I just went down to get info for calling a repair person.

The date on the washer says 2009.3, so ignoring how long it sat in the store, that makes it roughly 6 years old. That is even worse than I though.

I would be upset too. They should last longer than 6 years. It will be interesting to hear what the repair person says is the cause.

My Wirlpool FL is 9 years old & still washing. It's not top of the line either.

In my personal opinion, the most expensive machines with all the bells & whistles doesn't guarantee 20+ years of workmanship, but now has more things to fail.

I think a Miele machine has the durability & longevity you're looking for. Electrolux & Speed Queen get a lot of love here too.

Overall, see what the repair technician finds.

You've probably already noticed that there are complaints and dissatisfaction from all brands and lines of laundry equipment whether top of the line or bottom of the line. There are also lemons in every line whether through faulty manufacturing, bad installation, or mistakes in using the equipment. I've been told more than once that the average life of a front loader whatever the brand is 10 years. Miele will deny that, but there are posters here who have replaced expensive washers at 5 years of service. There are others who have the same machine for ten years or more. In my experience, the washers manufactured since about 2005 do not stand up to heavy usage the way the older simpler top loaders did. It's probably not entirely the washer's fault; computer boards do burn out through no fault of the owner/operator. The new speed queens are very sturdy, but they do have the new electronic touch screen. If you don't want an on-board heater for the "true hot wash", this might be the way for you to go.

It's also true, you get what you pay for: your experience shows that bottom of the line appliances (yes, Amana is only a brand, owned by Whirlpool as part of Maytag)haven't given you the full ten year life span. Have you considered moving to the middle of the line and looking for only the features you use with good build quality and, above all, service in your location? Scratch and dent and floor models are a good place to look for new appliances at a discount. Most of Kenmore laundry products are now built by LG. Maytag and Whirlpool build some reliable washers in the 500-800 range if you catch a sale. LG has some nice washers in the same price range, but you need to be careful of the model. I don't personally recommend Samsung or GE due to really bad experience with bad service and poorly built machines. Yet, there are many on this forum who love these machines. If you find something you like, I suggest you look at reviewed.com and automaticwasher.com and here on the laundry forum to check some reviews. Another trick is to buy from a store (usually big box) that will let you return the machine no questions asked for 30 days. Speed Queens are only sold through independent dealers at a bit of a premium with respect to other lines. Maybe that is worth it to you.

Currently there is a discussion of the new frontload speed queen with an unhappy owner. I believe San Diego Steve is a participant.

Good luck.

My only comment with regard to my new Speed Queen FL washer being worth the money is that only time will tell. It came with a factory 5 year bumper to bumper warranty vs. most other's being 1 year and is factory rated for over 10,000 loads of laundry where as the industry standard appears to be 2500 loads or less. So ask me in 5, 10 and 15 years if it was worth it. If it lasts 20 years, then it will be worth the money. For the amount of laundry I do it should last over thirty years if the all the hype is true.

There is a nasty game that many of the appliance companies play in that they study the habits of us consumers. What they learned is that the average person owns or uses a washer for no more that 5 years because they move. Thus realizing this, they started designing their washers to only last this long for there is no need for it to last longer. The original owner would be happy with the performance because they did not own it long enough to fail. The new home owner or apartment renter will replace it when it does fail because the cost to repair is to high and since they didn't know the previous history of the washer, they typically don't blame the manufacturer for the poor operating life. Thus the manufacture gets to sell two more washers, one to the person who moved and one to the new home owner or renter. It is those of us who live in a place for a while that tend to notice this reduction in performance life.

For what I paid for my Speed Queen I could have bought two of the LG washers I was considering. One could argue that buying two LG washers over the same period of time of owning one more expensive Speed Queen would be a better deal financially, because the money saved during the live of the first washer could be invested and would increase in value over that time, meaning the replacement washer could be free. Think about that! However since I don't like the idea of planned obsolescence and throwing things away that can't be fixed, thus filling up the land fill, I went with, what I hope is, the more ecological choice.

I know this is a FL discussion, but I bought a TOL Speed Queen TL for $800. The no-frills dial model (I have the electronic controls) is less than $700. I had a Whirlpool Cabrio that died in under 6 years, so I was determined to find the sturdiest machine available. I feel your pain. Good luck to you.

My local appliance store says to expect ~7 years from a front-loader, maybe up to 10 years. It was disheartening when I heard that, but now I take that lifespan into consideration when picking out appliances.

El...you have a great machine and you must know that's very expensive for a no frills traditional top loader.

I agree, but it is half the price of the Speed Queen front loader. I believe the author was open to spending more on a quality machine without gimmicks, but $1600 was a little bit of a sticker shock. Our (yours and mine :) TL Speed Queen have 1/2 hp engines (as opposed to the standard 1/4 hp in most machines) and all metal parts. These 2 facts alone justified (to me) the higher price of the SQ over the competing no-frills machines. The OP is a FL user and seems to prefer the FL machines, I was just suggesting that a SQ TL is much less expensive without sacrificing quality, if the author would be so inclined to consider a TL.

first off, I wanted to thank you all for your great comments (and sympathy.) I don't know why it bothers me so much to have a broken washing machine, but it does. Then again, knowing the folks here - I bet you understand. ;)

sandiego_steve - I read your long post about the SQ, along with the followup comments. Your logic for why you purchased it is partially mine. It just offends me that a washing machine would be designed as a "disposable" item in that short a time frame. Just wrong. So even if it might save me money to buy two cheaper ones, it is my nature to buy one more expensive one (and avoid the situation I'm in now.) The difference in ratings for the SQ that you list blows my mind. If they are really built to take that (and with the warranty they offer, it sounds like they mean it - it isn't just marketing fluff) I'm impressed.

I like the idea (I forget who said it) that suggested I get an extended warranty on a new one (if a new one is needed - I'll find out Monday morning at 8:30!)

poppy214 - thanks for the comment about them being sold via independent dealers. That explains why I haven't seen them checking out the bigger places online. I will check out Miele. I've heard them mentioned here before, but I don't know anything about them.

Any place beyond consumer reports people would suggest for looking into longevity/repair history information? My worry there is that such data isn't really fare across models (within the same brand) because even the same maker will cut corners in one model and not in another. It's like they're gaming the system... we'll make a "really good one" for a year, built up a reputation and then slip by with lesser ones for a few years until we need to make a good one again. I'm not saying that with inside knowledge, it just seems strange that within the same brand there is such a mix of quality. And this seems true across the board.

Why couldn't it break on a national holiday so there would be a sale??? I'm definitely not waiting until Thanksgiving to replace it!

@emsithphoto, did you look into Miele any? :-)

My every day washer is a Miele 1966. 8 years old, never repaired, and still chugs along as if it were brand new. It has about 5000 operating hours on it. I have a Miele 1903 washer, I am guessing is from the late 90's (Craigslist find). No repairs to date, but currently, I think it needs a belt replacement. I bought a Bosch 2460 matched set 13 years ago. It has averaged 10-20 loads a week, for its entire working life. Both washer and dryer are washing for a family of 4 these days. One repair, the motor brushes. That was over 6 years ago. I do love, and prefer, the Euro or German washing machines.

As for US or China made washers, I am thinking you will get 6-8 years out of one before it croaks. It really depends on the use....how often you wash, how much it could be over loaded, etc. Speed Queen is about the only exception. They are built tough intentionally, but I do hear frequent complaints of bad pumps, maybe a bad seal on occasion. They are well built washers, but I do think they are not tanks that will run for the long term.

I am glad you got your original washer working again! I think it is better to repair appliances within reason, than to just chuck them to the landfill at the first sign of death.