Best T/L on the market. Best warranty also. Check out their website.

Cowbowash, was in similar situation as yours and also decided to go with SpeedQueen TL. I have no regrets at all and I absolutely love the SQ. My relationship with FLs was like going out with high maintenance Trophy girlfriends - Looks good, lots of bling bling but ultimately too expensive to keep. The SQ is the marrying kind that Mom and dad would approve.

Hi there,

Well, there's PROS & CONS with both sides of the FL vs TL realm.

Yes, SQ makes a great TL washer, as well as a FL washer. Great warranty (3 yrs), and they make a very heavy-duty product. The only downfall with the SQ Front Load machine is that it's only 3.3 cu ft. (The SAME as their top-load machine)....But, their FL machine is extremely heavy duty, and can handle commercial-like abuse.

HOWEVER, we all have to realize that appliances are NOT what they used to be. Gone are the days of an appliance lasting 20+ yrs......They ALL have a life span of about 7-10 years, no matter the brand, OR the type of appliance you buy.

Combowash----like you there is just 2 of us at home---I opted for the Speed Queen TL and am very satisfied with it--I do pretreat/soak stains. I didn't want the worry of might having to replace an expensive mother board after the warrenty is out. These machines don't walk with unbalanced loads as my 20 plus year old Kenmore and 12 year old GE did. SQs seem to be very well built. When my 30 plus year old Kenmore dryer dies I will consider buying a Speed Queen dryer to match. In all these years I have never owned a matching washer and dryer.

laney50w, or anyone else who wishes to comment ... how far back in time do you figure a new washer or other major appliance would have been purchased to be be one that's expected to last no more than 7 to 10 years? 2007? 2005? 2001? 1998? 1992?

Hi dadoes,

Well, honestly, it probably goes as far back as the mid to late 80's / early 90's...

For example: Go back to the 70's era, you could buy a washer for around $399..... the same price as you can get one today. Something had to give. So, in order to give the public a machine for $399 today, manufacturers have to make the machine using cheaper materials.

This has been going on for quite some time.

Sure, back in the 60's & 70's a machine could last over 20+ years...or more! Depending on what kind of appliance it is/was. Just not the case anymore....

Miele is about the only company that builds an appliance to last 20+ years. They usually put it in writing, and they usually have a 90-day money back guarantee, as well.

But, SQ is still a very good product these days!

My Mom had Frigidaire washers until 1971, then went with Kenmore(which she hated compared to Frigidaire)model 700.I remember during the time we had it Sears had to work on it a few times--always the pump. It locked up once(or the guy called it "froze" up) then once it had a tack in it(not the machines fault). He also said that she used Tide and that it was the worst thing for washers so she switched to Sears detergent. Then in 1982 the bearings went out and she got a Maytag Model 810 and still has it today with one repair-a new timer several years ago. It has also washed a lot of clothes when my Dad was sick for a couple years and bedridden plus she washed for a grandson and his wife and baby so it has been great. We would never find one now to last like it has unless maybe a SQ. If I was buying a new TL machine now it would be a SQ no doubt. My sister has one and really likes hers.

Well, honestly, it probably goes as far back as the mid to late 80's / early 90's...So you're saying that an appliance bought in the late 1980s or after can be expected to last no more than seven to ten years? I have a Fisher & Paykel washer/dryer pair bought in August 1999. At 8 years 8 months old now, there have been no repairs or trouble thus far. It'll be interesting to find out if they'll crash around August 2009. I also have a KitchenAid pair bought in September 1991. They were used regularly until October 2004 (thirteen years), then pulled from use and kept as spares, run maybe a few times since then. Two minor repairs on the washer (motor coupler in 2004, agitator dogs 2006), none on the dryer. My parents have a KA pair bought in 1994, which makes them 14 years sometime this year, and they're far from worn-out. One minor repair on the dryer (thermostat & thermal fuse). Four minor repairs on the washer (motor coupler replaced twice, agitator dogs once, lid switch once .. all DIY-type things). I know a lot of people would toss a washer with a broken motor coupler to the trash on grounds that the machine is worn-out and unreliable, which is silly. A motor coupler is a less-than-$20 part, DIY repair.

I have a neighbor that had a Kenmore washer about 5-6 years old. Next thing I know they went to Sears and got a new washer and dryer-Kenmore Elite-He thinks it HAS to be Kenmore and so the wife don't care. I asked why they got another one and they said" Oh that one had something wrong with it so we just got a new set" "We don't ever mess with having someone come to work on them, we just get another one. They have had 3 washers I know since they built this house 15 years ago. I would bet that the coupler was broke and that was all that was wrong, but they have TONS of money so they dont mind getting new ones..SO YES Dadoes there are some that are thrown away that only need a simple fix.

Thank you all for your help and advise. It wasn't so much that I was expecting a washer to run for 20 yrs, but that is should at least be repairable. It just seems like the newer washers have more cycles/features then are really needed and I wanted to avoid problems in the future. Although the bearing going out in my FL was a basic component.

I just wanted to add my two cents' worth, since a lot of the comments come from people with fairly new machines. When we moved cross-country a year and a half ago, we left our 17-year-old SQ TL and dryer behind. They were still functioning perfectly. The only repair in those 17 years was the timer knob on the washer, which was inexpensively and relatively easily fixed by my husband. We replaced them with GE appliances at our new location. The GE TL washer needed repair within six months (wouldn't agitate or spin). At the one-year mark, I received the extended warrantee info in the mail but opted out of it, figuring an unreliable washer isn't worth repairing. That old SQ served me faithfully for 17 years, after all. This week, the GE washer broke again and I just replaced it with another SQ and I couldn't be happier (other than the financial pain of having to buy two machines in a year and a half). They are hard to find--mine came from 30 miles away. Use the SQ website and find a dealer in your area. There are some false leads in the website, but just keep making phone calls until you find one. Don't worry about service--you won't need it, and they're simple enough machines that it shouldn't require a "factory-trained" technician to repair one anyway. You can find a washer with more bells and whistles, but if it konks out on you, there you are at the Laundromat. And that, to me, is a fate worse than death. Buy a SQ.

I just want to thank all the folks who have taken the time to post their experiences with the new machines on the market, and to those who have posted about Speed Queen. I was raised on Kenmore, and your posts enlightened me to the fact that the new stuff is expensive junk. I knew nothing about Speed Queen until I read about it here...after going out and looking at them...I realized that these machines were made like the machines of years ago...when quality was important to the big manufacturers. My Speed Queens are being installed today, and I can't tell you how many people plan to come and see them......because they got burned on the new stuff /expensive that isn't made to last.