I bought a top loader so I could soak clothes, be aware that some brands automatically drain after 30 minutes -- a safety feature. I bought an LG top load that was a mess, I fought with LG for six months to repair/replace it. They finally allowed me to return it to Best Buy. They have NO contact in the United States, I had to deal with a web site and constantly got different answers and the run-around. I emailed and wrote several letters to every contact I could find, including the overseas head of the appliance department! The washer never did wash a load of clothes correctly and it would take hours trying to balance itself to finish a load. I thought it was just a fluke but read other reviews at Best Buy with others stating the same thing! I also wrote a review, but found later when I went to read it that all the reviews below 4 were removed from the site!
I bought a Samsung WA 50F9A8SP/A2 to replace it and it does actually get the clothes clean. I especially like that I can HEAR the water swishing around during the rinse. In other words, it does use enough water to actually penetrate the clothes and get them clean and rinsed!
What I do not like about the design on the new top load washers is that they take a long time to do clothes.
The basket is too deep -- I'm 5'6" and can barely reach the bottom, and this one was 4" higher than the LG.
Some of them only let you soak clothes for a set amount of time (of course front-load washers do not allow you to soak the clothes at all as they never really fully immerse them, I had a front load washer for years and my clothes all need to come out of the closet and get washed because it never truly rinsed the clothes. I can smell the old fabric softener I used to use).
It also seems that the clothes really pill up and get worn fast from rubbing against each other, much worse than the old agitator models.
They have huge baskets but cannot actually handle big loads, the items get twisted around each other and it gets an unbalanced error code. I can only wash clothes that amount to about half the basket (dry, 1/4th wet) which is painful since I have to struggle to fetch them from the bottom of the basket when they are done (I have neck and back issues, if you do too I suggest a front load washer). The clothes have to be "like" items, if you try and mix towels with sheets for example -- you get a twisted, unbalanced load, if it does manage to run you may find items in the middle that didn't even get wet! With just two of us in the house this amounts to doing many extra loads and taking many more hours to do laundry! I find I even have to separate the pillowcases from the sheets to get a balanced, clean load.
It is almost impossible to get a good old agitator model but most major stores still carry a few.