Recommended types and brands of washing machine - Germany

Hi there,

I am looking to buy a washing machine and am clueless which type/brand is best to go for. I am looking for a front loader as a top loader is not suitable for the space I have. I am also looking for a ´A´for energy efficiency/water to keep bills down and I will be having my first child in March so will probably be doing alot of loads. I have up to 400 Euros to spend maximum and of course any money I can save off that would be very useful as I am a single parent. I also need a good warranty and delivery service. I know this is alot of needs but that´s the situation as it is. Any advice on mashines and where to buy at a good price/deal would be gratefully received.

Thanks

At my place in Eastern Europe, I have a Samsung BigWash that I've had for 3 years and not a single problem with it doing laundry almost daily (I have a kid too). Here in Germany I just bought a Bosch Maxx 6 (€470) and so far it seems like a good washer. I also have a Bosch Maxx 7 clothes dryer (had for about 2 years with daily use) that rocks and I can highly recommend!

Whenever I bought home appliances in the last years I ended up buying Bosch as well. For some reason they are almost always cheaper than the Siemens appliances even though they are exactly the same products. AEG used to be a very good brand as well, but I don´t know if they are still as good as they used to be since they were bought by Electrolux and ceased to produce in Germany. Miele is obviously the top brand in Germany, but they are out of your price range. Samsung seems to be unreasonably expensive here.
Provided you have enough time to shop around you should really check out the special offers at Saturn (e.g. At Alexanderplatz) or MediaMarkt (e.g. Wedding) etc. Their offers often match the cheapest price offered by online retailers and they deliver the appliance right into your flat instead of dumping it at the curb and leaving you with the problem of getting it into your flat. You have to wait for the right offer, though.

I concur with the Bosch recommendation. I bought a used one (Maxx) that came from the UK. Just had to change the plug but the good thing is the controls are in English. I paid 150 euros and it's been working fine. Why not check the paper or websites. I don't think Craigslist has taken off here like in the US, but you might know of others. I raised two kids on my own, so I'm all for being a bargain hunter. PS. The people I bought the washer from delivered it, and my landlord hooked it up. Just let people know you need help

Constructa is the budget line from Siemens.

google for the brand you want there are loads of places that sell whitegoods online so you can usually get a much much better deal online than from Saturn for example.

It might be a coincidence, but I've got a 17 years old Bosch washing maschine that still works fine, so can recommend them. But there are certainly other affordable brands that do the job.

If you don't find a used one, have a look here:
Quelle
Neckermann
Karstadt

Delivery usually includes hauling it upstairs in the apartment (cost about 25 €, look for Versandkosten), for an extra fee they'll connect it. Warranty is 2 years for all electrical appliances, but the pricier maschines often have longer warranties.

If reliabilty is more important than price look no further than a Miele. My washing machine is 18 years old and has never had a hiccup. My dryer is 11 and runs perfectly. Low running costs, but extremely high initial costs. A Miele will set you back about twice as much as a similar machine from Siemens or Bosch, but in my experience worth every cent.

Amazon.de currently has some fantastic price offers on all brands, with free delivery!

Delivery costs can be quite substantial for white goods and most online retailers only deliver to the kerbside, not into the flat. You don´t simply pick up a washing machine and carry it up into your flat, though.
I recently bought a Bosch Logixx 8 dryer here at the local Saturn and their price matched the cheapest price by any online retailer, while the delivery costs were much lower and they delivered right into my flat. It was a special offer and the price rose by 100 € the next week, so you really have to watch out for those special offers. I got similar deals from the local MediaMarkt.

Delivery is usually not a problem with online shops, like the ones I mentioned in my post above. With some offers, it is free, normal price is about 25 €. A recent order of a bulky item at Karstadt went well.

The "Geiz ist geil" markets are less service-minded, so I could imagine more problems with MediaMarkt, Saturn etc.

Quelle, Karstadt and Neckermann aren´t real "online shops" in my understanding. They are old and established brick and mortar or mail delivery shops that have added an online shop as a further sales channel, but let´s not start splitting hairs here. Quelle´s "Privileg" products used to be solid performers, my parents had a number of them, but I don´t know if that is still the case.

I can as well vouch the Privileg quality. When I came to Germany I was really on the budget and got a Privileg washing machine from a colleague for free, it was already about 10 years old. Then I bough a second hand big fridge for 200DM, no idea how old it was. I used both items for 6 years with no problems, I replaced them when I moved because they were ugly, but still worked perfectly. In the way to the recycling dump they were adopted by some Polish guys at the entrance, I hope they are still alive.

Check out:

www.washerhelp.co.uk

Reading the reviews it would appear that the author reckons Miele is the dogs wot-nots…

http://www.washerhelp.co.uk/reviews/miele-overview.html

Miele is sees as the Mercedes of washing machines. Usually has price tag to match. We have had one - in fact it was DOA[sup]*[/sup] (it washed but would not spin) & took 6 weeks to get repaired. Then it delivered 11 years service.

We currently have a Bosch (6kg) & a Bauknecht (5kg) - both work fine.

*Dead on Arrival

Yes, but as I stated above: unfortunately they are well above the thread opener´s budget. You don´t get a Miele for 400 €.