New front loading washing machine - Standouts or ones to avoid?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › New front loading washing machine - Standouts or ones to avoid?

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354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3027535 26-Jan-2023 14:49

I've had an LG direct drive washing machine for just over 7 years. I've had no issues, and it's still working well.

The only minor issue has been a purely cosmetic one - some of the white painted coating on the front around the dispensing drawer started to peel off after about 3/4 years.

FineWine

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Nurse (R)

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#3027546 26-Jan-2023 15:14

Very happy owners of Samsung 9.5Kg Front Load Washing Machine WW95T754DBT and Samsung 9.0Kg Heat Pump Dryer model DV90T7440BT.

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=300685&page_no=2#3011331

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

johno1234

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#3027548 26-Jan-2023 15:15

Seriously folks. The last person to take advice from is the salesperson at <your appliance retailer here>. They don't care which is best - they care about which brand is most profitable to sell. The second to last person is someone here with anecdote based evidence.

If you are about to spend some money, ask an independent appliance repairman, or buy the Consumer report.

lchiu7

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#3027560 26-Jan-2023 15:52

Full disclaimer - I don't have one but this is a pretty good deal

https://tradedepot.co.nz/midea-washing-machine-front-load-8kg/

I only mention this because I bought a Midea heat pump drier from them and it cost $99 to ship to Wellington but was still a good deal. And I am very happy with it.

If you live in Auckland or Christchurch you can go directly to the Midea store and pick up

https://www.mideashop.co.nz/products/midea-10-0kg-steam-wash-front-load-titanium-washing-machine-with-wi-fi

CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#3027570 26-Jan-2023 16:08

johno1234:

Seriously folks. The last person to take advice from is the salesperson at <your appliance retailer here>. They don't care which is best - they care about which brand is most profitable to sell. The second to last person is someone here with anecdote based evidence.

If you are about to spend some money, ask an independent appliance repairman, or buy the Consumer report.

I disagree. A salesperson can be an excellent source of information. They can be aware of the differences between models, varying levels of support from suppliers, returns and satisfaction rates etc... You dont take everything they say as gospel but they can be a decent data point when decision making. And if you just get an overly "salesy"-person who just wants to read the pamphlet at you weight their opinions low and purchase somewhere else.

Likewise I would hardly call peoples first hand experience here annecdotal. Like everything you take opinions with pinch of salt but there is plenty of valuable data to be gleaned. Comments without context "brand X sucks, brand Y rules" are fairly low value but already in this thread there is plenty descriptive commentary which is valuable for decision making.

An independent repairman is a good source, but difficult to find ones without bias. As for consumer report, lol, I dont think I've ever taken anything of value from it. Numerical scores derived from arbitrary "testing" and minimal comments.

Its just like getting advice from people on here about concrete driveways, phone plans, solar panels, computers, cars... Its all useful, just dont necessarily take any of it as statistical truth :)

Stu1

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#3027579 26-Jan-2023 17:12

CrazyM:
johno1234:

Seriously folks. The last person to take advice from is the salesperson at <your appliance retailer here>. They don't care which is best - they care about which brand is most profitable to sell. The second to last person is someone here with anecdote based evidence.

If you are about to spend some money, ask an independent appliance repairman, or buy the Consumer report.

I disagree. A salesperson can be an excellent source of information. They can be aware of the differences between models, varying levels of support from suppliers, returns and satisfaction rates etc... You dont take everything they say as gospel but they can be a decent data point when decision making. And if you just get an overly "salesy"-person who just wants to read the pamphlet at you weight their opinions low and purchase somewhere else.

Likewise I would hardly call peoples first hand experience here annecdotal. Like everything you take opinions with pinch of salt but there is plenty of valuable data to be gleaned. Comments without context "brand X sucks, brand Y rules" are fairly low value but already in this thread there is plenty descriptive commentary which is valuable for decision making.

An independent repairman is a good source, but difficult to find ones without bias. As for consumer report, lol, I dont think I've ever taken anything of value from it. Numerical scores derived from arbitrary "testing" and minimal comments.

Its just like getting advice from people on here about concrete driveways, phone plans, solar panels, computers, cars... Its all useful, just dont necessarily take any of it as statistical truth :)

Totally agree the local newbolds have excellent salesman they know their stuff , only way they can remain open and compete against the big boys is their service . We support them for all appliances as local and great service

kotuku4

484 posts

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#3027639 26-Jan-2023 18:29

Had a Bosch die just out of warranty, and found it was made in Thailand.

