A few years ago we lived in a small town. Our washer went out and we were so busy, had no time to go shopping. My DH said he saw 3 Maytags for sale in the adjoining city for $50 each. He brought one home and plugged it in and it is still going strong 6 years later. I think we will do that again when this one goes out ! Try buying a used washer.

I had to replace my 24 year old Whirlpool about 3 weeks ago. It was a top loader, agitator, I set the water level and temp. for whatever I was washing. I knew I wanted another Whirlpool as I had such great results with my old one. As I was looking and reading about the new washers I picked the one I thought I wanted, a heavy duty top load, agitator which was about $650. I was buying from a local family business that I have done business with for the last 45 years. The owner gave me plenty of time to determine which one I wanted before she came over to help me. Then she made a suggestion - the one I picked was computer driven, meaning it weighted the clothes, chose the water level and the temp and had to use the high efficient detergent AND only had a ONE year warranty. She steered me to another model, a Whirlpool that was a heavy duty, top load, agitator that lets me choose the water level and temp and lets me pause it if I need to add something after it had started its cycle AND came with a 10 year warranty AND a price of $450. I am blessed to live in a small town with expert retail and service people that I have known for a long time.

the new washers all stink but I did find a top loader at Home Depot it does not have the settings of my old washer and I have to keep it set on super wash all the time to get it to do anything but spray I can fill it with hot water for my whites but if I want warm water I have to watch it and set by hand no hand cycle or small load like my old machine so to get water everything is washed on super load therefore using much more water and electricity than my old machine I have heard many people say this

:thumbup::thumbup: ... We think alike. I have a 30 yr old dishwasher that looks brand new ... seldom if ever use it !!

I really like my dishwasher but if or when it goes I to will wash by hand I gave not heard one good thing on the new ones I think all things are now made in China

I have an LG front loading machine -- I really like it. I use less detergent, can set the water temp, can add additional water (which I do as we have low water pressure here). I think the clothes are cleaner and they certainly last longer. I did not replace my dryer when I bought the washer, the dryer technology hadn't changed. It also takes less time for my clothes to dry as I use the high speed spin cycle.

We bought a new washer and dryer last year to go in our new house. They are Electrolux front loaders and we put them on pedestles so we don't have to bend over to get into them. So far we love them but time will tell as far as how long they last. I was a bit freaked out when I first started using them since you hardly see any water in them. But the clothes come out clean, and they spin out so much water they dry really fast.

We left the old set in the house we sold. They were Whirlpool top loaders about 16 years old and still working except the dryer senser didn't work and we always had to start it a second time to get clothes dry.

A year or so ago I contemplated starting to shop for a new washer as mine is getting way up there in years. I did some comparisons , and the higher cost of the new "efficient" models would take me 12 years or more to recover the higher price. So don't assume that the value or savings of the highly efficient but costly machines will indeed pay for itself.
When mine finally quits I will go low tech, stripped down, basic machine.

Go to the nearest second hand appliance store and ask for an old Kenmore or Hotpoint washer. They work until they rust away. I bought mine second hand eight years ago, and they are still going strong. I always add the Oxyclean type cleaner from the dollar store, to my regular detergent and my clothes look like new.

Yeah, I bought a new HE top loading model about a year ago, and I keep hoping it will die. I don't like that it doesn't fill with water when I want it to- I feel like the clothes are not being rinsed enough! It will probably be just a matter of time till there's a law about how long our showers can be and how much soap we're allowed to use!