Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK? I'm going to need a new one, and if there
are still any made here, I'd take a first look at them.

I know Hotpoint used to manufacture in Peterborough back when it
was part of GEC and later GE, but as it's now a name owned by
Indesit/Merloni, they might not have any manufacturing here
anymore (I don't know).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 25 May 2009 21:42:04 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) had this to say:

Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK? I'm going to need a new one, and if there
are still any made here, I'd take a first look at them.

I know Hotpoint used to manufacture in Peterborough back when it
was part of GEC and later GE, but as it's now a name owned by
Indesit/Merloni, they might not have any manufacturing here
anymore (I don't know).

Apparently Hoover have recently closed their washing machine plant in
Wales. Not that their recent machines have been any good at all...

Anyone else remember the Rolls washing machine? Wasn't that made in
England?

--
Frank Erskine

In article ,
Frank Erskine writes:
On 25 May 2009 21:42:04 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) had this to say:

Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK? I'm going to need a new one, and if there
are still any made here, I'd take a first look at them.

I know Hotpoint used to manufacture in Peterborough back when it
was part of GEC and later GE, but as it's now a name owned by
Indesit/Merloni, they might not have any manufacturing here
anymore (I don't know).

Apparently Hoover have recently closed their washing machine plant in
Wales. Not that their recent machines have been any good at all...

Just found that Indesit (Hotpoint) are in the middle of closing
their washing machine factory in Wales...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7921557.stm

The Peterborough factory (fridge/freezers) closed last year.

Look like we just can't make anything, sigh.

Anyone else remember the Rolls washing machine? Wasn't that made in
England?


--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 26 May, 01:25, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * Frank Erskine writes:

On 25 May 2009 21:42:04 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) had this to say:

Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK? I'm going to need a new one, and if there
are still any made here, I'd take a first look at them.

I know Hotpoint used to manufacture in Peterborough back when it
was part of GEC and later GE, but as it's now a name owned by
Indesit/Merloni, they might not have any manufacturing here
anymore (I don't know).

Apparently Hoover have recently closed their washing machine plant in
Wales. Not that their recent machines have been any good at all...

Just found that Indesit (Hotpoint) are in the middle of closing
their washing machine factory in Wales...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7921557.stm

The Peterborough factory (fridge/freezers) closed last year.

Look like we just can't make anything, sigh.

Anyone else remember the Rolls washing machine? Wasn't that made in
England?

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

What make will you be looking at now?

Miele?

In article ,
David writes:

What make will you be looking at now?
Miele?

Don't know. I've been very happy with the Hotpoint I've got, which
is 23 years old now. It was top of their range when I bought it.
It was about 16 years before anything went wrong, but I've repaired
all problems with it myself -- Hotpoint spares are easily available
and very cheap. It has very well designed wash programmes -- I have
seen a number of other machines (by no means all), but I've not seen
anything as well thought through. (I did have a few chats with some
of their design engineers over lunch in the GEC staff canteen, and
I found it interesting to know what they were designing the machine
to do at various points in the cycle.)

So I guess DIY servicability, availability of spares at reasonable
prices, and well designed programming would be what I'd look for
in a manufacturer. (e.g. not one which uses drums with no replacable
bearings or seals, so the machine is virtually written off when some
£3 part wears out, which seems to be becoming more common.
Unfortunately, this detail is not on the product data sheets;-)

For the model, I'd be looking for: fast spin, no tumble drier,
5kg (or more) load, half/reduced load option, delayed start.
Ability to remember programmes you create also a plus.

I guess with Hotpoint being just a brand of Meloni now, and the Wales
factory closing, it's questionable if Hotpoint today really has any
connections with the Hotpoint I have. If they were still made in the
UK, I would probably go for the Hotpoint WMD 960, but as they aren't,
I'll browse other manufacturer's models too, but may still go for the
Hotpoint.

The other possibility is to repair the Hotpoint I've got. It needs
a new outer drum at just over £100 -- it's a question of if it's
worth £100+ to mend a 23 year old machine. If it went for another
5 years, then probably yes. If some part died a few months later for
which there are no more spares (such as the motor), then it was just
money and effort down the drain.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

The message
from (Andrew Gabriel) contains these words:

In article
,
David writes:

What make will you be looking at now?
Miele?

