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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Well I bit the bullet and bought a new washer last night. This is after a year of nursing the old one through its cycles. The old one was a Kenmore - GE front load. It failed in waranty and was nearly catatonic after five years of service. I was never sure if it was the motor or the electronic controller that failed. I pulled the board out and checked the capacitors thinking it was the problem starting the motor, but they checked out. It would operate but the motor did not have enough power to spin the drum from a dead stop. Likely one winding in the motor is bad. The motor is $150 and the contoller is $150. A Kenmore washer the same is $600 now.
So I end up at Sears complaining and end up with another Kenmore. This time a Kenmore Elite - Whirlpool front load T4. Maybe the old Maytag? Naturally this thing is twice the price. Is there any way to leave the wife at home when you are buying a cloths washer? Actually the regular price is $1500 dollars and I got it at 1/2 price. It still seems like a lot of money, but maybe a deal.
Now it seems to me we had an engineer on the board that knew a thing or two about washing machines. Why wasn't I smart enough to quiz him before I stuck myself with another head ache? Merry Christmas Mr. Whirlpool the kids are getting lumps of coal, I can't afford anything else.
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Peters
I went against consumer reports advice (which they usually are wrong or not even close anyways)and bought a Fisher/Pakel washer. CSR said it is prone to break downs.
This washer has a direct drive with no pulleys/belts etc, it spins out at 1000 rpms if you want it to. The clothes come out of it nearly dry and they take half as long to dry in the dryer as with my old washer. That was around 5 years ago. No problems with the machine at all and its awesome. Hope you get the same from yours, BTW, this one was $599
Guess I am lucky since when I ask my wife what she wants for a washer/dryer,,,, she tells me, "One that works, thats all, no fancy gadgets, just one that works!"
Yep, I think I look a gift horse in the mouth all the time, and I dont know it!
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Yep, my wife also seems to end up with the most costly appliances. We made the mistake of buying a calypso washer a while back but Whirlpool refunded our money in total. Then my wife went out and bought another Whirlpool. If we get estimates on anything seems my wife always goes with the highest  .
But really, rather than complain I just decided to go spend money for myself on tractor attachments or whatever I want. Took me a while to get the hang of it. This Christmas my wife brought home one of those chainsaw bears that sits outside your door. I asked her the price but she won't say. I see a 3 pt chipper in my future! 
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
NC are you saying the bear is headed for the chipper? Ever see the movie "Fargo" with the chipper scene? Ouch. That'll leave a mark.
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
EW, never saw Fargo but I guess I should look it up to see how this should be done! By the way, Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Consumer Report to me proved good when they report on owned and used machines such as autos. Not as great on new and them only tested. But, I have not looked at them in years.
Without a doubt price does not mean a better machine. Might be more bells or trim. Then it may mean a better cabinet or heavier motor. Now ask the big box people why the price or feature difference and a deer in the headlights.
A few years ago we built and installed a double oven and separate cook top. Could have purchased two free standing stoves for much less money with the same features and had an additional cook top. Reason given, the manufacture knows a person that wants a double oven will pay for it. My thoughts, when you get away from the standard, you always see the price jump. This is so in most products or industries.
I realized years ago, if considered a necessity we price shop and feature shop carefully. If a luxury item, higher priced is bragged on!
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Ken; My brother in-law has subscribed to the consumer reports since before he was married. He researches everything to determine what is the best item and considers the consumer reports the bible.
He has a Dodge minivan that gobbles about 3000 a year in repairs and a Jeep renagade that does about the same. At the moment the Jeep will not pass emmissions and is off the road. I on the other had have a Dodge Diesel which has cost $200 in seven years (100,000 miles) and a Volvo 940 which has run about $100 per year in the last 7 (170,000 miles). Both of his two vehicles have about 1/2 the milage of ours.
That been said, the Consumer reports rate the He4 washer we bought as high, but there are a number of dissatified customers posting on the web, many complaining about the consumer report. It does a nice job, but it might need the extended waranty.
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Peters, Were you thinking of me? I left that industry 3 months ago. But here's what i know. The Kenmore unit you bought is made by Whirlpool in Germany I think. Definitely not made in the US. The top-loading Kenmore units are made in the US and Whirlpool has the contract with Sears to make them because no one else makes a unit that costs less to build. I could tell what will probably break first and when in the top loader. Nuff said.
The front loader units are better than Whirlpool's top loaders. But there are better ones on the market. But at 1/2 price...
My biggest/latest issue with the Whirlpool dryers. I'm living in an extended stay hotel so am stuck doing laundry using their pay units. There are 2 dryers, one a Maytag made at the factory I used to work at and the other is a Whirlpool unit. Both operate for 45 minutes for $.75 except the whirlpool unit shuts off a few minutes early. Now, I put the heaviest/biggest load into the Maytag and it's dry in 30 minutes. I empty out those clothes and then transfer the still very wet clothes from the Whirlpool dryer into the Maytag dryer to finish up the remaining time. Maytag comes through!!
That experience just pisses me off that Whirlpool is so pig-headed as to kill of the good unit and replace it with their POS. Why did Maytag have 50% of the commercial market and Whirlpool 8%? Just stupid.
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
I was unsure where this front loader was from. I thought maybe it was just a refronted Neptune. It is a heavy unit and most of the problems related on the web seemed to be vibration relating to weak floor structures or improper leveling. The unit makes little noise on the cement floor.
It is a heavy sucker so 1/2 the cost would be shipping if it is from Germany.
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Merry Christmas Mr Whirlpool
Iowafun:
We had some cheapie brand (Hamilton) dryer that we bought with the house used for $100.00 and it lasted about 23 years. We then bought a Whirlpool dryer to match the Whirlpool washer. The problem with the dryer like you said is that it has a cool down cycle which may be good for permanent press clothes but doesn't get them dry. My wife isn't happy with it either. The Whirlpool washer has been great!
P.S. Are you going to change your TP handle!
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