracts etc. There is always the stone-n-water method....

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Just a friendly reminder to change the flexible water hoses on the washer. I had one pop a few years ago, without warning, in the middle of the night. It's a good thing I was home.

That's a good reminder. Anything over 5 years and you're on borrowed time.

I recently bought the braided stainless lines to provide some additional protection at the rentals.

Naturally, the supply lines should only be open when the machine is running............but who bothers to do that chore anymore...........

A childhood friend uses a old claw foot bathtub to do his laundry in. He builds a fire under it to heat the water and washes his clothes by hand. He claims that it also doubles as a "redneck" hot tub. I thought I was "old school" but that's pretty hard core.

We have the Whirlpool duet front loader W/D line...no probs. Sears priced-matched the local Lowe's "blowout appliance sale" that year, and we got the set for about what ONE unit would have cost! Good thing...we did the transaction at an out-of-town Sears, where our disabled ML was getting a new fuel pump and MAS ($$$$)

I hear ya on the crappy stuff otherwise...I stay away from Craftsman gear for the same reasons. Had a leaf blower and trimmer fail within a year due to sheared intake/exhaust bolts. The mower lasted two years before it became unstartable. I ended up buying el-cheapo mowers and gear from the hardware stores expecting the same results, but they are still going strong...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Fisher Paykel.

Don't let this get out but Mistress Heather still hand washes her linen shirts and before ironing them I sprinkle them with water, wad them up and stick them in the refridgerator before ironing. I use Viagra, oops I mean Niagra heavy startch for all those hard to starch linens...

p.s. ask your friend if the toe nails on the clawed tub are painted? something funny about anothropomorphic household items.

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I was over at his house yesterday and took another look at it. The toe nails are not painted and have sunk into the sand. I think the one in the house has nickel plated feet. It's really a shame that he ruined a claw foot tub, they are hard to find today, but to each his own.

Seems like since the Chinese bought Maytag it's gone to the crapper!

__________________
1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

Me too. However, we just had our boards replaced due to an electronic failure. The technician said that he does not recommend any front-loading washer, exception being the commercial ones, due to the frequency of failure with the "boards." He did say that, of the front-load non-commercial washers, the Whirlpool Duet was the most reliable.

this is what we bought (washer only) about a year go. It's a fantastic machine. Wished we had upgraded long ago. I think we paid about $1300 for it. Reduction in water consumption is pretty dramatic.

I have a friend that has one and uses it for a rakku pottery kiln, and every June I cook a 1100120# split hog in it You wouldn't consider that ruining, would you?

I bought a FP two drawer dish washer last year for the Cottage. The interior parts are very, very flimsy and cheap, although no problems yet. The commercial Kitchen Aide I got for the house is all stainless inside (lined and racks)and indestructible. I think I got close to the first year of manufacture on the FP. Didn't know they made clothes washers.

Our scratch and dent Kenmore washer and dryer that we bought 10 years ago finally went. I did some research and subscribed to Consumer Reports for one month so I can see their latest tests. A few months ago they rated the Kenmor HE2 as a best buy.

I went to the Sears surplus store and picked up a scratch and dent set for $1,300 including sales tax. We have had them for 4 months now and they are working great. I also like that there is nothing on the top of them so they can be mounted undercounter, and you can use the counter for folding.

I also did an analysis based on the labels for energy consumption and figured that in year 6 the washer and dryer will pay for themselves in the energy savings and that by year 7 I will save money over what it cost me to run the old washer and dryer. Another thing that helped me is that we had an electric dryer, but the new one is gas, which is cheaper to run than an electric dryer.

If you don't mind a little defect in the appearance, then you can save some cash by purchasing a scratch and dent. Also keep in mind that they are made by Whirlpool not Sears. The appliances are great, but the service I got from Sears sucked. However, they were amazed when I stuck the two of them in the back of my TD and drove away. The salesman said they would never fit, but I had measured ahead of time.

__________________
Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI

I own a Kenmore Elite HE4 washer & dryer, it is the same as the Whirlpool Duet but with a Kenmore name. I am very impressed with the quality and the little amount of water that the washer uses.

Our washer & dryer average 2 loads per day during the week and 4 loads during the weekend. The washer & dryer performed flawlessly until this weekend the dryer started acting up. I believe that there is a flakey button on the keyboard. Since the problem is intermittent I will have to wait until it happens continuous to be able to troubleshoot.

Due to the complexity of the various cycles there are computers running the machines unlike the old days when you had relays and timers. I strongly recommend surge suppressors to help protect the sensitive electronics.

My wife likes the Kenmore washer & dryer because the kids do their own laundry since it is so simple to use. You just press a button based on the type of clothes (normal, heavy duty, whites, etc.) and the machine automatically adjusts the water temp, spin speed, number of rinses, etc. Because the washer has a maximum spin speed of 1300 rpm it is critical to have a sturdy subfloor and have it leveled correctly. It still does vibrate when it ramps up to speed. Overall it is much quiter then my old top loader.

I also read (from repair techs) that LG makes a decent front loader.

__________________
Ray
1998 Mercedes E320, 200K Miles
2001 Acura 3.2TL, 178K Miles
1992 Chevy Astro, 205K Miles