Until we purchased our 4840 and 9820 I had been a big fan of Miele. I doubt that I will ever purchase another Miele product after this experience. We have had numerous (6 I think) service calls in the 2 years we've owned them. First couple were OK. Since then Miele has stopped doing their own service here and left it to their primary dealer who I have been less than happy with. In 2 years we have been without the use of our W/D close to 4 weeks. I'm fairly sure that is more than we were without our Sears & Maytag's over the previous 21 years.

To be fair, I believe their problems are with their products designed specifically for the US and serviced in the US. If I move back to Europe I'd likely go back to Miele.

jsfox, have you had problems with the washer, or only with the dryer? Your dryer problems sound so bad, I can't blame you for being soured on the entire brand. But your experience with the washer would be of interest to prospective and current Miele washer owners. I'm very happy with my W4840 washer. Still using my 9-year-old Kenmore dryer.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/laundry/msg022019322826.html

I have the washer and dryer. Live in VA. I have the 4840 Washer and electric dryer. I love them! It is a learning curve going from a top loader to the front loader and I have it down now. I have been so pleased with the cleanliness of my clothes as well as the ability to wash "dry clean only" items at home (within reason). I don't wash lined skirts or pants because I can't iron worth 2 cents. I have had these since September, 2008. So not too long but no issues. The dryer puts out so much heat even to outside that it has killed half my rosemary bush outside of the dryer window! It does a much more effective job than my old one did.
I do not know about the new washer and dryer you asked about. I have not researched since I am happy with what I have. I hope this is helpful to you.

Ill bet I have more miele product than anyone.

Heres the lowdown-
Laundry products- superb I have the 1215
Ovens I have 2 - superb
Dishwasher- stupendously awesome
Vacuum- unreliable, but amazing when it works.

The drum is a HUGE benefit. Fact is any drum with plastic anywhere WILL scratch. An open zipper weighed down by 10 pounds of laundry and 10 of water will scratch a ladle. Then your clothes will drag over the scratches and snare. The meile drum is amazingly gentle my clothes are lasting a long time.

no laundry system is perfect but the Mieles come pretty close.

Davegvg

Just be careful. I'm seeing that Miele is subbing out the building of some of their machines now so going by the Miele name is like going by the Maytag name of 10-15 years ago. Maybe the name should be Mieltag.

That said, not every Miele owner is a happy owner but most are very pleased. As you see by the postings in this forum some even exaggerate things to pump the name. And I firmly believe that after paying $2000 for a washer, some of the owners wouldn't say if they didn't like the machines either.

I do believe that overall, especially the German built machines are solid and normally reliable machines. I also believe that when you have trouble, they are likely to be expensive repairs. Hopefully you get a machine that doesn't need frequent repairs.

Lastly, on any machine you buy, check the features and see if the cycles are compatible with your laundry habits.

Where did you hear that Miele is subcontracting some of their manufacturing? I've heard they're making some machines outside of Germany, but I assume it's in their own factory.

I wonder if they are truly subbing out the manufacturing of the machines or if, like suburbanmd said it may just be another non-German EU location but still their own exclusive factory, to reduce cost?

I know for instance that my "German" Bosch W&D were actually built in North Carolina which, at the time, was actually a very minor selling point for me. And they were never advertised as German-made, so there were no surprises there.

If it turns out they are coming from China or some place like that I'd be very disappointed as would a lot of other Miele owners / buyers, I suspect.

A link to some definitive information would be helpful at this point. Anyone?

Actually, here's an article about the Miele vacuums that offers both sides of the argument: To their credit, they do all the engineering and component construction at various factories in Germany (in spite of the cost), then send these high-quality parts to China for final assembly.

No idea if this applies to W&Ds, however. I would imagine that the shipping on items that big would be so expensive that you wouldn't want to move them across the globe too much, if at all.

Here is a link that might be useful: Miele Globalization

Here's what Miele says about their factories

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.miele.com/about_miele/about_miele.asp?benefit=108&nav=1&snav=3&tnav=3&oT=267

Miele only made their older generation of their vacuum (body only) in China(S251, S514 and S516). The current S4, S5, and S7 are still made in Germany...

Interesting, wonder why they moved production back FROM China? Exchange rates?

Current generation of Miele vacuum ALWAYS made in Germany because some of us just willing to pay more for stuffs that NOT made in China...

Miele have been selling older generation vacuum from China for some time now at a discounted price, so more people can get into their brand...

I have a question for the Miele Touchtronic 4840 Washer users/owners. According to the Operating and Installation Instructions book (reference pages 17 & 25) it reads there is an 'Anti-crease' program at 'program end' which is suppose to show on the display as well at end of 'No spin' option.

