Actually I just found this re the Asko washer - it won an award by Choice magazine (which has a good reputation in Australia for reviewing consumer products)

'Choice rigorously tested over 45 auto sensing washing machines, rating models on everything from dirt removal and rinse performance, to gentleness and water and spin efficiency.

2012

Our commitment to eco-friendly products was rewarded by Choice (the people's watchdog) who named the W6884ECO washing machine the best product in its category in a survey of top performing appliances.'

http://www.asko.com.au/why-asko/awards/

I recently went through the Bosch vs Asko vs Miele question. The lowest Asko model 6424 does NOT have a brushless motor. That much I know. The higher model does have the induction/brushless motor. I also established that the outer door on the upper end model MUST be installed and CLOSED for the machine to enter the spin cycle. That was a deal breaker for me as I did not want the door.

Good luck!

Just about to replace an older Swedish-made Asko pair with a new Miele pair. Can't comment on newer models. If the controller board could be replaced a repair would be possible. But the part is not available anywhere in the world. It has been discontinued. The brushes on the motor are starting to go and that is a $200+ repair considering new brushes and the labor. The dryer recently began making a noise it never made before.

This pair is 10 y.o. but is in a weekend house used only half the time for 8 years and used fulltime for the past 1-1/2 years. So I'm thinking they are wearing out after 5 years of full time use. We are careful with them, don't overload and they look like new. I don't feel a five year life (though others report longer use) is enough.

I had a Bosch Axxis pair in another home for nearly 2 years and liked it very much. I also liked the Asko. Neither had repairs.

With the Asko, I wouldn't go there again, not because it's not a good machine but because of the service/parts issues that might arise with the Swedish-made machines. Also, the Bosch had a slightly larger capacity, which I liked, and did a very good job.

Buffalotina sounds like you have done some decent research - your thoughts on Bosch? And I am a complete imbecile when it comes to understanding the complexities of the brushes (though I have read that it seems that Asko and other models need them replacing down the track - husband also explained how they work in a motor lol) and which machines are induction/brushless so my question being: do the induction/brushless models last longer (seems logical?) i.e. are better and are the Bosch machines also induction/brushless and do you now whether the Bosch have an outer drum that is stainless steel or is it 'plastic' and does this even matter?

Thanks rococogurl - so you had both Bosch axxis and Asko? while using both which did you like better from a performance perspective? Which dryer did you like better? I would be happy with 5/6 plus years from my next machine as the place we are living in is a little transient (i.e. we will either move back to Australia in a few years or to a larger place to accommodate a growing family and I plan to sell this place with the machines and purchase Miele at the next!) Thanks again for your feedback :)

fpmom, yes, we had 2 places so I had them at the same time.

I like my Asko washer a lot. It does a great job on whites, likely due to the long cycle. It has a cold water fill and the hottest wash is 190 F, which is just off boiling. It's good with medium and large loads but not as effective with small loads, such as lingerie, which is has trouble balancing. It has stand-alone rinse and drain settings, which came in handy at times when it didn't like a load. Then it would cut out and end the cycle without spinning. So the spin let me finish things. It does an fine job on the spin though I do notice points on my towels from the suction and find they come out fluffier in the dryer with dryer balls added. Washer turns itself off and pops the door when the cycle is finished. Dryer also turns itself off. It washed a quilted king blanket cover well -- a thicker queen quilt had to be done twice as there wasn't enough water in one load to fully saturate it. If you were to watch it do a cycle empty it uses so little water it's quite surprising. No issues with mold (10 years) and I never used a washing machine cleaner. (do not use chlorine bleach or fabric softener ever). No need to wipe down the door gasket though the pin trap does need to be emptied about once a year.

The Bosch Axxis is the same exterior size but has a slightly larger drum. We don't need a huge machine but that was a plus for me as we use bath sheets and all could be done in a single load. The washer did a great job on everything but did not have the ability to produce the bright whites that the Asko does. The cycles are all shorter (perhaps except for the Sanitary). The cycles don't say what temp you're washing at -- I had to call them, extract the info (they didn't seem to know at first) do a chart and tape it to the pull out shelf (we stacked the Bosch pair in a closet and they were great that way). The hottest wash got nowhere near as hot as the Asko -- they said it was 165 F but I wouldn't wager on that. But it did a far better job with the small lingerie loads and the stretchy yoga clothes. My towels felt softer coming from the Bosch. Shorter cycles (though I don't mind long cycles).

The one thing I didn't like about the Bosch pair was that neither the washer nor the dryer turns off completely at the end of a cycle. So if a dryer load is put in late, and you go to bed, you've got vampire power going all night. The other downside was the need to dry-wipe out the folds in the door gasket after the last load. The Bosch fills against the door and uses the glass to direct water into the tub; the Asko seems to fill from the back.

The Asko dryer is OK. The filter is good but not the easiest to clean. The downside for me is that the sheets knot up into balls and don't get dry in the center unless you stop the dryer halfway through, remove it and shake them out. I have a rotary iron and it's tricky to figure out just how long to dry things so they are damp.

We had the Bosch condenser dryer which worked very well. There are 2 filters -- one to clean after each load (very easy) and the condenser filter which has dried on lint that had to gently scrape off the slats. Also, Bosch dryer requires the sensor inside the door to be wiped clean with vinegar periodically. The Bosch dryer also balls things up but not quite as much as the Asko which basically requires grabbing things immediately when the cycle finishes or keeping the tumble setting on. Otherwise, things get quite wrinkled.

