I like a washing machine you can actually choose the water level and temperature. Got a Speed Queen last year that replaced a crappy Samsung. Only 30 minutes for a complete cycle and very happy with this machine. A little noisy but built like a tank!
1 Like
Of course Mieleâs have a 10 year guarantee. It doesnât take more than 20 secs to check that out.
Bought a Miele about 3 years ago ( yes with a 10 year guarantee) and itâs built superbly. The gentle Washing performance is where it really shines for me. Silent too, so much so, you have to watch it at the start to make sure itâs turning, as you canât hear it.
2 Likes
Another Miele washing machine and dishwasher owner here with no complaints. I wouldnât recommend the combined washer-dryers though: the bearing life is reduced by their being dual purpose.
I bought a Siemens washer 6 years ago, aiming for that sweet spot between not too pricey and not at the economy end of the market. Iâd rather pay a bit less and potentially have buy a new one in a few years than pay top dollar and hope it lasts twice as long.
Priority at the time was load size as we had 2 young lads in the house then. Itâs only needed looking at twice, both times were when it stopped draining after the spin cycle. Both were relatively easy fixes, one was the drain pipe getting blocked with residue due to a slight kink that allowed a blockage to develop, the other was a 2p coin that managed to work its way all the way to the drain pump inlet and which perfectly fitted the pump inlet diameter. Both were DIY fixes - thatâs another thing to look for: are the inner workings relatively accessible?
I would also say Miele BUT with a caveat. We had ours for over 13 years and it was still going strong. However SWMBO demanded it was replaced and the reasons were it was so out of date. You may laugh but, compared to more modern models, the load was small, the spin was slow and the water/energy was higher. So although there was nothing wrong with the machine, and it looked like new with perfect paint and zero rust, it was replaced by something without Miele written on it (Siemens). A shame really because I like to buy a product and not have to think about it ever again i.e. just use it and not have to worry about breakdowns or faults.
1 Like
The mention of perfect paintwork reminds me of the day we bought our Miele. The salesman, possibly the most enthusiastic Iâve ever met, took out a 50p piece and attempted to scratch the fascia of the demo model on the showroom floor, without success. He then gave my wife the coin, asked her to try and told her if she succeeded heâd give us another 25% discount! She failed, as did I - 14 years on the paintwork is still perfect, having survived a house move and two kitchen refits.
1 Like
You have me worried now, when you say cheap stuff rebadged, are these made under licence from Miele? Seems odd theyâd allow inferior products to be sold which would potentially damage their brand
1 Like
I have mostly had middle to top of the range Zanussi and Hotpoints machines that were reliable for around 7 to 10 years each then died. Recently got a Siemens, well a little over a year ago as it was on special offer, think it was last year model. I am really happy with it, washes really well and has a massive 8kg load capacity, eco mode etc.
After many happy and reliable years with Bosch washing machines, my wife decided to buy one from Samsung just a few months ago. All went very well until a couple of weeks ago when on the spin cycle it got down to 9 minutes and stopped. She repeated the whole cycle and once again it stopped at 9 minutes. With my usual technological competence, I suggested she powered the whole thing down and restart. We went out for a while and came back to a fully finished cycle, and thankfully no problems since.
However, what was really concerning was that this all happened after the Coronavirus shutdown had started and even though it is fully guaranteed we had probably no chance of getting a service engineer to come and fix it which would have been really catastrophic.
My machine before my current Bosch was a Zanussi, which lasted about 25 years, with the only fault a water pump that I replaced myself at about 20 years (and cost about ÂŁ10 or ÂŁ15). Only replaced the machine when we did because we wanted something with a faster spin (spin speed of the ~1977 machine was only about 5 or 600rpm) - but didnât consider Zanussi at that point because it had become part of Electrolux.
Have had 3 Miele devices over last 12 years or so.
Top of doemstic range 1800 spin direct drive washing machine with 10 year warranty became very noisy in year 11 last year and âwent bangâ with smoke on spin a few days later , the door seal was starting to perish a bit high up prior to this - numerous settings/controls/fine tuning of programmes, really liked it while it lasted but the loud bang suggested it would not be worth repairing.
Top of domestic range Miele condenser dryerpurchased at the same time with 5 year warranty - the âhoneycomb drumâ on both seemed to be kind to clothes and they came out very soft, much better than older budget vented/condenser dryers. Just out of warranty the seals on the condenser unit failed allowing water to leak as they were not springy enough to maintain the seal. ÂŁ200+ for a new condenser âboxâ. Again out of warranty it started making an awful grinding noise. ÂŁ300+ to fix some worn carbon bushes or something. Currently using a Beko which cost a quarter of the price or less and seems to work almost as well as the Miele.
