Have u bought a low-end dryer 1-3 years ago?

Parent Cafe
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<p>I am looking to replace my dryer (11 years old)- lots of problems all of a sudden.</p>

<p>I want a min 7 cu ft capacity that allows side-venting, with minimal controls and options.
The Roper (made by Whirlpool, as is Maytag) is too small.
I am asking people who have HAD THEIR DRYERS AT LEAST ONE YEAR BECAUSE I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT RELIABILITY.
My choices are $400-500 (with current discounts) are from HD, Lowes, Best Buy (am afraid to buy from Sears & haven’t to found a place that sells Kenmore, though I hear other outlets do carry them):
GE (made by LG)
Hotpoint
Whirlpool
Maytag (made by WHR)
Amana, I think.
others???</p>

<p>I would so appreciate it if you would share your experience with such a dryer? Many thanks in advance!
p.s. Service in this area is done by third-party companies, so where I buy it is important only in terms of installation, and replacement if there are immediate problems…</p>

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<p>I stopped bying GE appliance more than 10 years ago.
I bought an LG this year. It’s good.
I heard Samsung is good too.</p>

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<p>I have whirlpool that works well but I’ve had it some number of years. If an appliance breaks I fix it myself. Honestly, the designs of these appliances hasn’t really changed in decades. A whirlpool dryer of today is almost identical to a whirlpool dryer of 20 or 30 years ago. Sometimes they throw a fancier looking control on it but they end up all doing the same thing (and IMO you’re better off with the more basic controls rather than a microprocessor controlled digital control which is far more expensive to replace). In fact, my dryer broke the other day (after years and years) but I fixed it myself with a $20 solenoid and it’s now as good as new. </p>

<p>If I was to buy again now I’d probably get Whirlpool again (who also makes some other brands including some Kenmores, but not all, some Costco Kirkland, etc. but I’d stick with the Whirlpool name so you know for sure what you have). It has the advantage that it’s made in large numbers, has a proven design, has readily available spare parts, is easy to work on and fix, most repair people know how to fix it, is priced fairly reasonably, and is fairly reliable.</p>

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<p>when my fancy frontloader bit the dust I replacedit with a low end Kenmore that I bought at Sears…why are you afraid to buy from them?
Its been fine and drys as good or better than the fancy one did</p>

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<p>Cathy,
Check out the recent Sears thread here
And Sears is not doing well financially, nor is Kmart, which they own.
YMMV</p>

<p>Sears does not make their Kenmore appliances anymore, anyway.</p>

<p>Glad your machine is working fine!!!</p>

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<p>normally, the dryer is not the problem. The washer is. I’d go with whatever the cheapest in costco, if it does not work the way you wanted, sent it back.</p>

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<p>Agree. My washer kicked the bucket after only 7 1/2 years. The 12 yr old dryer is still alive, fancy touchpad and all. If you can find a dryer that has “wrinkle guard” option, get it. It is worth paying a few extra bucks for this feature, especially if you frequently forget to promply unload freshly dried clothes. With this feature, the dryer will keep fluffing the load once in a few minutes for a couple of hours after finishing drying, and it does prevent wrinkling.</p>

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<p>Nice to know that, BB–I had no idea what that was!</p>

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<p>dryers are relatively simple things, though some of the newer models with their microprocessor controlled cycles are a bit more complex (and quite honestly, I haven’t seen one yet that really does a better job drying clothes then a basic one). A dryer is basically a thermostatically controlled heat source (electricity or gas) and a motor with a belt to tumble the drum. </p>

<p>In terms of quality, the dryers are a bit more flimsy then they once were, the first dryer we had was one we inherited from my mother in law, a Kenmore unit that died after 20 years. Dryers as another poster said are relatively easy to fix, and most of the time what goes are simple things, a belt breaks, the solenoid that controls the gas flow dies on a gas dryer, a temperature sensor goes (usually a bimetal based device) or the igniter on a gas dryer goes kaput, all of which can be replaced. </p>

<p>To be honest, based on my experience across a range of low end dryers, find one that meets your needs in terms of size and price, and buy it. For one thing, most of the appliances these days are made by one of only a couple of manufacturers (Kenmore used to be made by Whirlpool at one point, in the past they have had their stuff made by white westinghouse, GE and others),whirlpool and maytag are made by the same company. In terms of reliability in my experience they are all pretty much the same, and a Kenmore unit will prob be the same with other low end makes. I have owned frigidaire dryers, and for the money they aren’t a bad deal, and if they drop dead after the warranty is done in 5 or 6 years, they aren’t expensive to replace, either. </p>

<p>One of the things the Consumer Reports surveys show is that the brands with the higher prices, like LG and Samsung, are more reliable, but neither of them make the basic low cost dryers were are talking about. Among gas dryers in units with low cost units, Whirpool and GE appear to be the most reliable, though the difference between them and the next tier of units that includes fridaire and kenmore is 1% (in other words, ge and whirlpool show roughly 6% needed fixing, the next tier is 7%). </p>

<p>Anyway, based on my experience among the lower cost units you can’t go wrong with GE, Whirlpool/Maytag or Kenmore, and that probably extends to Roper, Amana and so forth.</p>

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<p>I purchased a low-end GE dryer 2 years ago for around $500. Initially, I liked the fact that it had a stainless steel drum. Within a few loads, the drum started squeaking. The service tech said that sometimes the drum gets tweaked when the unit gets off-loaded from the delivery truck. After the drum was replaced, it still squeeked. After a couple more service calls and several other parts replacements, they finally replaced it with a GE dryer that does NOT have a stainless steel drum. I’ve had it about 9 months now and no problems.</p>

<p>Whatever you purchase, I would opt for a model without a stainless steel drum. They finally conceded that metal drums expand when they are heated and can cause squeaking sounds.</p>

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<p>I have not shopped for a dryer for 12 years, but when we did look for one, the options were stainless steel or enameled metal. Do they make dryers with plastic drums nowadays? :eek: I would avoid that. My dryer does not squeak, but the enamel started to peel in one spot. Heat plus air plus moisture plus exposed metal = rust. I will have to replace my Kenmore dryer when that inevitably happens.</p>

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<p>My 9-month old dryer drum isn’t enamel over metal and it isn’t stainless. It is some type of white synthetic material. The last GE tech who came out to service my last dryer said that the white drums are the most trouble-free.</p>

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<p>You mean all dryers don’t squeak???</p>

<p>I just close the door. The dog thinks there’s a mouse, and that keeps him occupied by the door to the utility room, which is fine with us.</p>

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<p>Can’t do that, mini - the catboxes are in the laundry room. As soon as I close the door, one of the cats has to go. :)</p>

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<p>I vote for Costco…they extend the manufactures warrant to 2 years (instead of 1). Also be wary of LG. I was researching French Door fridges and several honest, non-commissioned sales people warned of bad (or completely unavailable) service, parts that can take weeks to receive and a general ‘who cares’ attitude after a sale has been made. Not sure about the Samsung.</p>

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<p>We’ve been buying appliances off Craigslist for installation in our rentals. I know there’s no warranty etc. but boy the prices are good for some really nice appliances that are only a year or two old for a fraction of original price.</p>

<p>I don’t think we will ever buy a new appliance again, even for our own use (unless we need some ultra high end stuff someday :D, but I’ve even seen some of those come through in our small middle of nowhere town)</p>