Looks like my trusty Kenmore FL of 9 yrs. is going to fail on me. Sounds like a bearing problem, I hear a loud noise during the final spin cycle.

From the posts I've read the repair is not worth doing because it close to replacement cost.

I've been shopping and it's amazing to see the variety of products out there in FL. In 2000 the choices where pretty limited. Now there's quite a bit of options as well as some astronomical prices.

I'm interested in Steam washing as well as some of the more advanced vibration reducing technologies. They happen to come with a premium cost 2x what a regular washer would cost. That coupled with the 11 year expected lifetime for a FL, I'm wondering if it's worth the extra $$$ for the additional gizmos.

Given my experience, I'm trying to determine what things I should look for in a washer, and what I could expect for the regular washer warranty to cover in the case of a failure. I now know about the bearing issue, but are there any other major repair gotchas I need to be thinking about?

Right now I'm thinking the 10 year DD motor warranty on LG would save me from the bearing issue. Are there other big repairs that would make that coverage moot because they could occur after a year of ownership, before 10 years, and not be covered by the motor warranty?

Mike

Guess the 10 years warranty covers just the motors, not bearings.
I'm rather skeptic about steam : not a case commercial washers don't use it, unless they are *steam heated*

steam heated

Right now I'm thinking the 10 year DD motor warranty on LG would save me from the bearing issue. Are there other big repairs that would make that coverage moot because they could occur after a year of ownership, before 10 years, and not be covered by the motor warranty?

Bearings and spider are the weak points of these models