Mid level Miele dishwasher - nicer than the Bosch it replaced, but a component with a ball valve failed preventing water reaching the washer arms, got a new part from Amazon and fitted myself. A few weeks later it sprang a progressive leak soaking the kitchen floor - gave up on it - even the fancy âleakproofâ water hose didnât stop that.
While I liked all the Miele devices, and they got a hammering with a young family, Iâm not sure the longevity is all itâs made out to be without costly servicing/replacement parts.
When the washer died I picked up a Samsung that Mrs AC liked in Currys. It looks modern has a variety of programmes, but lacks the fine customisation the Miele had. It takes an 8kg load not 6kg however - machines seem to have moved on from 6kg max loads. It makes an irritating noise at the end playing a monophonic version of âThe Troutâ I think. Itâs level, was initially quiet but within days became very noisy. Not sure Iâd get a Samsung again but it was in stock in store and satisfied several criteria.
Miele no question. Expected 25 year life time.
I may have had a bad run with them, and the 20+ year expected lifetime was a big attraction, but only the ÂŁ1000+ tumble dryer has lasted more than 11 years and has cost over ÂŁ500 to maintain.
Would definitely buy a Miele washing machine again though - not sure about a dishwasher as dishes never dried properly due to the drying system- maybe thatâs better these days - older Bosch machines always dried properly.
We only got the Samsung as we needed a machine straight away and it was the best of the in-store stock in terms of features/price, weight for carriage in the car and the fact Mrs AC preferred it to other in-stock items. It has a 5 year warranty, but even if it only lasts a year it does the job in hand of washing clothes for now.
1 Like
Ours always goes on overnight; put it on a 3 hour delay last thing at night and wake up to it all being clean dry and still vaguely warm. If we run it in the daytime itâs so hot on completion that everything dries fairly quickly anyway. Last time the d/washer needed replacing drying was one of the functions that the sales people pushed, but itâs never been an issue tbh. Itâs a NEFF, fwiw.
1 Like
Ensure you check dimensions as there is some variability.
As most manufacturers have manuals online, when youâve narrowed it down check the manuals.
Some machines tout 15-20 minute rapid washes however this may be cold or at low temperatures and may not get the job done.
Options such as short washes, higher water level, delay timers can be very helpful as can a range of wash temperatures - our Samsung is far more limited than the older Miele in terms of such features, but equally seems to adjust programme time as needed for longer running ones.
In addition, many shorter progrrammes often have caveats such as half loads or less - so although our Samsung has a âDaily Washâ of around 60 minutes the manual specifies 4kg load only not the full 8kg - I donât know anyone who weighs their clothes prior to washing! This may just be optimal for the programme results, but makes you wary of putting too much in. I suspect other brands have similar caveats for different programmes - do these weight limits matter apart from washing performance?
This all sounds rather obvious perhaps but a fairly rapid wash for lightly soiled items allowing good to full capacity is very desirable for us with youngsters as the machine is usually on at least twice a day.
Oh, and finally noise - depending where your machine is located this can be very important and you may wish youâd gone for a different machine if you get one thatâs very noisy - our old Miele was very quiet, it got slowly worse over time I suspect and why we didnât notice something wasnât right until just before it died.
Currently the cheapest Miele at Currys with a 10 year warranty is ÂŁ1199, the rest are 2 or 5 years. We went for an LG, cost about ÂŁ500 inc disposal of old oneâŚhas a 10 year warranty on the inverter. I am sure Miele machines are good, but i can get two LG washers and still have ÂŁ200 left in my pocketâŚyou pay for their warranty one way or another. Life is full of choices. We have a Miele combination microwave its is over 10 years oldâŚso i have no axe to grind against Miele in general.
1 Like
One thing I find bemusing is the number of wash programmes avsilable on many machines.
99% ((estimat!) of washes in my house are done on shortest programme at 30C, and work perfectly. The other 1% are hotter wash for occasional need. Other than that the separate rinse and/of spin cycles are sometimes used for odd things. The prewash has only been used possibly less than half a dozen times.
My previous Zanussi much the same : out of its 24 or whatever programmes, only about 3 ever used, and 99% using its âdelicatesâ cycle.
Does anyone else use more, or is the number of programmes just a sales gimmick?
We use a couple, but no more. The basic innards of the machine for a brand are probably the same for the weight of washing. The number of programs are an up sell?
I always thought it would be good to have a programmable machine where you could simply set duration, water temp and spin speed and then store this as a preset, on my Miele the cycles are unnecessarily long and have little flexibility, for instance the short cycle defaults to a lower spin speed and you canât change it.
Mrs McFaddon and I have an AEG washer dryer for the last 5 years. Nice big 9kg load, really quiet and came with a 5 year warranty. Just the right amount of wash programs including a very useful steam setting for really creased clothes or to freshen stuff up. Used about twice a week and never given us any problems.