It is a crap shoot at best. Sears has posted dismal financial performance for a long time now and many locations, including Kmart, are suffering from bare shelves and the usual lack of help.
Sooner or later, Eddie Lampert is going to have to do some serious fire selling to keep the wolves at bay. Already he's dumping lands end and I could very easily see white goods get the axe next. Auto centers? Hard to say but I could see those getting "outsourced" to a 3rd party managing company paying Sears rent for the locations and the Sears name.

Fact is, the investments necessary to keep the two tottering drunks on a straight line have not been forthcoming. Lampert is a fund manager, an finance guy, looking to generate returns to investors rather than value to customers.

Could you get a Kenmore fixed if Sears called it quits? Absolutely as Kenmore has always been made by "someone else". Would it be as easy as now? I doubt it. Ch 11 would put your broken washer way at the bottom of the list of creditors looking to get their 10 cents on the dollar so you could be out of luck.

But why waste time and perhaps money on a doubtful future and instead go with a proven Speed Queen top loader OR front loader? The company is in good shape, in fact, it is expanding to meet demand for small chassis (residential) production. That naturally tells me they are selling the dickens out of their product and have a much brighter future than Sears does at the moment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Speed Queen in action

I had a great kenmore dw but 4-5 years ago it needed to be replaced and I foolishly bought another Kenmore. I removed it after one day, made Sears give me $100 for my trouble and won't ever buy their crap again. It was supposed to be very quiet and it was super noisy. way more noisy than the unit it replaced. and it was CHEAPLY constructed. flimsy. awful. cost over $1000 so it wasn't a bargain unit.

Kenmore washing machines are just LG, Whirlpool, or Electrolux so getting parts is no big deal as they are variations on the OEM's line.

The only worry would be getting warranty service if Sears goes belly up. But with a 1 year warranty on these items, all you'd have to do is make it 1 year.

I'd not worry. But if you want to be "safe" buy the LG, Whirlpool, or Electorlux that looks just like the Kenmore.

Thanks guys, I'll take a look at Speed Queen as it sounds very promising.

Kenz5 I attached a link of my Speed Queen in action. If you search youtube for danmantn, he has a vid of the machine in operation with the front panel off. Look closely at the solid construction. Take note of the industry leading warranty. Gaze at the simple, easy to understand and use control panel.
Then go out and make the best choice, get yourself at Speed Queen and enjoy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Speed Queen in action