Check out Electrolux, they have a second floor guarantee. Should find one that has an onboard heater and ensure the dryer has reverse tumble.

I'm about in the same place as you with my 17 year old Neptune. We choose to telling the bearing, $160 with husband and son doing the four hour repair. I have never had anything but brilliant perfect service from mine although the internet is full of hate for them, I dearly love mind and can't imagine giving it up.

I wouldn't consider anything but a SQ. I would prefer a front loader but they are significantly more expensive, so for our budget I would probably go with a top loader.

Em Eff- lucky you, to have folks who can repair. My son and husband are busy with careers and have ZERO expertise. So I have to take it as it comes.

Cal- The Electrolux I've found is too big for my needs. I may have to make a choice between drum capacity and size. YUK!

Speed Queen- if the laundry area wasn't so close to living areas and a working office, I'd jump in an instant. But it is VERY noisy. Even their front loader. I don't wish to live in a place that sounds like a laundr-o-mat.

Laurie, I totally agree, my husband is very mechanical and my son is an engineering student. It wasn't an easy repairs and not everyone would even want to do that. I just had to chime in because from what I hear of the new washers they would be a big disappointment after the Neptune.

Mamapinky, that price is got a TL correct? Last time I proceed their FL it was adding $1400.

Sorry---Mamapinky, that price is for a TL correct? Last time I priced their FL it was around $1400.

Em Eff- I'm sort of mourning the death of the Neptune, circa 2002. Years ago (we had just moved) we had a repair person in- owner of a company. A small adjustment, caused by the move. He told me in no uncertain terms how lucky I was to have it. Showed me very simple ways to keep it in good condition.

But 15 years is a good run...I have to deal with what I have at hand. :(

Electrolux makes a compact, which will fit. So does Bosch

A Miele washer is not $4k. Are you looking for both a washer and dryer? The Miele w30xx series are $2k for the washer.

Saw Sears ad tonight on TV. Some great buys on Kenmore FL LG built sets. Talking to a friend today and she said she has an Electrolux set that she says is about 7 year's old without one problem on either machine.

A few of us on here have recently purchased the Whilrpool 8540 front loader and have been quite pleased. It's a version that Lowe's has and they do feature some great sales ..

homepro01- Thank you. I think I've been looking at the "Little Giant" series, and from what I can see, they're around $4100 (stainless) or $3700, white. I'll check into the other model.

Sheilaaus122- Whirlpool is a brand that our repair person recommended as the "rarely breaks, and inexpensive to repair if it does". Will consider'

Sparky- am considering Electrolux, but the dimensions didn't seem to work for me. Am looking into other models, though.

Laurie,

The little giant is a big machine internally. I have several of the w30xx series and they more than handle my laundry needs for a family of four including large flat king sheets. Definitely get the LiGis if you want them because of the additional flexibility but they are not necessary for most homes! If I find one on sale, I would love to have one though:-)

homepro01- do you need special detergent for your Miele?

Nope. Any HE detergent works. I use Persil but many on this forum use a variety of products. I have also used Grab Green with good success.

Like rococogurl said above Electrolux makes a compact set. That would fit. I have the Miele w30xx and love it. Thin to medium thick queen bedding fits.

"If I find one [LiGis] on sale, I would love to have one"

When does that EVER happen? Please tell me!! AFAIK, the Miele washers never go on sale. Oh please tell me they do, and when!

People find used or new but never installed Miele machines and are able to profit from the discounts. Enduring found one that was rebuilt, I believe (she can elaborate).

However, price fixing has been permitted and high end manufacturers fix prices of Miele, Sub Zero etc. They are difficult to discount and any discount usually involves a price break on a less tightly controlled brand. Floor models do get sold and they can be found in scratch n dent rooms. But most big box stores don't carry Miele so no "sales" per se.

HI, my old Miele wasn't rebuilt, but just gone over by a Miele certified appliance repair man. And, darn, I just saw another w1918 on craigslist in another state that would mean a 4 hour drive. For pretty cheap. I might want to do this again, lol. If nothing else, I could use it for parts. This w1918 is a 240v unit, but still small like the w30xx series. But this puppy can get to 190f degrees. So I have a newish Miele w/d set upstairs in my main bathroom laundry area, and the older w1918 down in the basement with matching dryer.

ETA: yes rococogurl, the mechine did have some work done on it now that I think about it. It got a new gasket and new hoses, but I don't think anything else was done to it. I believe the matching dryer got a new belt.

I have a Speed Queen top loader and I was surprised to hear that they are considered loud. Mine doesn't bother me. It's quieter than my dryer, I think.

I have experienced a few months (living with relatives while waiting for my current house to be ready to move into) of trying to sleep in a bedroom that was right across from a laundry room that had a front loading washer. It really bothered me because it just went on and on, taking quite a long time to wash each load of clothes. That washing machine was always running...they had to run it every day because they couldn't get the laundry done on a specific laundry day, because it takes so long to wash a load of clothes. I seriously despised that thing because of it constantly running.

So...while it may be true (but, I'm not so certain it is true...I think the sound of a front loader spinning the water out of clothes is pretty loud) that a SQ top loader makes more noise while washing a load of clothes, it washes loads quickly...very quickly compared to most front loading machines. So, the noise of the SQ is only for a short amount of time vs a front loader. You might want to do some research into how long front loaders take to wash a load, if you haven't done this already.

