Bosch or Miele? Or Zanussi again?

[thingwithwings]

My Zanussi FLS 1183W washing machine has just blown its bearings after 15 years of sterling service. Tempted as I was to buy another Zanussi, I have recently been told that they are not made so well these days. Given that they cost the same amount that I paid for mine in 1998, this sounds like a reasonable proposition. I was also tempted to repair the bearings myself but at 15 years old I thought this would be money burnt, let alone the faff of getting the tub out myself!

So I have my eye on the Bosch WAQ28461GB at £499 or the Miele 3370 Edition 111 at £799. My usage is about 3 washes during the week and 3-4 washes at the weekend. My only other concern is reliability – I want a machine that will last at least 5-10 years. While I like the Miele, I don’t particularly want to pay out for a top end machine if something like the Bosch would do for my needs. Does anyone have experience of these machines and whether they are worth the extra cash? Would buying another Zanussi necessarily be a bad idea?

Would appreciate any advice.

[don]

Re: Bosch or Miele? Or Zanussi again?

Hi

You have got it about right, well almost 😉 Zanussi’s are not what they used to be. Bosch is a good alternative to Miele and favoured by many in the industry myself included. Miele without doubt have fantastic build quality, life expectancy and promotional guarantees of up to ten years depending on model purchased. Just a shame Miele won’t share their tech info with independent retailers.

The “well almost” was have a look at our own ISE W256 machines. again the build is superb as is life expectancy and the standard ten year warranty. The price tag is a little higher than the Miele but well worth it. If it comes to requiring service there is a nationwide network of local independent engineers available.

More about this machine and the ethos behind the brand here

HTH 🙂

Don

[thingwithwings]

Re: Bosch or Miele? Or Zanussi again?

Cheers Don!

Yes that’s helpful, thank you. I am sorely tempted by the Miele and the ISE really does look the business but if the Bosch is used by people in the business then that’s good enough for me. My 1999 Whirlpool tumble dryer is not long for this world and I think the spare £300 might be needed for that rainy day.

So, how are Bosch on tumble dryers?! 😉

[don]

Re: Bosch or Miele? Or Zanussi again?

thingwithwings wrote:

So, how are Bosch on tumble dryers?! 😉

I have to admit not the best and overpriced IMO. The best dryers around at the mo and the most reliable are the Zanussi’s.

Don

[peter piper]

Re: Bosch or Miele? Or Zanussi again?

Bosch in my experience are no better and no worse than any other washing machine manufacturer.
However all the Bosch makes I have owned have failed/broken down with a monotonous regularity and I would never be willing to pay the extra for this brand again.

[tarbat]

Re: Bosch or Miele? Or Zanussi again?

Bosch have the advantage that spare parts are readily available — possibly the best from that point of view.

Miele are horrendously expensive and long guarantees tend to be offered merely as promotional stunts when business is slack. I’ve had two Miele washing machines. Nice machines, but spare parts prices are horrendous. When a pump failed it became evident that the shaft was ridiculously thin and of very poor quality steel. Replaced it with a pattern part at a fraction of the price. Pensioned the machine off to our holiday cottage but then the inlet solenoid failed and I discovered that unlike previous machines I’ve had, it couldn’t be replaced individually with a pattern part but was part of a complex moulding with all three solenoids and the part cost over £100. A bit of nifty rewiring on my part followed, to allow the prewash solenoid to open when the main wash solenoid should open and the machine is still in use.
I’m not convinced of the ethics of Miele with regard to spares, so when my dishwasher died a couple of weeks ago I thought I’d give ISE a try. Local dealer very nice and helpful. Wish I could say the same for ISE. Still haven’t got the dishwasher, delivery scheduled for today but delivery company don’t seem to have any tracking system accessible to the public and though they seem to have a correct postcode and telephone number, the delivery company seem to have a wrong name and a wrong street address. These things happen, of course, but treatment on the ISE phone number was supercilious at best. Doesn’t bode well. A big contrast with Currys’ delivery of a fridge-freezer in October to an extremely remote address — supremely efficient handling of telephone enquiry, delivery no problem (and no extra charge) even to that area, albeit only once a week, proper phone call from delivery drivers the day before, efficient two-man delivery and unpacking, and free uplift of old appliance. I never thought the day would come when I’d praise Currys, but there you are! In that October instance, the “local” whitegoods retailer, 26 miles away from the delivery point, was totally unhelpful and would have charged a considerable amount for delivery which in any case would have been effected by a delivery company operating out of Glasgow, more than 200 miles away.
I repeat that I’ve no problem with the local ISE dealer handling my current attempt to purchase an ISE dishwasher for use at a much less remote location than October’s purchase for our holiday cottage, but local dealers need to be backed up by a distribution network that can deliver the goods in a manner that suits customers and by a sales organisation that can equal the quality of customer service provided by the big boys in the business.

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