IMO, it depends on how much you luuuurrrrve the washer, and the cost of repair.

I kept a 1994 model water hog Whirlpool TL going for years, spending $300 each time on repairs, because I simply could not decide what I wanted to buy as its replacement. You can "Google" the life expectancy of major appliances, and see what it is for "today's" appliances.

I had a GE washer for 20 years once, but they aren't like that now. I have a GE Profile now and we had one repair that cost $15 and we could do ourselves. We googled the problem and found the solution. You could try that. It has another issue now and it is 7 or 8 years old. We probably will get a top load Speed Queen soon to replace it. It is old fashioned and has a projected life span of 25 years. It also fills with water. We have several we use in our business that run all day every day. The cycles are also a lot quicker. It doesn't have a warm rinse but we will add some hot water to the cold feed to make it warm.

I would probably spend the $300+ dollars towards a new washer.
I don't think there are any washers made in the past 15+ years that are made like they were back til about the early 70's.

After 1980 I think all quality went straight downhill in favor of cheap because of economic swings.
Starting in 1980 the cost of living went WAY up and have continued to do so while pay has remained stagnant.
So in order to make a washer with the same quality of that 1969 Whirlpool or whatever that cost you $99 brand new and probably lasted for 30+ years.
Would now have to sell for $3000 and even then most companies selling a $2000+ washing machine today are adding cost for buttons and whistles and CEO pay and not Quality.

Right now your best bet for a decent machine that should last you 10-15 years is something like an LG or Samsung or about the last US made washer of decent quality is as mentioned already a Speed Queen.

I paid $728 for our washer and fully expect 10-15 years from it.
We bought an LG WT5101HV and so far its great.

5 years. I was told that by a repairman. We don't use our dryer very much - just mainly for sheets. The washer we use more. We got 8 years out of our front loader Kenmore Elite set - but at 6 years both the spin cycle on the washer and the drum on the dryer went so needed to be repaired. Fellow told us we might get 2 more years out of them and only because there are just the 2 of us. Exactly what happened. In the meantime, the small front loaders were made deeper so we had to buy Bosch subcompact - and they are VERY expensive in Canada - twice the price of the full size. Only other option was a subcompact LG - and the dryer was condensor. I won't have a condensor unit in Canada - in Europe, yes. Fridges are also a major problem - we are going through that now.

Here is a link to a website for appliance life expectances

Here is a link that might be useful: Appl Life Exp

Thanks! You folks have been very helpful!

*sigh* I am wanting to purchase the GE compact pair:
WCVH4800KWW + PVCH480EKWW 24" models

This is what I was told by the appliance salesperson:
The Samsung, GE compact, along with Maytag\Whirpool compact washer\dryers are full of service problems. I avoid selling them, because they end up needing expensive service in a short period of time.

She is pushing me to buy the AEG washer dryerâ¦or Blomberg.

This post was edited by litehearted on Tue, Dec 3, 13 at 20:00

I bought a Kenmore w/d back in 1997 when we bought the house, and it is still going strong. I'm like Cavimum; don't know what I want. If the Kenmore set needed a $300 repair tomorrow, I would likely do it. Even though I'd rather have a pair of stacking front loaders and remodel my ugly laundry room, I get the impression new washers are total crap. I don't know one friend or relative who has bought a washer or dryer in the last decade that they actually like. Yep, it's a water hog, but throwing it in the dump only to get something new with a 5 year lifespan doesn't make a lot of sense either. Sigh.

Thanks, MizLizzie. I actually owned an LG front load washing machine, 3.6 cubic ft. model WM2020CW + DLE2020W 7.1 cubic ft. LG dryer for two years, and never had any problems with them -- and it made doing laundry almost fun. New owners have had the house for a year now, and they haven't complained (kept in touch). So that's 3 years, and whether the LG laundry pair makes it to five years, I don't know ~ I hope so!

But now I'm in the market for compact, and the sales lady is pushing me to buy AEG or Blomberg. They both come with 5 years warranty. I can get an extended warranty on the GE appliances, but my husband hates paying for extended warranties.

So frustrating making these decisions!

I have owned top loaders for about 50 years. The Norge lasted 8 years; the GE lasted 12 years; The Whirlpool lasted 19 years; the second Whirlpool is 20 years old (1993 model), and my son is still using it. Bought a Samsung front loader 5 years ago and it is still OK so far. Paid 3 times as much for it and I don't think it will do nearly as well as the old Whirlpools. They were tanks.

Oh yeah, I agree that the new ones are not built to last like the old appliances. The new models are also more complicated, with computer chips, etc. More things to go wrong, harder and more expensive to repair. Not progress in that regard. But the newer models are more energy efficient, gentler on clothes, and have more temperature settings and other options, plus nice sounding chimes instead of buzzers.

When we first bought our house, it came with a Maytag top load pair that were still going strong after 18+ years. I replaced the washer almost immediately, b/c I suspected it of making tiny holes in my clothes, with a General Electric (GE) Commercial Quality Super Capacity Plus 5 speed 20 cycles Deluxe Plus Quiet model top loading washer (997 4Wh).

It worked great for 8 years -- then when the old Maytag dryer started acting up (not bad for 26 years) I wanted a matching front load pair, so I gave the GE top load washer away to Habitat for Humanity.

We purchased the LG white front load washing machine, 3.6 cubic ft. model WM2020CW + DLE2020W 7.1 cubic ft. LG white electric dryer. Had them for 2 years before we sold the house, and I loved them.

Now we are in the condo, so compact stacking washer/dryer pair makes sense. I'm just trying to decide whether to ignore the salesperson's advice and get the GE pair, or to listen to her and get the AEG or Blomberg. She is convinced the made in Korea is junk and that I should buy the made in Poland or Turkey. She is not impressed with Whirlpool made in America either, btw.

I like the look of the GE models, I saw them in the store and they seemed of reasonable quality. The reviews seem mostly favourable. But she says that the ones she has sold have needed costly repairs in the first few years after they were purchased.

I wish we had a few appliance repair people on this forum to give us advice. lol