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The quality and warranty are the primary reasons I bought a Speed Queen washer and dryer a few years ago. Most reviews say the washer isn't the best at actually

The quality and warranty are the primary reasons I bought a Speed Queen washer and dryer a few years ago. Most reviews say the washer isn't the best at actually cleaning clothes but 99% of the time I don't need to remove stains or dirt, I just need to wash clothes from daily use. In addition to the reliability I really like the controls. Nothing fancy, very easy and obvious with a 7-segment LED display that will likely last forever.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
Speed Queen warranty is 5 years and price was 3x LG washer from Costco. Costco gives 4 year warranty with Costco credit card. So I just buy appliances from Costco and assume I will have to replace sometime after 4 years. As one data point, all of my LG Costco appliances from almost 4 years ago are still working fine, through very heavy use. We probably use washers/dryers 10+ cycles per week due to babies/toddlers. The LG inverter linear compressor fridge is still as silent as the day we got it.
- User23 4y ago
  Old American made washers are running 40 years later. Speed Queen isn’t really about the warranty, it’s about the implications.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I prefer the implication of having it in writing. If Speed Queen’s data showed them their machines lasted 40 years, then they would advertise them with a 40 year warranty to maximize sales. Since they do not, it is safe to say that Speed Queen does not want to bet their machines will last 40 years. So why should I bet they will last longer than their stated warranty period? It is possible that Speed Queens are worth more because they are more repairable, but I have no interest in spending my time repairing my washer/dryer. And calling a technician would be $100/hour plus parts, at which point I might as well buy a new machine.
    - User23 4y ago
      You realize most so-called warranties are issued with the expectation that the overwhelming majority will never make a claim let alone collect on it right? To put it plainly I don’t care a whit about warranties, I just don’t want the hassle of an unnecessary repair job.
      - ImPostingOnHN 4y ago
        the lack of a longer warranty does not decrease the likelihood of unnecessary repair jobs in other words, if BrandX had products they believed would last 40 years, they would have a warranty that says so, and it would not decrease the reliability 1 iota
        User23 4y ago
        Loan me a million dollars and I’ll pay you back in 40 years. No? Does that sound meaningless? Thought so.
        ImPostingOnHN 4y ago
        It sounds like you have a point to make regarding the time value of money? But I'm sorry, I'm not following the connection. Would you mind rephrasing?
        bombcar 4y ago
        A product can last X years without being something you want to warranty for that time - because "last" can mean "keeps working with maintenance and repairs" vs "works without a hitch for the whole time. Also, longer warranties can be a selling point (speed queen does this with the same exact internals being sold with a higher warranty on the 'fancier' ones which just add some more features to the board). And, a company has to hold monies on the books for warranty service, so a defined warranty period that is not unreasonable can help with that. But the "best" company in a given market only needs to warranty beyond the nearest competitor. Speed Queen also is implicitly dealing with people who would buy the "lifetime" warranty residential unit and run it in a commercial setting, where the wear parts would wear out.
- devwastaken 4y ago
