LG is now considered among the most reliable frontloader brands.

Appliance411 has a model/serial date decoder. Serials are coded for the date of manufacture which is more properly relevant for the machine's age, usually year and month (Whirlpool is year and week of the year). Date coding (both model and serial) repeats on a varying cycle depending on the manufacturer (typically between 10 and 20 years) so it's sometimes necessary to consider factors such as aesthetic appearance and mechanical design to pinpoint the age, for example 2008 vs. 2018 or 2000 vs. 2020.

Models are coded for the year of market introduction, which a given model may be produced for more than one year. My mother has a Whirlpool wall oven with model coding of 1995 and serial coding of 2005, which is the longest production period I've thus far seen.