Very important question of course!
And urgent as we need to decide by tonight.
Old washing machine has died and I want to replace it with something reliable but not fancy or too big.
We have seen a second hand Miele W864 which is in great condition and although 8 years old, it has only been used by a woman who lives alone so it hasn't taken the bashing family washing does to a machine.
It costs the same as a basic new Bosch of equivalent size and consumption.
I'm leaning to the Miele as I have heard so many great things about them but can't afford a new one at the moment.
Can't decide though so would like the wisdom of the MN jury please.
I would say new Bosch, it should be more energy efficient than an old one. The Meile may not have had much use but at 8yrs old spare parts may not be available (or be expensive) if it breaks down. The Meile is more of a gamble
She is getting a new kitchen and wants a washing machine that can be fitted into it.
DH went round to take a look at the machine and it had been moved out of the kitchen which was getting done up so we have no reason to doubt this.
MIL has a 12 year old Miele and says she would never buy anything else.
(Can you tell I want it )
Used miele, provided she has a genuine reason for sale. My mum has a miele that is at least that old and it looks identical to the one I have that we bought new last year. Spare parts are stored indefinitely by miele, that wouldn't be an issue - and they are designed to last 20 years, so the idea that they would have a model that you couldn't get spare parts for after 8 years is ridiculous. Also would be very doubtful that the miele would be anything other than top energy efficiency rated. 8 years isn't the least bit old for a miele. We've got a 6 year old one in a house we rent out and ((touch wood)) it has never been repaired, and nor has my mum's (which she's had I think 12 years, altho not 100% sure - she got it when I was in 6th form I think, and I am now 30).
NB I've only ever had experience of the super-basic bottom of the range miele machines (my mum has the basic model, the one in the house we now rent out was a basic model - was our machine and our house til recently - and the new one we've just bought was also bottom of the range, the cheapest miele we could get) and I wouldn't bother getting a fancier one to be honest. The one I've got (think was about 600) does a gentle wash that I use for hand wash stuff, goes from a flat cold wash right up to 90 degrees... so if you want a new machine, you don't necessarily have to spend a fortune to get a brill one, although I have to confess I don't know what a Bosch washing machine would cost as we never considered buying anything other than miele. Miele should blardy pay me for the amount of bleating that I do about their products, honestly!!!!
I am on my second Bosch, last one, very basic model lasted 9 years, including washing reusable nappies, cost 300, new Bosch 350, very similar to old one, basic model, so I am hoping to get the same length of time.
It has a quick wash, and can do from 30 to 90 degrees too, also has hand/wool wash programme.
Yes we bought the Miele from a lovely lady who ended up letting us have it for 300 euros without us even asking to negotiate. I think she felt bad taking any money at all actually. She was obviously spending thousands on her new kitchen.
Can't wait to get machine plumbed in and attack the washing mountain!
Miele is lovely and solid and in perfect condition with all receipts, guarantees etc. in order.
Apparently, according to a w/m engineer who repaired my Bosch recently, Bosch say their machines will have a life of five years. However, that life is based on just two loads per week, so the more you do, the shorter the life of the machine becomes. He also said NOT to bother using Calgon as it's a waste of time, but rather to put two handfuls of soda crystals into the barrel once a month and run it on a 60 deg or more wash. W/machines are not lasting as long because we're generally all doing cooler washes which don't clean out the limescale etc so they're needing more repairs and dying more frequently!
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