Replaced with a beko prosmart inverter 9kg. And since added heat pump drier 8kg. And a range. Good product at reasonable prices and 5 year warranty.

Will consider other Beko appliances.

Quic Broadband

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Handle9

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#3027670 26-Jan-2023 20:16

I had an LG Direct Drive in NZ. It went to my mum and is still going strong, it's around 10 years old. We really liked it.

We have a Bosch now. It's been good over the last 4 1/2 years. Both are far better on clothes than the top loaders we had previously.

jonherries

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#3027672 26-Jan-2023 20:29

Handle9:
I had an LG Direct Drive in NZ. It went to my mum and is still going strong, it's around 10 years old. We really liked it.

We have a Bosch now. It's been good over the last 4 1/2 years. Both are far better on clothes than the top loaders we had previously.

We have an LG too ~ about 3 years old, very happy. And given this is Geekzone - the best bit is it has wifi…

Jon

johno1234

2814 posts

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#3027688 26-Jan-2023 22:10

CrazyM:

johno1234:

Seriously folks. The last person to take advice from is the salesperson at <your appliance retailer here>. They don't care which is best - they care about which brand is most profitable to sell. The second to last person is someone here with anecdote based evidence.

If you are about to spend some money, ask an independent appliance repairman, or buy the Consumer report.

I disagree. A salesperson can be an excellent source of information. They can be aware of the differences between models, varying levels of support from suppliers, returns and satisfaction rates etc... You dont take everything they say as gospel but they can be a decent data point when decision making. And if you just get an overly "salesy"-person who just wants to read the pamphlet at you weight their opinions low and purchase somewhere else.

Likewise I would hardly call peoples first hand experience here annecdotal. Like everything you take opinions with pinch of salt but there is plenty of valuable data to be gleaned. Comments without context "brand X sucks, brand Y rules" are fairly low value but already in this thread there is plenty descriptive commentary which is valuable for decision making.

An independent repairman is a good source, but difficult to find ones without bias. As for consumer report, lol, I dont think I've ever taken anything of value from it. Numerical scores derived from arbitrary "testing" and minimal comments.

Its just like getting advice from people on here about concrete driveways, phone plans, solar panels, computers, cars... Its all useful, just dont necessarily take any of it as statistical truth :)

Salespeople are biased - this is a fact. They are paid commissions on sales and there are often deals from the factory to add extra incentives to sell. There's confirmation bias in people who have made a decision to buy a brand. There's no reason for independent repairmen to be biased other than for the reasons you want: machines that are unreliable, poorly built, hard to repair, or hard to get parts for will be disliked and they know pretty much everything about these issues. Not sure why you are dismissive of Consumer but they are the ones who are genuinely only interested in the truth about quality. First hand experience as an owner is anecdotal by definition.

Each to their own though.

johno1234

2814 posts

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#3027690 26-Jan-2023 22:12

kotuku4: Had a Bosch die just out of warranty, and found it was made in Thailand.

Replaced with a beko prosmart inverter 9kg. And since added heat pump drier 8kg. And a range. Good product at reasonable prices and 5 year warranty.

Will consider other Beko appliances.

If it was only a 2 year warranty then ask them to repair or replace under CGA. They won't have a leg to stand on if the machine was looked after properly by you.

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#3027720 27-Jan-2023 07:32

We have an 8.5kg Fisher Paykel washsmart front loader which replaced our FP washsmart top loader (there was nothing wrong with the top loader even though we've had it a fairly long time but it was hard on blankets and sheets- sold it for $150.)

I really like the front loader, I'd never buy another style again. The top loader agitator-less ones tangle clothes badly according to a friend of mine who has one so we ruled that style out. Also it seemed to make more sense that the tumbling action of a front loader would clean better.

It has useful cycles- we typically use 'everyday' but sometimes bulk or a quick wash and it has a drum clean cycle. It has a wool cycle for our wool blankets. Add garment feature. Very quiet. Decent energy and water use rating at 4.5 stars. Has a light inside. Stainless drum. Direct drive. Cold water hook up and it heats its own water. Delayed start if you want. If you already have the dial set to the wash you want you put in the liquid soap, throw the clothes in and hit the start button and forget about it. It displays the time remaining which is handy.