Don't know. I've been very happy with the Hotpoint I've got, which
is 23 years old now. It was top of their range when I bought it.
It was about 16 years before anything went wrong, but I've repaired
all problems with it myself -- Hotpoint spares are easily available
and very cheap. It has very well designed wash programmes -- I have
seen a number of other machines (by no means all), but I've not seen
anything as well thought through. (I did have a few chats with some
of their design engineers over lunch in the GEC staff canteen, and
I found it interesting to know what they were designing the machine
to do at various points in the cycle.)

So I guess DIY servicability, availability of spares at reasonable
prices, and well designed programming would be what I'd look for
in a manufacturer. (e.g. not one which uses drums with no replacable
bearings or seals, so the machine is virtually written off when some
£3 part wears out, which seems to be becoming more common.
Unfortunately, this detail is not on the product data sheets;-)

For the model, I'd be looking for: fast spin, no tumble drier,
5kg (or more) load, half/reduced load option, delayed start.
Ability to remember programmes you create also a plus.

I guess with Hotpoint being just a brand of Meloni now, and the Wales
factory closing, it's questionable if Hotpoint today really has any
connections with the Hotpoint I have. If they were still made in the
UK, I would probably go for the Hotpoint WMD 960, but as they aren't,
I'll browse other manufacturer's models too, but may still go for the
Hotpoint.

The other possibility is to repair the Hotpoint I've got. It needs
a new outer drum at just over £100 -- it's a question of if it's
worth £100+ to mend a 23 year old machine. If it went for another
5 years, then probably yes. If some part died a few months later for
which there are no more spares (such as the motor), then it was just
money and effort down the drain.

Have you considered
http://www.iseappliances.co.uk/ ?

Specced in this country and built, if I understand correctly, by
Asko-Asea in Sweden. Had an Asko dishwasher for many years -- no
complaints. The better ISE machines have a 10-year parts and labour
warranty. They sell machines under £500 with a 5-year parts and labour
warranty.

On 26 May 2009 17:38:10 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:


So I guess DIY servicability, availability of spares at reasonable
prices, and well designed programming would be what I'd look for
in a manufacturer. (e.g. not one which uses drums with no replacable
bearings or seals, so the machine is virtually written off when some
£3 part wears out, which seems to be becoming more common.
Unfortunately, this detail is not on the product data sheets;-)

No idea what they are like or cost but http://www.iseappliances.co.uk
claim to be designed for reparability.

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On 26 May 2009 17:38:10 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:


So I guess DIY servicability, availability of spares at reasonable
prices, and well designed programming would be what I'd look for
in a manufacturer. (e.g. not one which uses drums with no replacable
bearings or seals, so the machine is virtually written off when some
£3 part wears out, which seems to be becoming more common.
Unfortunately, this detail is not on the product data sheets;-)

No idea what they are like or cost but http://www.iseappliances.co.uk
claim to be designed for reparability.

£782 for a washer with 10 year warranty - not made in UK but fulfils the
repairability criteria above (or seems to)


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

In article ,
"Bob Mannix" writes:

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On 26 May 2009 17:38:10 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:


So I guess DIY servicability, availability of spares at reasonable
prices, and well designed programming would be what I'd look for
in a manufacturer. (e.g. not one which uses drums with no replacable
bearings or seals, so the machine is virtually written off when some
£3 part wears out, which seems to be becoming more common.
Unfortunately, this detail is not on the product data sheets;-)

No idea what they are like or cost but http://www.iseappliances.co.uk
claim to be designed for reparability.

£782 for a washer with 10 year warranty - not made in UK but fulfils the
repairability criteria above (or seems to)

Except there only seem to be about 4 spare parts available, probably
because they think everything else will be a guarantee repair so you
couldn't need any parts.

So it's about 3 times the price of a Hotpoint, as insurance for no
repairs in 10 years. Well, my Hotpoint had no repairs in 16 years,
so that's maybe not such a good deal. If it lasts 20 years, I could
actually not repair, but completely replace the Hotpoint 3 times,
and still not lose. It looks like a nice machine, but even so, it's
extremely difficult to justify the price tag. The reason for DIY
servicability is to keep the lifetime price down, but with such a
loading up front, you've lost before you even start.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Bob Mannix" writes:

"Peter Parry" wrote in message
...
On 26 May 2009 17:38:10 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:


So I guess DIY servicability, availability of spares at reasonable
prices, and well designed programming would be what I'd look for
in a manufacturer. (e.g. not one which uses drums with no replacable
bearings or seals, so the machine is virtually written off when some
£3 part wears out, which seems to be becoming more common.
Unfortunately, this detail is not on the product data sheets;-)

No idea what they are like or cost but http://www.iseappliances.co.uk
claim to be designed for reparability.