On my 4840 this is not the case. At the end of the program my unit only reads: end. At no time is 'Anti-crease' shown on display.

I have contacted Miele Tech Support & Customer care and could not get a straight answer?! Only guesses and assumptions. PLEASE HELP!!

A few comments from a very new (took delivery yesterday) 4840 owner. I've very pleased with the machine but we're still using our LG gas dryer -- no sense swapping something that still works just fine. We've got several other Miele items and have had no issues other than the normal wear & tear stuff -- we've got a dishwasher that's >5 years old and only now (this weekend) is having some problems with mineral build up on the pump assembly -- I've currently got some white vinegar soaking in the bottom of the machine to work away some of the mineral deposits -- something we have problems with on any water device (shower heads,etc) and which we've done numerous times in the past with good results.

We've also got a Miele vacuum (RedStar) that is somewhere between 10-15 years old and works like it did from day 1.. I've got to go get a replacement part that broke from wear and tear over the years (a piece that holds the hose assembly to the canister inside -- it's still usable but will replace the part when we get some time and $$)

As for the anti-crease program, I see it mentioned in the manual also but no reference to how its used. My guess is that its related to a particular program (e.g. delicates)..

Hey, I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd jump in for what it is worth...

We were a test household for the Touchtronic washers & dryers, set up by a close relative working in the company who, bless her heart, thought she was doing a nice thing.

Over the course of two years I cannot tell you how many times one or both was not working. They always sent a service tech within a week, but with 5 of us in the house a week with no washer or dryer left mountains of dirty laundry and kids wearing dirty uniforms to school (we can't have a clothesline where we live). They replaced the dryer twice during the test period, the washer once. If I'd had any money at all, I would have gone out and bought a cheap Kenmore or something, but that was not the case.

At the end of the test period they collected all the test models and shipped them back to Germany for inspection because they had been such dismal failures. I was "rewarded" for the 2 years of inconvenience with two new machines, which were by now available in stores and ostensibly had all the kinks worked out.

The washer has been fine but I am currently on my third service call for the month of June alone with the dryer.

I am told by my relative that this was Miele's first foray into the "large capacity" world and they tried to cut production costs dramatically and met with massive failure.

Apparently "large capacity" residential-use washers & dryers weren't a big item in Europe, so they had production of only smaller-capacity, efficient machines down to an exact science.

The word is that yes, Miele is scrapping this particular line of washers and dryers and the new ones are rolling out right now (Spring/Summer '09).

So I wish you luck and hope you have successful laundry experience.

When my service warranty runs out next year, I will be getting an old-school, woefully inefficient dryer from Craigslist for $50 because I suspect it will ACTUALLY DRY THE CLOTHES. :)

BTW, I LOVE my Miele dishwasher and both Miele vacuums. They are problem-free (knock wood!) and work wonderfully well, and my sister has 2 Miele wall ovens and a 6-burner cooktop, all fabulous and operating smoothly since their install 3 years ago. I took me a long time to get over the shock at owning a Miele appliance that was NOT top-notch.

Scrapping the big ones? Wow! I haven't seen anything about new ones on their site yet -- any details you are able to share?

Should be interesting to see how how this develops.

Hello
Have had the 4840 W and gas dryer for a year. Hate the dryer-can't manually set the thing to dry for an extra 5 or 10 minutes if needed which is just about every time I do laundry. It is very loud especially when the turbo is on. Have had no repair problems. Would choose another dryer that would allow me to make choices about drying my clothes.

Washer-quiet, clothes come out clean, doesn't vibrate. No repair problems.

Hate the fact that I cannot choose an extra rinse when setting the initial wash settings and must do it manually after the load is done-I would choose a washer with at least 4 rinse cycles like my old Neptune.
The washer also tangles up the arms and legs of our pajamas-yes I have tried other settings-it tangles no matter what. If I put it on max spin it is really bad. Medium spin same tangling but the knots just aren't as tight.

Remember you can't switch the doors on either machine. With that in mind you will have the problem of the dryer hose if your dryer vent isn't on the left side of your laundry space.

Pedastals are great. Best ones on the market and the rods go all the way to the floor connecting the units to the W & D. Very sturdy.

Good luck and remember humans can actually make choices-all is not done with just preprogramed buttons.

The W4840 (W4800 also) has a button marked "Sensitive" that adds an extra rinse on nearly all cycles. So I don't understand your saying that you can't choose an extra rinse. There's also the programming menu (on W4840; W4800 program options can be set only by a technician) with options for extra rinse and water plus. I haven't set the extra rinse option so I'm not sure how it works. Presumably it makes all washes have three rinses, and Sensitive would add a fourth rinse. Maybe someone who's using that option can comment on this.