Which model number do you have? I was told--by Miele techs--that Miele's philosophy is they will support an EOL model for fifteen years and that it should run another five years. This is supposedly how they arrive at the twenty-year mark for Miele product lifespan. Parts for an EOL model are either remaining available stock or special order.

Eight-hundred dollars for a motor and installation is steep, but it's a Miele. Miele's really should come with a ten-year factory warranty.

Miele's should not need a new motor at 4 1/2 years. Especially in a dryer. Dryers last forever.

We have seen a number of posts here recently about serious Miele failures in fairly new machines. Is this a trend?

I called Miele and they are sending their own technician out to do a diagnostic on the dryer - said they will send parts as well and we can decide at that point what to do. My estimate was from a well-respected local appliance repair shop that services Miele and other machines as well. The Miele technician only services Miele products. I was told the parts, as mentioned in the post above, will be available for 15 years, that their dryers should last 15 - 20 years. The model we have is the T982. So we will see... I agree about the 10 year factory warranty, why not stand behind your words regarding your product. Dumping appliances in landfills after 4 - 5 years is a waste of everyone's time and terrible for the environment. The downside is waiting for this appointment which is scheduled in a couple weeks....

Yeah. There doesn't seem to be any urgency to get an inoperable appliance back up and running by some manufacturers. Where's the customer service? Are there that many failures that you are booked out several weeks?

MRB

I do not have the metrics on Miele's sales in the US, but they are likely nothing like the other brands except Bosch and ASKO. I do know that Miele does not have the service techs necessary to sufficiently cover the US so living in or near a larger metropolitan area betters your chances of receiving Miele service. I also believe that Miele techs are the best solution for working on Miele products and my wife and I will only use Miele techs; all the Miele techs we have met have been more than satisfactory with zero complaints. What Miele needs is their own product forums whereby Miele owners can discuss, troubleshoot, and literally help Miele in becoming a better company in the US.

@sshrivastava,

There was a young man by the name of Adam S. (last name intentionally initialed) who was setting-up the Phoenix store techs. This didn't occur? Tells me a lot if it did not. I wonder whether he stills works for Miele? Long Beach, CA is where the main Southern California Miele Tech center is located.

Miele is impossible to work with. Dismissive & condescending doesn't begin to tell the story! Our shop is not authorized to service their product in-warranty. So we can't source anything from them for out-of-warranty either. Their products are far from trouble free. In fact they are probably fussier than most due to their designs that are needlessly complex. They sure look nice though!

When someone finally does get an approved tech, their repair estimates are breathtakingly high. Then comes the wait for parts to be called for.

In our opinion, why would any servicer want to bother dealing with them, when they are going to be the recipient of the grief? Suspect that's the reason service companies are few and far between.

@dixiedarlin1,

Miele's service model is one initiated and resembling Mercedes-Benz, followed by others (one in particular: Apple). They would rather sell and service their own products. I do not necessarily agree with this approach, but I see more and more manufacturers heading this way. Miele has its proprietary aspects that they keep close to them.

The ultimate in the way of service will be when the machine diagnoses itself while connected to a series of AI servers. By then, units should be 'truly' modulator and easy enough to service by the owner barring any issues such as the weight of a modulator piece.

I know of someone in Manhattan who owns an older Miele washer. Although Miele has serviced it several times, they have now declared it as unserviceable due to "brittle wiring" and refuse to take any further calls from the owner. I don't know exactly what is the machine's age but my understanding is that it's more than 10 years and less than 20. Far as I've heard, the current problem may be either bad motor bearings or brushes, and/or worn shocks.

@dadoes,
...unserviceable due to "brittle wiring"...

That's a new one! Miele appears to favor customers without problems or those in the socio-economic strata that simply have their accountant(s) pay the bills without question.

This post was edited by fahrenheit_451 on Mon, Dec 17, 12 at 13:11

Seems to me Miele USA is becoming Mehluh.

Miele sent out their Sr. Service Tech.& did not charge for the trip or diagnostic -- the dryer didn't need a new motor as the local (very) well respected appliance repair person had told us. The seal and fan impeller were replaced for under 1/4 of the other estimate. We will only use the Miele tech. people in the future.... they were excellent.

@ fahrenheit_451,

Yes, my service tech is Adam S. He told me earlier this year when he replaced my T9802 that he is now located in Southern California and that there are no Miele service centers here in Arizona. I'll assume, then, since I live only 25 miles west of Phoenix, that Miele dispatched him to my house from California? Wow, that's quite a drive...

When my Dacor Millennium oven was replaced, Dacor sent a technician to my house with a new oven all the way from California. I feel so special! lol

Dryer failed after 4 1/2 years for such a high priced machine? the repair is not inexpensive either.

From what we heard on this board, we are glad we decided not to take Miele route during our recent washer/dryer purchases.