  Have you ever tried to use your "warranty"? It's a "lifetime warranty", the lifetime being the core components of the washing machine. When it dies, that's it's lifetime. There is little enforcement of warranties from the FTC. They cannot afford to do investigations, because they are civil litigation.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    Note it's Costco's warranty - they take the product back and ship it to the manufacturer, and just deduct the amount from the next payment to them. If the manufacturer doesn't like it, they get dropped by Costco like a hot potato.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    I have not used Costco warranty before, but I have not seen a reason to doubt Costco’s services. https://www.costco.com/appliance-warranty-calculator.html https://www.costco.com/appliance-warranty-calculator.html
- newaccount2021 4y ago
  LG linear compressor failure rates triggered a class action suit that LG lost
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Yes, that is why I mentioned it. I was expecting mine to fail by now too, but so far, no problem. I think the design or quality may have improved after the initial batches.
- cbruns 4y ago
  My LG linear inverter fridge from costco has been loud from day 0.
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    If it is still under your Costco warranty, I would claim the warranty. LG advertises it as being less noisy (I hear zero noise from my fridge).
sizzle 4y ago
Thoughts on Maytag?
- liminalsunset 4y ago
  Maytag is owned by Whirlpool Corporation, which makes ~all of the various appliance brands I've seen here in Canada except for the newer LG/Samsung etc. Any "FSP" branded parts are made by Whirlpool. For what it's worth, the Speed Queen washer/dryers people seem to like, appear to also share parts with Maytag [1], which means Whirlpool made, or uses, or shares at least designs for parts, even though Speed Queen is owned by Alliance Laundry Systems, who also make the Huebsch machines in apartments, which, are commercial grade, but still not free of problems (i.e., >half of front loading machines in one place I've been in have the marbles-in-bearings sound when spinning, which a newly replaced machine didn't) Some models of Speed Queen washers I've seen people open on YouTube look suspiciously like a Whirlpool "direct drive" 90s washer. [1] https://ibb.co/PzQxxP6 https://ibb.co/PzQxxP6 - I searched for "speed queen transmission" on DuckDuckGo Images and found this listing that mentions compatibility between that and Maytag. I also recognize that transmission as a Whirlpoolish thing. Given that most appliances around me are made by Whirlpool, I don't personally have anything to compare them to. I haven't personally seen many extreme design flaws, but the parts are built down to a cost. For example, all of their dryer motors are epoxied together instead of bolted, like every other motor, probably to save cost at assembly, and conveniently prevents oiling and servicing of the bushing/bearing. The washer pumps for the aforementioned "direct drive" washers are sealed, and if something gets jammed, you can't take them apart to unjam them (though I've unjammed one before, and they don't cost much, and there is a ~good reason to seal it shut). However, whatever evils, if any, Whirlpool puts into their machines, at least you can get the parts, and compatibles exist, and junkyards are probably full of compatible parts, simply because the parts are all shared between most Whirlpool appliances in existence. I've had one example of a bad experience with the electronic controls on a Maytag front load washing machine. I don't consider a single sample to be representative, but the software on the control was poor and refused to spin-dry a blanket after washing it. It wasn't because the machine was unbalanced. It would rotate the blanket very slowly (zero shaking), and just decide not to do anything else. It eventually did it after a bout of unplugging, pushing buttons, and cursing.

