6 replies to this topic

[sbonds]

My venerable Kenmore HE3t, which has been fixed many times thanks to help found here and elsewhere, finally fried its CCU after a couple nasty power surge/lag cycles here this week. My wife is glad to see it go since this early model has no tub clean cycle and was getting a pretty funky smell despite always leaving the door open, repeated manual cleanings of the gasket + lint trap area underneath, and hitting it hard with ultra-hot cycles with white towels and lots of bleach. I don't want to pay $150-250 for a new CCU for this thing so some lucky person is going to get a fine parts machine here shortly.

People who fix things get to see their insides where you can tell the difference between cheap crap and well-made machines. I want to get something that (most importantly) won't get the funky smell even if my wife leaves an occasional load in there overnight, and something that's built reasonably well. Here are some that I'm looking at:

LG WM8000HWA: Huge capacity is nice
Whirlpool WFW94HEXW: Appears to have a built-in tub ventilator disguised as a drying feature.
Maytax Maxima MHW6000XW: Same cost as above, good consumer reviews
LG WM3470HWA: Decent capacity, lower cost than WM8000HWA

I'm leaning towards the Whirlpool WFW94HEXW right now due to that "Fan Fresh" feature, plus my old HE3t was a rebranded Whirlpool and the construction on it seemed decent.

What would you buy?

[Scottthewolf]

I would buy either of the Whirlpools or Maytags you mentioned above before I would even think about buying the LG.

LG is a Korean owned company, the machines are made in Korea or Mexico, parts for LGs are hard to get and many servicers won't work on LG products.

Whirlpool is an American owned company, parts for Whirlpool and Maytag brands are available everywhere and all these new Whirlpool and Maytag washers you mentioned above are proudly made in Clyde, Ohio USA.

Whatever you do, be sure to register your new washer once you get it by sending in the warranty registration card or on the manufacturer's website and make sure you buy the extended warranty FROM THE MANUFACTURER, not from the store where you bought it from to protect yourself from control boards going bad, etc.

[Skiter29]

you are so correct on not sending in the registration cards i just went on a whirlpool vmw gearcase washer it was bought Aug 28 2011 went on the service call sept 5 2012 the gearcase bearing was out told customer to call customer service for maybe to get parts covered sorry mam cant help you whirlpool sucks so bad so she was 7 days out of warranty and she had to pay me 225 for parts and labor whirlpool sucks

[Scottthewolf]

you are so correct on not sending in the registration cards i just went on a whirlpool vmw gearcase washer it was bought Aug 28 2011 went on the service call sept 5 2012 the gearcase bearing was out told customer to call customer service for maybe to get parts covered sorry mam cant help you whirlpool sucks so bad so she was 7 days out of warranty and she had to pay me 225 for parts and labor whirlpool sucks

In my honest opinion, those VMW washers are going to hurt Whirlpool's reputation. They could have found a better way to make the tried and trusted direct drive top loader washers more energy efficient. All this "new technology" just to save energy and meet Energy Star standards is going to hurt reliability. Sure, our job is to fix what breaks, but we do get tired of hearing "It's only a couple of years old, why did it break down so soon?" and "I'll never buy this brand again!"

Edited by Scottthewolf, 24 September 2012 - 10:38 PM.

[RegUS_PatOff]

... and Kenmore switching from Whirlpools to LGs ...

[Scottthewolf]

... and Kenmore switching from Whirlpools to LGs ...

LG can probably make them cheaper and give Sears a better deal. I also think Sears is bitter now that Electrolux gave A&E Factory Service the boot for doing their warranty repairs and Whirlpool will be giving A&E Factory Service the boot when their contract expires.

One thing is for sure, Sears switching to LG to manufacture their Kenmore branded appliances has already backfired on them. They have the burnt light assemblies/main control board issues with their refrigerators rework and the gas dryer gas valve safety recall to deal with now. Karma's a bitch.

[Skiter29]

i have a couple of friends that work for A@E and they till me if you have a name brand appliance your sercice call is $49 but if you have a Kenmore Appliance it is $129 so they want you to buy kenmore they got it backwords it should be $49 for Kenmore and $129 for name brand A@E sucks whirlpool scaped a front load washer after 12 calls because A@E practically put a whole new machine in a duet washer the dealer replaced it and since i do service for him he asked me if i wanted it for parts i said sure i was unloading it in to my truck and i told the owner i know whats wrong with this right now the water valve screens were plugged i hooked it up at my house been running for a year now problmens