Not every front loader is noisy. Some must be I suppose. I personally would base a decision on how well my clothes got clean and how gentle the washer was on them, not on how long it took to do a load of laundry. I currently am stuck with a top loader, which is very loud and quick, but it's also way rougher on my clothes than my excellent front loader was. And I could never do woolens in the top loader.

Soon as I move I will get another front loader. But everyone has their preferences.

My front loader is not loud. Actually, I only notice it when my clothes have metal buttons and it goes into the 1400rpm mode to spin the clothes dry. Once properly balances, the Front Loader should be barely noticeable. I did laundry at my sisters who has a top loader a few weeks ago and I was shocked as to how wet clothes come out of a top loader. My clothes are practically dry when they come of the washer and need a small amount of time in the dryer. I iron most things so I don't dry by clothes to bone dry.

Rococogurl, it's true that it doesn't matter how quickly a machine does a load of clothes, if it ruins the clothes. :-)

I've never had any problems with the Speed Queen being rough with my clothes. I enjoy the fact that it washes quickly, because I am able to have a "laundry day" (more of a morning, actually), once weekly, where I wash all my clothes. I mostly hang them to dry (except towels and unclothes). So, I'll do a load that needs the dryer, then a load or two I can hang up. It all goes pretty quickly.

When I was using the front loading machine, it took about 1 hr 20 min to do a normal load and maybe 2 hours for a load on what I remember was called something like sanitize. I usually do 6 loads per week. I was really unhappy with how long it took to wash clothes and I ended up doing laundry multiple evenings each week, instead of on just one morning. The people we stayed with (family) did a load every single morning. The sound that the machine made when turned on woke us up every morning (it couldn't be turned off), then it would fill and tumble. The tumbling was quiet, but it was still audible because you could hear the wet clothes tumbling around. When it would spin out the water, it was loud. It sounded like a jet engine revving up or something. It has a reverse tumble, but my clothes always seemed to come out of there twisted up (which caused some of my clothes to come out misshapen). The twisting was especially bad with sheets. The whites also did not come as clean as I would have liked, even though I followed all the directions and didn't use much laundry detergent. While I was there, they had to have the repair guy out. He found that the machine had eaten a sock and some sort of tassel. These were lodged in the pump, if I remember correctly. The other problem was that the washing machine smelled a bit like mold, though they did keep the door open between loads. The clothes that came out were more dry than they are coming out of my top loading machine. But, the matching (energy star) dryer still took quite a long time to dry them.

Overall, I really did not enjoy my experience with a front loader. So, when my old Maytag washing machine quit (it was close to 20 years old), I got the Speed Queen top loader. I did "hack" it so that it will fill completely with water. It's not quite as good as the old Maytag, but I'm, overall, very pleased with it.

I do agree that the front loading washing machines look more "snazzy." But, for me, it's important that a machine wash fairly rapidly and get my clothes clean. The speed queen has never caused any damage to my clothes. It had both a hand wash and a delicate cycle and, if you want to wash something more delicate on a normal cycle (washes for longer) you can adjust the agitator, independent of the cycle picked. So, the agitator can be set to delicate, no matter which cycle you select.

Edited for swypos.

This comes up periodically that people say TLs are tougher on clothes but I really think it must depend on the machine, whether it be TL or FL. All my adult life I have used TLs to wash vintage stuff. Most of those machines are long gone (:-((, I really loved my GE with the minibasket) so I will comment on the SQ TL.

I wash all kinds of wool, cashmere, antique and vintage linens/fabrics, lace and silk in my SQ TL, handwash or delicate cycle, with no problems. The most delicate thing I have done is wash whole shorn sheep fleeces in the machine. I don't use a cycle but fill the machine, pressing the water/detergent through the fleece by hand, soak and then spin. This requires several washings and rinsings and very little movement of the fibers or you have a big mess. I used this method for a very fragile already shredded black silk Victorian dress that I wanted to use for Halloween. It was filthy but I didn't want it to shred anymore. It worked great. You could not even do that with a FL. I know these are not what most people are washing but this is a way to wash extremely fragile items. You could do it in a big sink but the spin is invaluable, removing more water, so less stress on this stuff when you pick it up and lay it out to dry.

We also wash some very expensive, kind of fragile items in our business on regular cycles and they don't get torn up or twisted.

Wear and tear on regular clothing would be very difficult to gauge and laundry chemicals come into play too. I have always thought dryers are more wearing to clothes than washing machines, especially with extended tumbles, so most delicate things see none to just a few minutes depending on what it is.

wekick, when you wash the delicate stuff (other than sheep fleeces), how big a load do you do, in how much water?

It could be any size. It depends on colors and the fibers. I am always worried about colors bleeding. I would err towards smaller loads. I fill it so everything is submerged. If I have something long and narrow, I would put it in a lingerie bag. The fabric selector has to be on delicate to slow the agitation and spin. If I still think something is heavy with water, like a wool blanket or even a heavy sweater, I might take it out and carefully align it and spin again with fabric selector on regular with fast spin. For wool or cashmere, I wash and rinse with shampoo or a mild detergent with no enzymes and then run another wash and rinse with a squirt of hair condition in the wash. This allows you to block a garment or blanket with ease. It also keeps it from felting. You can reverse some mild felting too.