So we're still a few months from moving and finally buying a washer & dryer. Just doing our research in advance. We found a local Sears Outlet Store with the dinged, scratched & refurbs.. Saw a few really nice Maytag, Whirlpool, GE, Kenmore front-loading washers at great prices.. Six of one...... They also had a few Fisher & Paykel washers & dryers but what was really attractive was a F&P electric dryer for $302...

I found a bunch or horrendous reviews on the F&P tho.. Among them were pretty much every appliance they offer. One guy had dryer issues, bought a "new" house that had everything F&P, and within 18 months, every one of them had some sort of failure.. Anyone with F&P experience ?

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/fisher_paykel.html

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Sharing my partner's 2012 Forte 5dr SX til I find my next 123 or 126..
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Do I miss being a service advisor ???

I've two F&P washers - GW11's. Bought the second one after owning the first for about a year, and being quite satisfied with it at the time.

Now - I'd almost give them both away. They've both failed in the same manner, and are a complete PITA.

The pump, while easy to replace, lasts about 2 years and costs over $100...I've replaced it twice on both units.

However, my biggest complaint - they go out of balance during spin if you look at them wrong. No, there's no leveling issue, nor a loading mistake. Both were fine for about 2 years - but now, we can't get anywhere near a full load without triggering the problem, even with a reduced spin speed.

So, my opinion - they suck.

The seem kinda quirky and different. I was considering the washer for its high spin speed which puts a smaller load on the dryer. But you don't want an appliance to become a high maintenance PITA, and as said previously they don't have a stellar record.

Check out Speed Queen. They make commercial grade stuff for home use.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

I would add to that, stay away from Maytag, too. They've been trading on a good name and reputation for a long time since they've done anything to deserve either. I bbought a bunch of Maytag appliances including a washer & dryer, stove, and dish washer. Everyone of them was a piece of crap. Their dealer was not too helpful either.

Next time around it's KitchenAid for me. Whirlpool has always been pretty good, too. I know they used to make Sears' Kenmore refrigerators for them back when I worked in their factory during college. I never heard of F&P until just recently.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Very true...when a load works at high speed spin, drying time is significantly reduced. When new, that was a great benefit. Now that we have the balance issue on both of them, we've been reducing the spin speed setting on all but the lightest loads.

However, the high spin speed presents another problem for many people - noise. It's insanely loud when going full tilt - sounds like a jet engine.

One of ours is in a single level home, in the garage. Noise isn't a huge issue with that one, as none of the living areas are anywhere near it.

The other one is also in a garage, but the entire living area is above it on the second floor. You can hear the thing throughout the entire house when the spin speed cranks up.

If I had inside laundry, the noise alone would be reason enough for me to avoid it - even if I hadn't had all the mechanical failures.

I picked up a BOSCH washer and dryer at Lowes during some type of sale. Not only was there a sale on but BOSCH had some pretty good rebates going, too. Bottom line: Between rebates and sale prices and using the Lowes credit card the dryer cost was covered.

After four years not one bit of trouble. None. And the washer is so silent you have to stand next to it to hear it running.

Lowes also has floor sample sales. Tell one of the salespeople there to call you when a BOSCH unit comes up.

Maytag washers will last about seven or eight years, at least mine did. But when it comes time for repairs, and I mean almost any involving the drive unit or transmission, you need a lot of special tools. It was cheaper to just throw it away and start over.

F &P: a cross between GE and frigidare= junk

Maytag: Now made by Whirlpool = decent

amana, magic chef, norge, etc. made by magic chef= junk

kenmore: made by various companies= hit or miss

whirlpool, roper, estate, inglis, kitchen aid, kenmore, = ALL made by whirlpool
decent

Ge, rca= GE Good on refs and stoves, not so much on the washer/dryer

LG is a very good brand, but very expensive to fix. The washers have a built-in generator. Its kinda cool if you go to the store and give the basket a spin and seee the controls light up.

I have been in the used appliance business for almost 10 years now. My general rule of thumb, if I get a lot of any specific brand/build, its probably junk.