@sshrivastava,

It appears Miele bit off more than they can chew with a contracting US economy. Discontinuing the extra large capacity residential washer and dryer places Miele back to where they were before these units: an exoteric (in the US) small capacity washers and dryers that most US consumers will never purchase, but with the added handicap of the newer washer models now only being 120V. The service aspect of actual Miele techs is excellent, but comes with the caveat of having Miele techs readily available to service where you reside ... one helluva Catch 22!

@azmom,

Can I inquire as to which dryer model failed for you? Thanks.

Having just spent the past several months going at it with MieleUSA with our washing machine, am here to tell you a few things.

Frist, no MieleUSA does not have enough field technicans. Things are better closer to major core urban areas such as NYC, Boston, parts of South Florida, California, Utah and a few other Western states, other than that all bets are off. Anyone considering purchasing Miele products outside of those areas would to well to speak with MieleUSA directly (not the dealer) about what sort of service is available to their local area.

We have personally heard of MieleUSA sending techs from New Jersey to Maryland, Conn, PA, and other places up and down the eastern seaboard. That should give you an idea of how many local field techs they have.

Part of the problem is for the work and knowledge skill set required Miele does not offer an attractive enough wage for field service techs. The job is one that already does not attract enough Americans and Miele products are more complex and so forth than say your average Kenmore.

Here in the NYC area waits for a MieleUSA service call range from 8 to 14 days or longer. That is just to have someone come out and see what the problem is; if they have to order parts and come back you could be waiting an equal or more amount of time until they return.

MieleUSA to their credit have hired more inhouse telephone customer service reps/technicans, but here is the rub. Most if not all are new and therefore do not have any field experience, thus they only know what they pull up on computer screens and or read from scripted flow charts. We asked about an odd part found loose in the bottom of our washing machine. Not one of several phone techs who sat staring at the part diagrams could say what it was. An email to Germany where we have several friends who are "Miele nuts", gave not only a prompt reply to the query but told us it was not required for proper washer function.

MieleUSA has also opened several call centers outside of their New Jersey headquarters. IIRC one is in Utah and another in California. One reason for this is to allow callers in the Central and West coast time zones to reach a live person after 5PM EST. However again you are likely to be dealing with newly hired persons with limited access to tech knowledge besides whatever on the job training Miele provided.

MieleUSA's new thing is that most calls in will be prompted to set up an appointment for a tech to diagnose the problem. They have even changed their callout charges to reflect this. Now one pays a set fee just to have Miele come out, then parts and labour (billed hourly IIRC) are then added. Do think if the problem can be fixed in the initial service call one pays only for that visit.

MieleUSA has also begun working with certain third party repair contractors. In NY that means "Mr. Appliance" a franchise operation. Miele takes employees of these services and trains them to work on their appliances and will supply parts. However here is the rub: if you own an "older" Miele appliance (washer, dishwasher, oven, etc...) you may be in for a shock.

MieleUSA in general is moving away from dealing with older units. Whatever parts they have in NJ is all there is and once they are gone that is that. Most field techs with working knowledge of older appliances are either dead, retired, or confined to telehone customer service work. The ones who are often sent out either will not or can not work on older appliances.

While in theory all Miele washing machines are front service, however early models from the W 700 and 10XX series require more effort than say the later 19XX models. Relative easy repairs on the latter such as motor brush or shock absorber changes can be a bear on the former and require more time and effort than MieleUSA will allot for an inhouse repair. When this happens the tech will often say he has to "speak with headquarters" and someone will get back to you. MieleUSA will then do a cost benefit and rksk analysis usually reporting back your unit is any one of or combination of the following: too old, too delicate, parts NLA, repair cost versus lifespan too high, and so forth with the bottom line a strong suggestion you purchase a new machine. If MieleUSA really wishes to stress the point you may be offered a *small* discount on a new unit.

Case in point the W 700 and 10XX washers. The motors in these units are huge cast iron behemoths. These are bush motors and sooner or later that part will need to be replaced. When the brushes do go the machine will stop spinning prompting a service call. In order to replace the brushes however the entire motor must come out of the machine. That is something many new Miele techs either do not know and when faced with the prospect of doing so in the field balk. It is easier to say the "motor has gone" and advise to purchase a new machine and leave things at that.

MieleUSA and in general the world over also has what is often called a "German attitude" problem. That is when one contacts customer service/technical support you will be told nothing is ever wrong with their appliances, it it just that *YOU* are not using them properly.

Washing machine leaking? You didn't use the right detergent (Persil or MieleCare). Appliance doing this or that? No, that is not possible, it *CANNOT* be doing that, *YOU* are mistaken. And so it goes.

Fahrenheit,

We just purchased a pair of new washer and dryer. The previous dryer was a Kenmore, it failed after 12.5 years. We are done with Sears (long story..) and will never touch any brand they carry. Yet I was astonished by OP's Miele dryer that failed only after 4.5 years in service.

I have had a Miele Dryer now for 15 years but so not use it much as I use out natural heat the earth offers = sunlight ! I hang it out to dry in the summer and in the winter on a rack in the wash room .

gabi, i assume you iron your clothes. i don't iron my clothes, so air drying doesn't work very well.