General

I only know of someone with a Speed Queen that had to get it repaired within the first couple years and doesn't like it as much as whatever they had prior that that might be a fringe situation. I know nothing about the brand.

I went with an LG washer several years ago and been happy with it so far. Also have a Samsung microwave for a decade and never had an issue. But I also know of a Samsung dishwasher that crapped out very early so it seems to just be a crapshoot with these brands.

I’ve had a Samsung washer/dryer for almost a decade and no issues at all, besides a leak that took like 2 minutes to fix.

Appliances are usually hit or miss - aside from fridges, Samsung is notoriously bad in the space.

We had to have our Samsing fridge fixed three times in five years - Best Buy allowed us to cash in the warranty for full value at the end of the term because of how bad our experience with it was. Have owned an LG since then and have had no issues.

On the flip side, we've had no issues with our Samsung washer/dryer, dishwasher, microwave, and stove.

Finally - we did have a rep actually push us to a cheaper class of fridges when we bought. He said the more features you have, the more will go wrong, and on top of it, their warranty at the time (~8 years ago, unsure how it's changed).

Definitely hit and miss in the appliance world for sure. Yet, after many dialogues over the past 14 years and the insane challenges I had with the Samsung fridge ... I've learned from many service techs "if they make phones/computers/anything non-appliance, go elsewhere". Some Samsung/LG's will definitely last awhile, but the experiences I've had, family/friends, and online homework ... says steer clear.

I demoted the Samsung fridge to the basement a few years ago, after the freezer just continually crap the bed and was causing all kinds of water issues, and went Whirlpool. So far, has been quite good. Next house, we'll go sub-zero stand-alone device combo (hopefully).

My washer/dryer are LG, and I've had them for ~12 years. Front loader, normal issues (aka they smell and don't wash as good), but they've been pretty stable until last week when the tub started to fall off and got some horrible burning smells. Dryer is decent, but typically requires a follow up session.

I was gonna go GE on the washer/dryer as I wanted something IoT, and with more space. The profile series seemed promising, available from Costco, and also came in a really sharp blue! Wanted to go this path until hearing about Speed Queen from some family members, and then went down a 2 day rabbit hole. All homework and research thus far, states that (in theory) they are buy it for life and should truly last 20+ years.

They come with a 7 year warranty, and the place I'm buying from (i just pulled the trigger), gave an extra 3 years. Hard to argue with a 10 year warranty!

@SublimeFan ha, you posted while I was typing, sounds pretty similiar. What was wrong with your Samsung fridge? Ice-maker/freezer I'm assuming?

Yep, I've heard more and more the same ... more features, more problems. Keep it simple. Let them perform the actions they need to do. Yet, I'm a sucker for tech, and really want everything connected to the internet... The wife beat me on this one, pushed me to give on "do you really need to rerun the dryer from Alexa" ... yes, YES I DO! haha

Speed Queen is the brand you most likely see as coin operated in apartment complexes.

They're designed to be pretty durable. However just like anything else, ymmv especially if you buy used.

Saw that you were considering GE. I bought their Ultrafresh line 2 years ago and have been very happy with them. The venting cycle on the washer really helps with the odor problem. The only gripe I have is the lint trap on the dryer is a bit cumbersome. We opted for the top of the line for the extra space and some of the extra features. We rarely use the steam feature since we have a great garment steamer that's faster than waiting for the steam cycle, but it's nice to have if you've got time and are doing other things while waiting.

We love our speed queen washer & dryer but I've heard the quality in the past several years has declined. I would try to find a locally owned shop and talk with someone there.

Having a machine again with an agitator is the bees knees.

Whatever you do, don't buy a 2 in 1 washer dryer combo. It uses Steam to dry and it can take up to 3 plus hours for one load to dry. Also, unless you clean the lint filter out all the time there's a part that always dies called the drain pump valve. Like, you gotta clean that crap weekly. Miss it once and it dies. Water won't drain and sometimes if you do another dry cycle instead of drying it just gets your clothes wet.

