I passed on the ebay deal due to having a previous problem buying an appliance from another seller-just wasn't worth any potential hassles for me. I paid about 250 more to get the lower line models from Best Buy and also purchased the extended warranty for peace of mind. Love the machines, they do everything I need and have so much more space than my old ASKO. (Don't get me wrong-loved the ASKO but with three almost teenagers I was doing laundry 24-7.)I can now do a week's laundry in one day. I am paying about 5.00 more a month in electric but water stayed about the same. Only problem I am having with machine is some excessive vibration on heavy loads like jeans and bath towels. I think it is possibly due to flooring as utility room is a converted back porch. My DH is planning to crawl under there and put some cross bracing in between the joists so maybe that will help.

Being a servicer for several brands including Bosch I'm not aware they had a BIG problem with mold. It seems that the units with the built in water heaters like the Bosch have the least problems with mold. Mold is not something that can grow on glass rubber or steel. It needs protiens, like those found in body cells, oils, detergents and softeners in order to grow. There has been many posts on this forum on the causes of mold so I don't think I need to open that can of worms here. I doubt that the "new" model you saw actually had mold in it. You may have seen manufacturing residue and I'm told that every Bosch washer goes through a full wet test at the end of their assembly line so I would guess you may have seen residue from the testing.

Do you really need the stack kit? We used to design stackables into their own niches gang were framed in by the carpenters and then sheet rocked.

I may have to rescind my earlier reviews of my compact E'lux washer. The little plastic door latch has let go. E'lux knows this is an issue. I got the 1 year labour, 3 year parts warranty with it, so I thought "it's all good, I'll just order the part & replace" After spending about 1/2 hour on the phone with a CSA who clearly didn't understand her job, she finally figured things out & said it would cost me $75 for the part. But I have a "platinum warranty" That only covers parts when our service tech installs it. You have to pay for a service call. She then told me the only service is 2 ferries ($200 & 12 hours travel) She could not find the local co who has been the warranty service for them since 1989. Anyway, it's all set now, but I will never get that 4 hours of my life back trying to get this done. It certainly colours my thoughts on E'lux & their customer service. Fingers crossed that the door latch holds until the part comes in, sometime in the new year.