How long should a washing machine last?

My eleven year old Hotpoint recently became very noisy. Other than that we had not had any problems with it so we replaced it with another Hotpoint. If I want the 1600 spin though, a wash takes over three hours! I used to get up in the morning, do a couple of washes and hang the washing out in the garden. I have to do the washing the night before now.

My Miele gave up the ghost after 9 and a half years, but I looked in the filing cabinet and found I had been offered a 10 year guarantee at a low cost, and had taken it out - what joy. The maintenance man had to put a new drum in, so since then it has had a new lease of life. He advised me to put their cleaning stuff through every few months. I did it last month, and the following week the stench was awful, so it must have dislodged months of abuse with liquid and capsule product! After a good physical clean out, the 90 deg wash with bio powder did the trick.

This has been a timely discussion for me! Just over 2 years ago I moved from a house to a flat and had a new kitchen installed - all new appliances. This week I received 5 separate letters inviting me to renew the insurance on each of them for 1 or 5 years. The total renewal fee for washing machine, dishwasher, hob, double oven and fridge freezer is around £660.00!! I was wondering which, if any, to renew insurance on- I certainly can't fund them all, but after reading all these responses, I'm inclined not to renew any insurances. After all, the machines are much less used now I am on my own and all their previous incarnations in the house were working well and were left for the new owners. And it seems that these days it is not too hard to find good engineers/mechanics,so I think I won't spend £660.00 that I haven't really got! I'm just afraid that s*d's law will operate and the week after an insurance expires, so will that appliance!
Hay-ho!

Blowden I remember how good the Maytag machine was at a residential home I worked at. I wanted to buy one as I had 4 children and washed tons of stuff. I was told by the service engineer that they could not be sold to the general public. I've missed out

We grans over 70 years of age will be saying, "yea, cheapest machine will do, so long as it outlasts me!!

Costco sell Maytag machines

why don't you put it onto your local freecycle web site so someone else gets the benefit

Or there may be a charity local to you which refurbishes goods to sell at low price to people on low incomes e.g. young people leaving care.

I agree with Glosgran. I'm just waiting for our Hotpoint to die so I can invest in a Miele. Probably the last one we'll ever buy (!). They offer a 10-year guarantee just now, of course many brands last that long without a guarantee. I have a Miele hoover which has a long guarantee as well (think it's also 10 years). Sturdy stuff.

Smelly machine advice:

Once a month, use Ariel biological powder & run the hottest wash your machine does. Way more effective than the specialised machine cleaners, & cheaper too.

In between every wash you do, leave the washer door open.
This has solved the problem for me

As I said earlier, you do not need use to use expensive branded products. Bottom shelf, 'value', 'supersaver' will do as well. In fact, my washing machine engineer said the cheaper the better. The cheap ones don't have softeners and fragrances etc which prevent the cleaner doing a good job.

When my children were still quite small and I had to call the washing machine engineer out for the umpteenth time he gave me the following advice. Washing machines are built to last 5-10 years, whether they're cheap or expensive. (And that's 20+ years ago). No one ever uses more than a few programmes so there's no point in buying an all singing all dancing machine, buy a fairly cheap one, buy a 5 year extended warranty (a lot of machines might come with this as standard now anyway) and be prepared to replace it after that. Any extra trouble free years are a bonus. I took his advice and never spend more than £250 on a machine, even now.

My philosophy too nightowl, I always buy the cheapest, most basic model as I presume there would be less to go wrong- and my current Hotpoint is 9 years old and going strong.
I can't see the point of umpteen programmes and choices, all I want is clean washing!

I do a 'cleaning' wash every couple of months, leave the drawer and door open and never overload the drum.....fingers crossed that keeps it going for a good while yet?

I inherited my mother's Bosch in 2000 when it was already two years old. It only died last year so that's 18 years we used it. It saw very heavy use before ds left home and ran every day with sweaty gym kit or horrendously muddy rugby kit. It's been replaced by another Bosch.

My washing machine has just given up the ghost after only 2 years ... the engineer stated that it was the module that was faulty and is out of guarantee. I did some searching around and most comments were that it should have lasted longer, even up to 13 years ... www.ransomspares.co.uk/blog/news/how-long-should-appliances-last.htm ... they don't make them like they used to that's for sure!

img1970
You can buy most modules on eBay. Not expensive and very simple to instal.

Doesn't it depend also on how often you use it?

Modern machines use cold water fill so take much longer than the old hot fill ones.
Leave the door open after use to avoid smells.
My last Hotpoint was fifteen but new ones don’t last long . My daughters with families buy the cheapest because more expensive ones don’t last any longer.(Not talking about the £1000 Miele ones)

My previous washing machine was 20 years old when I gave it away, still in full working order. I do hope this one lasts as it is integrated into units and will be the very devil to shift. I only use it every ten days so.

Over the years my washing machines always lasted 6 years, except my last one which was more expensive and had a 5 year guarantee - that was an LG which lasted 11 years. I have another expensive one now in the hope it lasts as well. I'm amazed at all these posters whose machines last so long.

I "inherited" my mothers washing machine when we were clearing her house.
In all that had lasted 14 yrs. It was a Zannusi .

My Bosch machine it's about 8 yrs old, it's not smelly but there is sometimes mould on the rubber seal so I spray this. Occasionally do a high temperature wash just with bleach and clean the filter also when I think about it.
It was very inexpensive about £200 so am well pleased with the time I have had it without any need for repairs.
What would we do without washing machines, I remember years ago I had a twin tub thought it was the bees knees.

My twenty year old machine was Zannusi, they really were good machines and hot and cold fill.

I am fed up with trying to get washing dry in the winter, so although my Bosch washing machine is still going strong after 12 years, a great machine, and we have no room to put on a tumble dryer, so thinking about a combined washer dryer. Would be interested to know, how others have got on with these, appreciate any comments.

I’ve always had a combined washer dryer, but use the dryer very little. If weather is fine, I hang washing outside, but if it comes in a bit damp, I can finish in the dryer. The drum is smaller than a dedicated dryer so it only takes about half the load. If you were trying to dry a full wash from wet, it would take quite a while.
We’re lucky to have room for one of those old fashioned clothes airer, that you pull up to the ceiling on a pulley, so that’s used in winter. Only downside is that it’s on same side of kitchen as cooler, so clothes can pick up smell of frying!