I also heard that front loading washers aren't great as they constantly need maintenance and cleaning out like once a month.. A friend of mine bought one and said after a year and a half, the seal started to wear out on the door.. there's also a filter you have to clean every month which gets moldy if you don't remember to do it.

Shadowrunner wrote:

I heard a bit about this as well, but seemed to only be during the height of covid that a couple models weren't made as well. From what I've gathered, this seems to be resolved, hopefully.

Kommie wrote:

Unless space is a massive issue, yeah, I don't think I'd ever go this route.

shadyfozzie wrote:

Funny enough, I've had this front loader for nearly 12 years, and never really knew it required constant upkeep. I did a few things here and there, but usually quarterly/yearly. Yet, it still made it quite awhile! Probably would have made it longer had I taken better care of it.

Still, frontloaders in general, are losing favor from what I'm learning through this effort. My wife has stated numerous times that we'll never go back.

@Shadowrunner - did you go with the TC or TR line? I was stuck on this for too long ... called some service techs, speed queen, posted, read, watched too many YT videos ... ultimately landed on the TR. Have some slight angst about it, but seems like the better choice given the scenario.

MrBean wrote:

NAILED IT

Constant problem, and it wasn't even the same thing - it was a mutitude of problems, so it wasn't just one faulty/poorly made part. We had the same tech come everytime to fix it and he was awesome. He advised us against Samsung fridges, he said you're better off with any other company. He'd always check our other appliances as well for no charge (he was a warranty tech, but had no obligation to do so since we didn't call on them). The other good advice he suggested was to not fix any appliance after 7 years and just do a full replacement (based on cost of repair). He said companies slash the amount of parts made after this time, and they just become exponentially more expensive - so you're better off replacing in the long run. 

shadyfozzie wrote:

I have not had that experience with a front loader (after 8 years). There IS a filter you have to clean, but it's suggested to do so every 2-3 months. The only issue we ran into was during COVID and having washable masks, we ended up with some issues of the washer not draining - masks got stuck in the filter. It was NASTY...but after removing them and cleaning the filter (it's a plastic part, not something that needs to be replaced) it was back to normal.

SublimeFan wrote:

Yep, it's god awful, had the same challenges. Turn off the water to it, it works quite well. So it's now a basement fridge for us.

Did you see that giant ~100k people facebook group that was alive and well for awhile? It ended up getting shutdown, but a new one emerged. There was a dude that was rallying everyone impacted, and basically suing Samsung. I went through it, sadly, lost as mine was too old ... but others won, with older devices.

Samsung legit sucks in this space. I love their phones and TV's, but I'll never touch another appliance again.

MrBean wrote:

I picked up a Speed Queen last year: https://speedqueen.com/products/top-load-washers/t...

So far, I'm happy with it. It came with a five-year warrantly on parts and labor, so that was a bit comforting. I went with the Classic model for it's simplicity. I don't need all of those gadgets and gizmos on my washer. Just more stuff to go wrong. I guess my only complaint is that it isn't as large as some of the other washers out there, which is fine, but It's not quite big enough to wash a queen-sized comforter. To do something like that, I'd have to head over the the laundromat.

The only big store chain that you can get these is through Electronic Express, which is where I got mine, but it took at least three months for mine to come in, due to all the supply chain issues over the past couple of years. I would have bought one from a smaller, local appliance store, but their prices were higher and availabilty wasn't any better than Electronic Exrpess.

@citizen_zane - yeah, the capacity is less than ideal, especially when we're used to having bigger ...

Also, the classic series, is still run by a circuit board. There's a misconception that the newer models in the TC series, are analogue, they are not. They just have the visible apperance of old school knobs. Still, I've read quite a bit that the electronics on both series, are pretty stellar.

MrBean wrote:

TC. Lady at the store said stay "simple" and it will last forever