£782 for a washer with 10 year warranty - not made in UK but fulfils the
repairability criteria above (or seems to)

Except there only seem to be about 4 spare parts available, probably
because they think everything else will be a guarantee repair so you
couldn't need any parts.

So it's about 3 times the price of a Hotpoint, as insurance for no
repairs in 10 years. Well, my Hotpoint had no repairs in 16 years,
so that's maybe not such a good deal. If it lasts 20 years, I could
actually not repair, but completely replace the Hotpoint 3 times,
and still not lose. It looks like a nice machine, but even so, it's
extremely difficult to justify the price tag. The reason for DIY
servicability is to keep the lifetime price down, but with such a
loading up front, you've lost before you even start.

I tend to agree. We bought a Beko for £199 which has been faultless so far
(2years). Another 6 months and it's cheaper to just keep buying cheap Bekos
(if not very environmentally friendly) except that it will probably go on
longer than that.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)
--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Tue, 26 May 2009 17:38:10 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
The other possibility is to repair the Hotpoint I've got. It needs
a new outer drum at just over £100 -- it's a question of if it's
worth £100+ to mend a 23 year old machine. If it went for another
5 years, then probably yes. If some part died a few months later for
which there are no more spares (such as the motor), then it was just
money and effort down the drain.

Silly question, but can't you just buy another identical Hotpoint
second-hand? Either take the risk that it will be less worn, or cobble
together the best machine you can using parts from both, or - if you have
space - keep both machines around with one as a spares source for the
other as/when needed.

That hinges on finding an identical one, I suppose (I'm blessed with
washing machine technology here in the US which hasn't really progressed
in a good 40 years - which at least means that parts are very easy to come
by!)

cheers

Jules

£800 with 10yr warranty is WAY too much front loading :-)
Last summer you could scrape a Miele 5yr at 450, 10yr at 620.

Better to wait for the "free 5yr warranty" on midrange.
- Siemens 488 at JL with 5yr warranty (or used to be)
- Stick 312 in 5.2% ISA AAA bond fund at 5yrs = 402 (buys another)
- Stick 312 in 5.2% ISA AAA bond fund at 7yrs = 445
- Stick 312 in 5.2% ISA AAA bond fund at 10yrs = 518 (buys another)

You could instead stick £312 in a loony stock fund (BRIC).
- In which case you MIGHT get 160 312 650 back at 10yrs

Siemens/Bosch W/M pumps are cheap.
However things like a motor will write the machine off, and a door
gasket or such is probably 2-3 times that of a Hotpoint.

Self insurance is worthwhile on many things, except Laptops & TVs due
to parts cost or design faults (T4x R5x X4x ATI BGA failure spring to
mind, trying to get replies on "what Type or graphics chipset is it?"
is hilarious from T43 sellers on Ebay, like asking an MP about
expenses up until this year).

On Wed, 27 May 2009 08:12:24 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

£800 with 10yr warranty is WAY too much front loading :-)
Last summer you could scrape a Miele 5yr at 450, 10yr at 620.

Better to wait for the "free 5yr warranty" on midrange.
- Siemens 488 at JL with 5yr warranty (or used to be)
- Stick 312 in 5.2% ISA AAA bond fund at 5yrs = 402 (buys another)
- Stick 312 in 5.2% ISA AAA bond fund at 7yrs = 445
- Stick 312 in 5.2% ISA AAA bond fund at 10yrs = 518 (buys another)

You could instead stick £312 in a loony stock fund (BRIC).
- In which case you MIGHT get 160 312 650 back at 10yrs

Siemens/Bosch W/M pumps are cheap.
However things like a motor will write the machine off, and a door
gasket or such is probably 2-3 times that of a Hotpoint.

Self insurance is worthwhile on many things, except Laptops & TVs due
to parts cost or design faults (T4x R5x X4x ATI BGA failure spring to
mind, trying to get replies on "what Type or graphics chipset is it?"
is hilarious from T43 sellers on Ebay, like asking an MP about
expenses up until this year).

This is what you get in our "throw-away" society. It's cheaper to
throw away and replace than repair. I'd rather a w/m that lasts a
long time and not have to suffer SWMBO moaning at me to fix it or
replace it every couple of years.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.

Mark coughed up some electrons that declared:

This is what you get in our "throw-away" society. It's cheaper to
throw away and replace than repair. I'd rather a w/m that lasts a
long time and not have to suffer SWMBO moaning at me to fix it or
replace it every couple of years.