It doesn't have one of those mini doors in the front- I avoided those on purpose because they look like a place for something to go wrong.

We bought this one because a friend of ours had the same model and he liked his. Price was very good at $1289 too. Usually about $1479 online. The model is WH8560P3

We are a two adult household so it's big enough for us and also for the blankets we use but I bought a really big, thick blanket recently that won't fit.

For a family I'd definitely go bigger but I think this is a good size for us.

This model is the one we got but we bought it from HN.

https://extremeappliances.co.nz/fisher-paykel-8-5kg-washsmart-front-load-washing-machine/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyteE5snk_AIVotlMAh13pgGfEAQYAiABEgKPPvD_BwE

Azzura

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#3027722 27-Jan-2023 07:53

Our Bosch will be 12 yrs old in May. The only work done on it - around a year ago the carbon bushings wore out...replaced and it was back up and running.

Back in 2011 we did some reading around... checked out the consumer reports and it was between the Miele and Bosch. We went with the Bosch....if we were replacing the washer...we'd look at consumer reports again.

CrazyM

110 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#3027723 27-Jan-2023 07:59

johno1234:

Salespeople are biased - this is a fact. They are paid commissions on sales and there are often deals from the factory to add extra incentives to sell. There's confirmation bias in people who have made a decision to buy a brand. There's no reason for independent repairmen to be biased other than for the reasons you want: machines that are unreliable, poorly built, hard to repair, or hard to get parts for will be disliked and they know pretty much everything about these issues. Not sure why you are dismissive of Consumer but they are the ones who are genuinely only interested in the truth about quality. First hand experience as an owner is anecdotal by definition.

Each to their own though.

People are biased. People who have been exposed to a larger sample size of products have the opportunity to be less biased but its hardly a guarantee.
For example its easy enough to find "independent" automotive mechanics (I have less interactions with appliance repairmen admittedly) with completely different opinions on brands. One says brand/model X is bulletproof and he never has to work on them, another would not recommend them because of his experiences. I am not convinced of Consumer's lack of bias and I dont consider their reviews to be geared to long-term reliability, which is something

What I expected (and received) in this thread was input from a good number of people but each with a small sample size of experience (high quantity-low experience). If someone replied who happened to be a completely objective and unbiased expert with first hand experience in every make and model (low quantity-high experience) then that would have been great too.

As it stands I ended up purchasing the 10kg Series 6 Bosch. Its features and price met my requirements and I didnt receive any signals from forum users or salespeople that I should be looking elsewhere

Its installed now and I am hopeful for many years of happy washing ahead of it. Thanks all who helped

Stu1

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#3027724 27-Jan-2023 08:10

CrazyM:
johno1234:

Salespeople are biased - this is a fact. They are paid commissions on sales and there are often deals from the factory to add extra incentives to sell. There's confirmation bias in people who have made a decision to buy a brand. There's no reason for independent repairmen to be biased other than for the reasons you want: machines that are unreliable, poorly built, hard to repair, or hard to get parts for will be disliked and they know pretty much everything about these issues. Not sure why you are dismissive of Consumer but they are the ones who are genuinely only interested in the truth about quality. First hand experience as an owner is anecdotal by definition.

Each to their own though.

People are biased. People who have been exposed to a larger sample size of products have the opportunity to be less biased but its hardly a guarantee.
For example its easy enough to find "independent" automotive mechanics (I have less interactions with appliance repairmen admittedly) with completely different opinions on brands. One says brand/model X is bulletproof and he never has to work on them, another would not recommend them because of his experiences. I am not convinced of Consumer's lack of bias and I dont consider their reviews to be geared to long-term reliability, which is something

What I expected (and received) in this thread was input from a good number of people but each with a small sample size of experience (high quantity-low experience). If someone replied who happened to be a completely objective and unbiased expert with first hand experience in every make and model (low quantity-high experience) then that would have been great too.

As it stands I ended up purchasing the 10kg Series 6 Bosch. Its features and price met my requirements and I didnt receive any signals from forum users or salespeople that I should be looking elsewhere

Its installed now and I am hopeful for many years of happy washing ahead of it. Thanks all who helped

Congrats 🎉 on your purchase soo many options, the Bosch sounds like a good option happy washing

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