I had the same machine for over 21 yrs and only finally retired it because the housing rusted from the frame; it still worked great but vibrated like crazy. I went to the black Friday sale only intending to replace my washing machine because I knew I couldn't afford both. They were on sale for basically BOGO. I love them both. The front loader holds more clothes; gets them cleaner and has bells and whistles like setting it to soak and having it continue to wash afterwards or I can set it to wash at midnight. It uses less water and no matter what size load you put in it senses it and adjust the water for it. I always hated the fact that I could was a few loads while waiting for the dryer to finish and I always made sure my dryer could handle a larger load than my dryer. Now my dryer finishes sometimes before my washer and it too senses when my clothes are dry and doesn't necessarily go by a certain amount of minutes. If you need a quick load of laundry washed there are settings for that as well. I'm so happy that I got the front loaders; will always be my first choice now.