My sentiments too. This is definately a Miele moment. Incidentally, I have a
Miele washer - bottom-ish end, comparable features to a top end Bosch (my
other choice). The other benefit to me is it washes *better* than any other
machine I've ever had, doesn't shake itself all over the room (full of cast
iron drum weights, no cheap concrete for them). Seems to take reasonable
levels of abuse too.

Cheers

Tim

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (Andrew
Gabriel) saying something like:

Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK?

Electrolux is still alive and kicking in Luton, and has been for
decades.
http://www.electrolux.com/eoutlet/uk/index.aspx
Ok, the profits go back to Sweden, but at least it's keeping jobs in the
UK.

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (Andrew
Gabriel) saying something like:

Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK?

Electrolux is still alive and kicking in Luton, and has been for
decades.
http://www.electrolux.com/eoutlet/uk/index.aspx
Ok, the profits go back to Sweden, but at least it's keeping jobs in the
UK.
And NOTHING sucks, like an electrolux..

"Grimly Curmudgeon" wrote in message
...
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (Andrew
Gabriel) saying something like:

Anyone know if any of the washing machine manufacturers still make
any of them in the UK?

Electrolux is still alive and kicking in Luton, and has been for
decades.
http://www.electrolux.com/eoutlet/uk/index.aspx
Ok, the profits go back to Sweden, but at least it's keeping jobs in the
UK.

They haven't *made* anything there for many years as they moved all the
manufacture to "low cost countries". I suppose you are keeping the office
staff there in a job by buying Electrolux.


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Bob Mannix"
saying something like:

Electrolux is still alive and kicking in Luton, and has been for
decades.
http://www.electrolux.com/eoutlet/uk/index.aspx
Ok, the profits go back to Sweden, but at least it's keeping jobs in the
UK.

They haven't *made* anything there for many years as they moved all the
manufacture to "low cost countries". I suppose you are keeping the office
staff there in a job by buying Electrolux.

Oh bugger. So, there's just warehousemen and paper-pushers there, now.
I used to have a connection with the place and I must say I'm a bit
disappointed.

Is anything still made in the UK?

Grimly Curmudgeon coughed up some electrons that declared:

Is anything still made in the UK?

Crap management decisions.



In fact we lead the world...

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon writes:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Bob Mannix"
saying something like:

Electrolux is still alive and kicking in Luton, and has been for
decades.
http://www.electrolux.com/eoutlet/uk/index.aspx
Ok, the profits go back to Sweden, but at least it's keeping jobs in the
UK.

They haven't *made* anything there for many years as they moved all the
manufacture to "low cost countries". I suppose you are keeping the office
staff there in a job by buying Electrolux.

Oh bugger. So, there's just warehousemen and paper-pushers there, now.
I used to have a connection with the place and I must say I'm a bit
disappointed.

I was working in that area through the 1980's and early 1990's
and I remember the Electrolux factory closing sometime during
that period, although I can't put a date on it, I think it was
1980's. When I first moved in to the area, I remember
Electrolux and other local large factories being on the regular
road direction signs, which I hadn't seen before, but it wasn't
long before they all pointed to empty factories.

Is anything still made in the UK?

Not if it involves people -- too many other countries to do
that sort of work much cheaper.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 29 May 2009 21:30:09 GMT, (Andrew
Gabriel) wrote:

In article ,
Grimly Curmudgeon writes:
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Bob Mannix"
saying something like:

Electrolux is still alive and kicking in Luton, and has been for
decades.
http://www.electrolux.com/eoutlet/uk/index.aspx
Ok, the profits go back to Sweden, but at least it's keeping jobs in the
UK.

They haven't *made* anything there for many years as they moved all the
manufacture to "low cost countries". I suppose you are keeping the office
staff there in a job by buying Electrolux.

Oh bugger. So, there's just warehousemen and paper-pushers there, now.
I used to have a connection with the place and I must say I'm a bit
disappointed.

I was working in that area through the 1980's and early 1990's
and I remember the Electrolux factory closing sometime during
that period, although I can't put a date on it, I think it was
1980's. When I first moved in to the area, I remember
Electrolux and other local large factories being on the regular
road direction signs, which I hadn't seen before, but it wasn't
long before they all pointed to empty factories.

Is anything still made in the UK?

Not if it involves people -- too many other countries to do
that sort of work much cheaper.

and, with regret, much better! British 'industry' just could not
compete either on price or quality in manufacturing, with certain
exceptions. We concentrated on the 'financial services industry' and
have proven not to be too good at that either :-). Depressing!