Egads. Pretty convincing. Looks like cost cutting goons took over!
I was just at my indie store today (looking at cooktops now!) and the sales guy said he had heard the 2018 was not as good as 2017. Glad I got their last 2017 a couple of weeks ago!
PS - Who knew YouTube had so much information on it!?
Disappointing news, and if I needed to buy a washer now I would grab a 2017 mechanical dials model while they are still available.
When I bought my Speed Queen washer early in 2017 the salesperson told me that the washer was being changed in 2018 for energy savings. He suggested buying before the model changed. I have faith that the 2017 should hold up well as they are the exact same model that we use in laundry rooms just without the coin operator. They last for years with heavy use.
My W&D were delivered yesterday and unfortunately the installer told me I needed to get an electrician. The old dryer was “hard wired” to the electric, so I needed to get the electrician to add a 220v outlet. Luckily I have a wonderful electrician who is very accommodating. He swung by here at 6:55 AM today and installed it!
I’m in laundry heaven right now. I can’t believe how short both the washing and the drying cycles are.
Hardwiring was a fad apparently. The ovens in our house were hardwired and so were the D/W and the fridge. Mr. B has fun adding outlets. 
Glad you like the new machines!
@BunsenBurner : Is there some advantage to hardwiring?? Does it lessen the risk of electrical problems?
It certainly adds complexity to changing out the machine!
@VeryHappy do you have a 2017 or 2018 model? I mean it’s only February…
- My instruction manuals have October and November 2017 dates on them.
Very nice!!!
No advantages as far as I can tell. It just reduces the cost as there is no outlet or plug needed. With a plug, if the appliance misbehaves, you can simply yank the plug. With a hardwired one, you need to kill the circuit… going into the breaker box room and finding the right one might take a little while.