I say a little prayer everytime I do a load with my old style washer that it hold out and gives me many more years.
It seems with every appliance I replace the newer one is just made cheaper. Just bought a kkitchen aid efficient dishwasher and it takes 2.5 hours to do a load of dishes (how is this efficient?) Everything about the dishwasher just feels cheaper.
I wouldn't buy a front loader because of the price, the mold factor and the fact that I would have to buy the drawer because I can imagine it would be physically difficult without it.