A suggestion: Once you've arrived at a conclusion for what make/model of washer and dryer you think you'll purchase, do some internet searching looking for any kind of recurring issue(s) with them. We purchased a Maytag Bravos pair about 3 years back.......and the washer went belly up earlier this year, displaying an error code that I quickly found out was a chronic issue with this particular line of washer. Seems like it was not a matter of "if" we were ever going to have this problem but "when" would it occur! Dug up a factory service manual for the machine complements of the internet, did the diagnosis, bought the new part locally, and replaced it. Straightforward but expensive fix - though I'm sure I saved a bunch versus calling in a service tech to figure it all out. And I about fell over when the guy at the parts counter where I purchased the replacement part told me their store in Columbus had sold 47 of that particular part in the first 4 months of this year alone........and 143 of them in 2010!
Boy Howdy!
Here's the really interesting part: I knew that, like many other industries, there had been some consolidation of appliance manufacturers over the years. But the part that needed replaced (motor control board - basically, the electronic brains of the whole machine) is also used in other brand washers besides Maytag that are also manufactured by their parent company Whirlpool, namely Whirlpool (obviously), JennAir, KitchenAid, Amana, and several other brands that I don't believe are sold in the U.S. But I suspect they also manufacture under other brand names as the part I replaced was listed as being used for Sears Kenmore, Admiral, Magic Chef, Norge, and Roper washers as well.
Point is, do as much research in advance as you feel necessary to potentially avoid any of these "lemon" type of issues.
Bill