Ive only seen 5 whirlpool duets, 2 LGs, hundreds of samsungs (refs only)

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

I dont know much about their front loads, but the speed top load washers are known for a spin bearing failure, which make the machine sound like a freight train. otherwise, solid machine.

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

Kenmore washers & Dryers are built by White Westinghiouse/Frigidaire now owned by Electrolux.

Stay away from the high end line, they are crap-the 1st repair will be at 23 months (drum rear bearing) then the controller or burner unit. Poor quality design in the Dryer sucks lint into the chassis near the heating element (read FIRE) and next thing you know you have a slow smouldering fire 2 to 3 hours aftyer the last use.

Go for the Gallery line (Front loader washer/dryer stack unit only in basic white) as they use the same design from the 70's which is quite easy to service.

Problem with all of them is the parts manufacture is now in China so fit/quality is garbage. I have seen bearings pressed into cuos that are not even close to round, torn seals glued back together and installed anyway, duct type tape used where metal tape is required (burner chimney).

In the washers, they do not drain fully if the drain hose is anywhere above 1/2 height of the washer (used to be they would pump up 6 feet) and the water pumps are known for burning out bearings in 18 months (again-poor design/manufacture and its a frigging SEALED unit unlike the older serviceable pump).

Plus they made all the fitttings metric or NPT so NONE of the old pumps will fit the new washers (even thought its the same basic design).

My advice is A) Go basic-no frills or gew gahs (steam cleaning cycle, 28
different cycles, etc)
B) Consider buying a used older machine that you can fix
cheaply (hey its easier than doing a belt change on an
E320)
C) Buy a washer/dryer from an indy appliance repair place.
Most of the smaller guys take machiones in trade, fix 'em
up and sell 'em at 1/3rd the cost of new.

The newer LG's, the series that is ~$1100 at Lowes has an unmentioned problem of being used in a utility room. In areas where it freezes, the control unit will blow as you try to use it from ice melting over the electronics.

Repair cost is about $200.


Another unmentioned source is amazingly ... yard sales.
I bought a Maytag after the seller hooked it up and proved it worked ok for $25. It did quite well for about 6 years.

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

I own a set of Maytag HE W&D units. They are built by Whirlpool now and the units I have are the equivalent of Whirlpool Duet Sport models. They work very nicely but were not cheap, I think $1500 for the set. There is an actual difference in how clean the clothes are compared to an topload setup. Once you have the HE units you will understand. They just work very well. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

'Got a pair of OLD Kenmores, 20 years+ ...Had to put a new motor in the dryer 3 years ago...Had to put new fingers on the top part of the washer agitator lastyear. Other than that ,No maintenance. (Yet)

Opinion around the Firesides of appliance repair shops...Alle De new "Stuff" is ChiCom Junk.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

I got a new Whirlpool Duet set a couple months back, and am happy with it for the most part. Very high spin speed, but still quiet, and uses next to no water, unlike my old Frigidaire toploader. I spent the extra for the larger set, and am getting ready to stack them once I move the hookups.
I'm glad to finally be away from top loaders, they are cheap junk regardless of who made them.

I am 2 years into enjoying my Bosch set... After buying the dishwasher, I was impressed enough to buy into their laundry machines (our Asko machines were too small) So far, so good.

I would stay away from Maytag... As has been posted, they were sold, and the new owners are killing the quality while selling the name.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

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You'll find good and bad reviews online for every major appliance brand. I find they're no help at all. We've had an FP dryer for three months and love it. Very quiet, dries VERY fast. It has an interesting control board which appears electronic but is actually electromechanical. What sold be on it is the entire board is easy to remove if necessary and the part is only a hundred bucks. Now that the energy star rebates have kicked in, we're going to buy their high-spin washer with 200 bucks off. The washer has a total of THREE moving parts, and is one of very few toploaders that's actually energystar rated. They also have a top loading DRYER that's pretty interesting, but we bought the conventional front loader. They only come in white, so if your spouse is the kind who needs a showoff automotive paint job on her appliances, forget it.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting