I went to Sears a few years ago and told them I wanted a top loader with a huge tub, dials not pushbuttons, and I'd never need a lot of settings so the fewer the better. That's what I got and it works great. With 4 dogs and the two of us, we do a good bit of furry/grimy laundry and it all comes clean the first time through. I'd advise you to get only what you need and will use, with a big tub. I have 3 choices of cycle, three water temperature combinations to choose from, and three water levels. That's it and it works for me! :)

We also bought a new washer last yr. Left the ....26 yr old Maytag,when we moved. BTW,she was used when bought at a house auction.
The new one is a mechanical GE with agitator & huge capacity.Inside is all stainless steel.It stops on a dime when lid is opened to add more of whatever.Mine does a good job.Still using old dryer,but will look for mechanical if & when.

BTW,both DDs have front loaders that also do a good job.
Some ppl don't like warranties,but our new fridge has one for 6 yrs. Peace of mind!

What ever you do, don't get an LG. They get moldy and make your clothes smell like mold only after 3-6 months and they won't do anything about it and their customer service is terrible. We had to get ride of ours after about 2 years because we couldn't stand the smell any more.

Hate my new Samsung. The ring at the bottom of the washer caught and ripped by favorite pants. A repair person came from Samsung and released the caught fabric. He said I should wash them on delicate. What? I've always washed them with my other clothes. My husband has had a rash we think is coming from not rinsing enough. We're now doing an extra rinse. Who wants this extra work?

I can agree with the life span being very short on the new ones. We bought all new appliances when we moved into this house 7 years ago. We've replaced, hot water heater, put new parts on the KitchenAid range, microwave worked on twice, we replacing the ice maker as soon as the part gets here and now the Whirlpool Duet washer is leaking. We bought the Kitchen Aid appliances because we thought they would hold up better. Never again. I don't like the duet because it doesn't clean as well as my top loader I had before. That's just the way it is I guess.

I have not heard or read a good report on any of these energy saving devices they just don't work very good and to get clothes rinsed enough or just to run hot water you have to stand right there I always like washing my colored clothes in warm water these new machines will not let you they give you just a little hot water then sjps over to cold and where we live our water comes out icy cold so takes lots of time plus more water and more electricity but that is the way with most of these energy saving things the dish washer has cut down on the water and also on the hot water when my pld maytag goes out I will jut do dishes by hand

Just bought a Maytag, top loader, and I hate it. Doesn't aggitate good and lid locks, you can push the pause button to open the lid. Still don't like it. Barb

I just purchased a Maytag Cennential top load washer, so far it seems to be doing a good job of cleaning. I hope it will last. I just finished washing my stash to organize and I done about 8-10 loads a day for 2 months and it's still going strong. Will see if it has a quick death soon after that.

I recently bought a new washer and did some research before hand. I wanted a top loader with an agitator and a real rinse cycle. I found one, a Whirlpool. Check out Lowe's. Or read reviews on Amazon. Yes, it does lock the lid, but tho can use the pause button to open it. Hot water is not real hot, but is Ok. I don't need hot water all that often.

We bought a whirlpool fridge a couple of years ago and had tons of problems with it. It took 3 units just to get one that worked and we still had an issue that we ended up fixing ourselves. Whirlpool was horrible the entire time. Lowe's was awesome but whirlpool has the most hideous customer service I've ever encountered.

then few months ago we bought a samsung stove and there was a piece missing. Samsung customer service acted like I was lying and it took weeks to get the missing part. It was probably a $5 part. Their customer service was still better than whirlpool but not great.

So now I'm holding a grudge against whirlpool (and all of their offshoots, which includes maytag) and samsung. Before long I won't have any brands to choose from.