I had the Asko pair about 7 years when I bought the Bosch for the apartment. I didn't consider another Asko pair as, being in NY, I do far more small dark and color loads than the hot white ones. Don't know what they've done to the machines now or how those might differ from what I had but given what's happened to the company I don't think there will have been an improvement in the product.

The Asko never had a service call, nor did the Bosch.

For the machines I need now to replace the Askos, I considered Bosch and Miele. I would have gone with Bosch but I'm told they will no longer make vented electric dryers after the end of this year. Don't need condenser dryer here and I'm not going with another product that might dead-end 5 years from now. The Asko now needs brushes and a new controller board ($500 total repair for perhaps 2 years more of life). The repair isn't unreasonable, the controller board can be soldered but eventually it will go again. So the Askos will be recycled before their time due to company issues, not performance.

Rococogurl that's one great review of the machines!!! Thanks so much! If I recall from when I had my Bosch and then went to Asko I think I had the same issue re smaller loads in the Asko - I think I remember the Bosch being amazing for washing just one piece (i.e. a dress if I wanted to hang dry - would wash it well and would come out with little wrinkling) and then when I tried the same thing with the Asko didn't work so well and would get unbalanced... thanks for reminding me!
Can I ask you re the whites - I wear a lot of white tops and I have always washed them in cold water for fear of shrinkage from really hot water (partly because often the care label says to wash in cold water - I notice this a lot with cottons and with white sheets I buy)... and I have read more than once that Asko is great with washing whites - do your things ever shrink with the really hot wash?

I hardly ever use cold water washes. My whites are done at 140F/60C with Persil Megaperls or Caldrea liquid. The longer Asko wash cycles (Normal Plus or Heavy) do a great job on white sheets at the same temperature.

Because my Asko has the cold water fill, a cold prewash, and then the long hot wash it's taken out things like small blood stains, lipstick or eye makeup without anything more than the soap. I often add a scoop of Oxyclean if there is any graying or yellowing and everything comes out superbly. Tough stains get an overnight presoak in cold water with Oxyclean.

I don't wash clothing or sheeting above 140 F/60C since the thread can shrink even if the fabric doesn't. Also, here in the U.S., fabrics can have up to 5% of undeclared "secret" ingredients and still be labeled 100% whatever. So even 100% cotton garments can have up to 5% elasticizer. I expect that's why they call for cold wash. I don't find white blouses shrink from the 140 F wash but I always hang them dry. I've only had shrinkage from the dryer.

When we first bought the Bosch pair for the apartment, I was on a mission to deodorize the white sheets which had been washed in the apartment building top loaders for years and didn't smell fresh to me. I started doing them in the Bosch on sanitize cycle, added vinegar but no difference (I'm not a vinegar fan especially). I changed to Caldrea liquid which helped a bit.

Since we moved a year and a half ago, the white sheets have been washed in the Asko. The deodorizing issue no longer exists. While the Asko seems to have resolved it, I cannot swear to that because the Caldrea liquid does an excellent job on that front with consistent use. I do feel I got a better, softer result on my towels with the Bosch over Asko however.

I use the hotter cycles 175F/80C and 190 F/88 C for things like dishtowels and cleaning cloths. But a point could be made that it's not necessary since the dryer gets them hot enough to kill any bacteria. With the Miele I will only have a 165 F/74C maximum temperature. Since the I've used the two hottest cycles on the Asko occasionally I don't feel I will miss those.

But again, I have no idea what the newer Asko machines offer so I caution to explore the settings on any current machine.

The Asko did a terrible/nearly useless job on the delicate cycles which I do need so, for me, the Miele offers a good trade off in that respect.

Rococcogurl what do you mean re the Asko doing useless job on delicate/gentle cycles? I use this a LOT for my kids clothes and mine and I just can't remember what it was like when I had the Asko (though I do faintly remember that when I went from my Bosch to the Asko I thought the Asko was rougher on my clothes)... I'm so torn because I like that the Asko seems like a sturdier machine and doesn't have the gasket to clean out (i.e. no potential mold issues which is what I have now) BUT my other priority is liking the 'gentle' cycle since I wash small loads and use it a LOT... thoughts? And do you think the Bosch dryer is slightly better than the Asko? Thanks again

Here's what I said about that upthread: "It's good with medium and large loads but not as effective with small loads, such as lingerie, which is has trouble balancing. It has stand-alone rinse and drain settings, which came in handy at times when it didn't like a load. Then it would cut out and end the cycle without spinning. So the spin let me finish things."

My lingerie and woolens had to be washed on permanent press. Delicate and Hand/Wood filled, swished back and forth once or twice, then cut out without draining. Those cycles never finished, ever even after they replaced the first machine for that same issue. I had to do a rinse cycle to get the machine drain and to rinse and spin them.

Really small light loads on any cycle had trouble balancing. Sometimes those would cut out as well and I had to do the rinse cycle manually to finish up. That never happened in the Bosch, not once.

I did prefer the Bosch dryer to the Asko -- it held more and things came out dryer. But it got very hot. Bosch was a condenser dryer and the Asko is vented so they are different animals.

I don't see build quality as an issue. Both were OK. I never had a mold or odor issue with either one.