The most lame domestic thread ever - Recommend White Goods

[John K]

After a good 20 years of service (and three house moves) the Bosch fridge freezer needs replacing. And in for a penny in for a pound, the cheapo Zanussi washing machine that I got as a temporary emergency purchase (expecting it to last 2 years) is still going after 6 years but it might as well get swapped at the same time.

I've been reading reviews etc and do believe paying for good stuff gets you, erm.. good stuff. But I've lost faith in Bosch white goods recently and am therefore looking at Miele (the models I'm looking at offer 10 year warranties, so they must have some faith in them..?)

Anybody got any experience of them? I'm not buying top end Miele as I believe at that price point you are getting a bit ripped off, so will be looking at approx £1.5k for fridge freezer and w/mc. So that's upper middle of the range.

Thoughts?

[Thrustyjust]

We gave up on cheap white goods , well washing machines after 2 exploding and rubbish Hoover ones. We bought a Miele machine and its not as friendly as the Hoover, in other words, it doesnt throw the cupboard doors open and come and see you, it stays put . It doesnt explode its concrete weight and scare the living life out of you in the process. It doesnt throw water everywhere. The Miele does what we want it to do, which is quietly wash stuff and keep itself to itself. Even Hoover couldnt explain the problems we had, but looking at feedback , it was a regular issue. The only issue with the Miele was the weight. We had 3 blokes deliver it to the kitchen, as it was over 100 kg. Look for deals for them. We had a £75 off weekend at PC Currys or whatever they call themselves and also a £75 off from Miele voucher, which meant it came in at £600 in the end. But its a great thing and hope it will stay in the cupboard for many years to come.

[Captain Colonial]

Don't know why you've lost faith in Bosch, but my Bosch white goods have been excellent.  Having said that, I've had a big LG side by side fridge / freezer for the last 17 years and it's been flawless.

[benlindley]

When Miele is an option - buy Miele
My grandads washer is 27 years old, my mums is 17 and we have had ours for 3 years and not missed a beat. 3 young kids in the house, permanently on. The Hoovers, hotpoint etc of the past used to need replacing or fixing almost quarterly. Also now have Miele vacuum which is awesome and beats the various dysons we have had,. No experience of Fridge Freezers (ours is Smeg) but they will prob be brilliant aswell. 

[pistonbroke]

Not sure what the current situation is but when I worked in white goods Zannusi used to make 90% of the parts used by other brands .

Both Miele & Bosch were highly rated but highly (over) priced 

Some think Samsung are doing the business  atm , the one we bought 2 years is a proper gem .came with a free 5 year warranty  

[Stuart]

Miele washing machine and separate tumble dryer here. Both about 4 years old, quiet running and never missed a beat. Recently bought a Gorenje fridge freezer after lots of research - very pleased with it.

[Kevin (Mr T)]

40 years (ouch) in the kitchen industry would have me recommending Miele for wet appliances and Siemens for cooling.

We supply integrated models only, so cannot make any specific suggestions. 

[B.RAD]

Big miele fans here, excellent products. Thoroughly recommend them.

[Deanspoors]

I vote for Siemens, some excellent stuff, very highly rated. 

 

[John K]

Thanks for all the replies. And there are two names that consistently bubbled up to the top so...

I've just checked and the local white goods folk stock both Miele and Siemens.

So I am very tempted to go for a Miele w/mc and a Siemens FF.

The collectaholic in me always tends to go for items from the same manufacturer so I have a 'set'. No reason to do that here.

And in reply to Scott's Q on why I have drifted away from Bosch, ironically its a reflection on their power tools. I always used to view the green tools as decent enough and the blues (which I buy) as real top banana stuff.

Recently the quality of the green stuff has gotten (IMHO) so bad that I wouldn't given them away in a cracker. Blue stuff is still top notch.

So I'm worried that a corporation that is prepared to let some of its quality drop away to the point where it is badge placement and no more, can't really be trusted (yes I know I still trust the blue stuff, but I never claimed I was logical or consistent)

[SootySport]

I've had meile boxes in the past and always considered them to be the best.  Now have all bosch stuff and for 10 years they have been faultless.  All theother brands seem to be the same quality, a lot of badge engineerimg going on there.  They are about the same price as bosch but i consider them all cheaper to buy new than repair, unless you can diagnose and fix a fault yourseelf.   Getting a man in to fix just costs to much.

[corsechris]

Funny enough....our Hotpoint frost free has been hinting it might expire of late and after a prolonged power outage last week, required some serious persuasion to restart. On the whole pretty happy with how it performed and lasted but it was pricey when new about 20 yeqrs ago.

So, long story short, Miele fridge freezer arrvies Thursday. We looked at quite a few brands but none inspired great confidence after a bit of close inspection.

Similar story with the cooker a couple of years ago. Needed to replace a nasty one we inherited with the house, had intended on buying a Belling having had one at the previous place that hadn't missed a beat in 30 years but i was shocked at how far they had fallen in that time. Ended up with Neff. Nice build quality and so far so good, but it has another 20 years to go before I'd consider calling it reliable.....

[John K]

This thread is worrying me...

It's the closest to a consensus on a "what to buy" post that I've ever seen. Normally you lot can't agree on which way is up...

My world is starting to crumble, everything I came to expect is falling apart...

[corsechris]

Was it the 5 minute argument you wanted, or the full half hour?.........