lotsofpulp 4y ago

Speed Queen warranty is 5 years and price was 3x LG washer from Costco. Costco gives 4 year warranty with Costco credit card. So I just buy appliances from Costco and assume I will have to replace sometime after 4 years. As one data point, all of my LG Costco appliances from almost 4 years ago are still working fine, through very heavy use. We probably use washers/dryers 10+ cycles per week due to babies/toddlers. The LG inverter linear compressor fridge is still as silent as the day we got it.

User23 4y ago
Old American made washers are running 40 years later. Speed Queen isn’t really about the warranty, it’s about the implications.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I prefer the implication of having it in writing. If Speed Queen’s data showed them their machines lasted 40 years, then they would advertise them with a 40 year warranty to maximize sales. Since they do not, it is safe to say that Speed Queen does not want to bet their machines will last 40 years. So why should I bet they will last longer than their stated warranty period? It is possible that Speed Queens are worth more because they are more repairable, but I have no interest in spending my time repairing my washer/dryer. And calling a technician would be $100/hour plus parts, at which point I might as well buy a new machine.
  - User23 4y ago
    You realize most so-called warranties are issued with the expectation that the overwhelming majority will never make a claim let alone collect on it right? To put it plainly I don’t care a whit about warranties, I just don’t want the hassle of an unnecessary repair job.
    - ImPostingOnHN 4y ago
      the lack of a longer warranty does not decrease the likelihood of unnecessary repair jobs in other words, if BrandX had products they believed would last 40 years, they would have a warranty that says so, and it would not decrease the reliability 1 iota
      - User23 4y ago
        Loan me a million dollars and I’ll pay you back in 40 years. No? Does that sound meaningless? Thought so.
        ImPostingOnHN 4y ago
        It sounds like you have a point to make regarding the time value of money? But I'm sorry, I'm not following the connection. Would you mind rephrasing?
      - bombcar 4y ago
        A product can last X years without being something you want to warranty for that time - because "last" can mean "keeps working with maintenance and repairs" vs "works without a hitch for the whole time. Also, longer warranties can be a selling point (speed queen does this with the same exact internals being sold with a higher warranty on the 'fancier' ones which just add some more features to the board). And, a company has to hold monies on the books for warranty service, so a defined warranty period that is not unreasonable can help with that. But the "best" company in a given market only needs to warranty beyond the nearest competitor. Speed Queen also is implicitly dealing with people who would buy the "lifetime" warranty residential unit and run it in a commercial setting, where the wear parts would wear out.
devwastaken 4y ago
Have you ever tried to use your "warranty"? It's a "lifetime warranty", the lifetime being the core components of the washing machine. When it dies, that's it's lifetime. There is little enforcement of warranties from the FTC. They cannot afford to do investigations, because they are civil litigation.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Note it's Costco's warranty - they take the product back and ship it to the manufacturer, and just deduct the amount from the next payment to them. If the manufacturer doesn't like it, they get dropped by Costco like a hot potato.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  I have not used Costco warranty before, but I have not seen a reason to doubt Costco’s services. https://www.costco.com/appliance-warranty-calculator.html https://www.costco.com/appliance-warranty-calculator.html
newaccount2021 4y ago
LG linear compressor failure rates triggered a class action suit that LG lost
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Yes, that is why I mentioned it. I was expecting mine to fail by now too, but so far, no problem. I think the design or quality may have improved after the initial batches.
cbruns 4y ago
My LG linear inverter fridge from costco has been loud from day 0.
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  If it is still under your Costco warranty, I would claim the warranty. LG advertises it as being less noisy (I hear zero noise from my fridge).

sizzle 4y ago

Thoughts on Maytag?

liminalsunset 4y ago
Maytag is owned by Whirlpool Corporation, which makes ~all of the various appliance brands I've seen here in Canada except for the newer LG/Samsung etc. Any "FSP" branded parts are made by Whirlpool. For what it's worth, the Speed Queen washer/dryers people seem to like, appear to also share parts with Maytag [1], which means Whirlpool made, or uses, or shares at least designs for parts, even though Speed Queen is owned by Alliance Laundry Systems, who also make the Huebsch machines in apartments, which, are commercial grade, but still not free of problems (i.e., >half of front loading machines in one place I've been in have the marbles-in-bearings sound when spinning, which a newly replaced machine didn't) Some models of Speed Queen washers I've seen people open on YouTube look suspiciously like a Whirlpool "direct drive" 90s washer. [1] https://ibb.co/PzQxxP6 https://ibb.co/PzQxxP6 - I searched for "speed queen transmission" on DuckDuckGo Images and found this listing that mentions compatibility between that and Maytag. I also recognize that transmission as a Whirlpoolish thing. Given that most appliances around me are made by Whirlpool, I don't personally have anything to compare them to. I haven't personally seen many extreme design flaws, but the parts are built down to a cost. For example, all of their dryer motors are epoxied together instead of bolted, like every other motor, probably to save cost at assembly, and conveniently prevents oiling and servicing of the bushing/bearing. The washer pumps for the aforementioned "direct drive" washers are sealed, and if something gets jammed, you can't take them apart to unjam them (though I've unjammed one before, and they don't cost much, and there is a ~good reason to seal it shut). However, whatever evils, if any, Whirlpool puts into their machines, at least you can get the parts, and compatibles exist, and junkyards are probably full of compatible parts, simply because the parts are all shared between most Whirlpool appliances in existence. I've had one example of a bad experience with the electronic controls on a Maytag front load washing machine. I don't consider a single sample to be representative, but the software on the control was poor and refused to spin-dry a blanket after washing it. It wasn't because the machine was unbalanced. It would rotate the blanket very slowly (zero shaking), and just decide not to do anything else. It eventually did it after a bout of unplugging, pushing buttons, and cursing.