Wow, pricier than Electrolux. I'm using the same model, almost 3 years now... I have to admit, the quality isn't very good. Now during washing mode, it makes creaking sounds.

vibration dampener issue? This one is 7kg right?

Washing machine is a very old technology. It should be mature tech for those already manufacturing very longtime.

It shouldn't waste money on the extended warranty. If that brand have such a bad quality that require extended warranty, I won't buy it.

Probably some dampener or suspension system. Yes, 7kg... or was it 8kg, can't recall. It's the same generation.
At that time, Panasonic had the cheapest 7/8kg front loader among major brands. These days, you get more choices. I wouldn't buy the Panasonic if I were to make a purchase today.

This post has been edited by wdarke: Jul 19 2013, 10:51 AM

Depends on what the warranty cover also but yes raise a valid point. Recent Raya promo on Panasonic motor is 12 years.

But the thing is, motor rarely spoils. That is why most of the manufacturers can afford to give 10+ years warranty. These days PCB seems to be the first one that goes. Or the dampener system.

So, what brand and model will you buy today if you need to?

Good question, anything other than Panasonic?
I have heard good reviews about LG. Hitachi inverter units look good too at a competitive price.
If I have the money, I would go for Bosch.

If Bosch, go for the models above RM2.8k, the lower end ones seems very cheaply built.

I took extended warranty on our Panasonic to cover the PCB board, they do provide coverage of 3 years for the PCB board as a standard, but I topped up for another 3 year coverage. Plus mine has a LCD screen, which I think is also capable of failing within a period of 5 years. It was the cheapest available 10kg machine when I got it last year with a whole load features in that price range.

The Mechanical Timer washing machines were the most robust and reliable, however, they are not available anymore.

Those extended warranty that need extra money to cover is to get more profit from you. How much you got to pay for that machine + extra cover? That is an expensive machine already.

Ask yourself why all the extra money to cover never happen last time? And now become a trend. Is this happen to others country too?

What to do, these days appliances are built to fail. It's called planned obsolescence. My mother's front load washing machine is more than 30 years old, and it is still running...

Don't sound like no choice. There is many brand and model in the market. Get a better 1 if that brand is lousy.

The machine should be getting better. Not getting worst.

How do you then know which brand would be the most reliable? Everybody seems to have something to say about every single brand through their own experience. When I bought Panasonic, it was still new in the market, hence I didn't know about their reliability record. My decision was based on features with attractive price point.

Google lah. Even in lowyat forum, you can poll up and know which 1 is better.

I look at it more like insurance, we never know when it is going to fail.

The current washing machines do have more electronics then compared to the machines from 10 years ago and these things are not built to last, if you Google, almost all the brands have their own issues. Probably if you get Miele or so, they may last, but then again are we going to spend about RM 6-7k for a washing machine?

It does make logical sense to take extra coverage of about RM 200 for additional 3 year coverage for items that can go wrong like a PCB board which is likely to fail around 3-5 years of age. At year 6, I think if the machine breaks down, its worth replacing it with another more efficient one. So my calculation on the washing machine price did include the extended cover as well.

Some will go by brand cos parents or relatives used them for generations. No questions asked. Some go by features. Not wrong too. Only riskier. I was gunning for the Panasonic cos the features and load capacity plus water efficieincy is quite compelling and terms of price quite value for money - especially the 10kg. I only held out til today just to see how reliable it is. The risk of new product line even by white goods manufacturer like Panasonic is noted even though they do top loaders. Maybe like cars...long ago we look down on Jap but today...if they continue to kaizen here... who knows....

This post has been edited by halcyon27: Jul 19 2013, 02:42 PM

I would too. I do that even for notebooks. Not worth for hassle. This was a lesson drilled in from a colleague who manages IT assets. About 15 years ago, there was a bad batch of notebook attributed to the hard disk. That batch of disks was bad. Consistently failing until manufacturer of hard disk supplied a firmware patch which fixed it. Then that open my eyes to component quality. Where's it sourced from? Which batch of components give problems. You see that in cars also, the infamous recall - poorly thought out design or bad components or even product update - wrong lubricant used etc, faulty part which can catch fire under certain circumstances.

Yes, even my sales guys tell me go for Electrolux but sometimes the features that they had then wasn't as compelling with some of the other competitors. One example is Whirlpool Sixthsense which uses some sort of load determined logic to calculate how much water to use so its always use water economically. To me that was revolutionary having own one that uses 10litre per kg but 7litre/kg! Panasonic 10kg uses 6.3litre per kg on cotton wash. I thought I will wait it out until my machine spoil. Next thing you know, that's a market standard feature. Friends and colleagues who are LG and Samsung users had been praising their products as to what it does - the ecobubble, washing at 40degree or cold wash, direct drive, inverter, etc. There's always this pull towards something better than what you used last. Hence the a risk in chancing it....extended warranty is quite reasonable.

My first aircon is panasonic. After about 10yrs, spoil. I google around and get back the panasonic but inverter. There is many positif feedback and only 1 or 2 brand have inverter at that time. It been 5yrs using now.

My first top loader washing machine is panasonic and after about 8yrs, the drain vavle spoil. It can be repair with low cost. But decide to give it to somebody. Google around and get a combo LG. It is a positif feedback too accept the rubber seal that grow mold. Been using for 4yrs now.

Been using panasonic fridge for 15yrs now and still here. I m getting sick of it.

Recently brought a sharp TV with 5yrs warranty from the sharp without extra pay for it.

All this without extra cost of warranty. And many others electrical applicance too. We have mass of information in the net to check around. Don't need to pay for some bullshit warranty.

Maybe they want to seal in goodwill because competition is driving them to get components from China. Not surprised. Otherwise, it would have to be European brands at the cost of high upfront cost and chancy probability of not getting parts after x number of years when it starts to break down.

Anyone using Electrolux Combo Washer And Dryer ? Could i have some comments for this appliance? I bought it recently but i found out that it is not that efficiency.It took me around 4 hours plus to complete washing and drying.I am curious is it mine problem or it is normal.