That would be very low and doesn’t match any numbers I’ve seen or heard.
I did find this:
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/what-is-the-life-expectancy-of-a-washing-machine-13410626.html
Average Life Expectancy
The average washing machine bought today for a home has a life expectancy of around 11 years for a front-loader and 14 years for a top-loader.
Something else to consider is energy efficiency and water usage, factors that have improved (at least sometimes with the help of government mandates) over time. It may well be that increasing sophistication/complexity of modern washers contributes to perceptions/reality of lower longevity.
I see that there are still washers available that are touted to be exceptionally sturdy, such as a consumer model sold by Speed Queen and the Miele W1, both claimed to endure for at least 10,000 washing cycles which typically means you should be good for 20-25 years.
As for the idea that manufacturers are deliberately cheaping out on quality so that you’ll have to replace their products more often, I don’t see this happening in general. Cars today are vastly more reliable than they were in the 1980s and 1970s (shudder*), and consumer electronics in many areas have seen marked reduction in price and last longer than they did in a mythical “golden age”.
*in the post-Chevy Vega era I have never had to start my car by opening the hood and connecting two terminals with a screwdriver, a trauma I share with Dave Barry.
Anecdote follows:
We were having difficulty w/ our top-load washer unbalancing. Google revealed it to be a common problem, and further Google suggested lifespan of IIRC 5-7 years. We regretted leaving our perfectly serviceable 10-yr-old washer/dryer in our old house.
We’ve jury-rigged a solution so the problem is not as bad.
We read with interest proposals in the EU that appliances be designed to be repairable, rather than needing to be replaced when the weakest part fails.
I have immense respect for the agent who found a buyer for the house who shared the seller’s predilection for dried avocados.
Not just proposals:
Published Tuesday, March 2, 2021
New EU rules have been introduced that require manufacturers of electrical goods such as fridges and televisions to make their products repairable for at least 10 years after first coming to market.
The rules are designed to enshrine circular economy practices into law and reinforce consumer rights to repair products.
Manufacturers or importers will now be obliged to make a range of essential parts such as motors, pumps, shock absorbers and springs available to professional repairers for up to ten years after the last unit of a specific model has been placed on the EU market.
EU introduces ‘right to repair’ rules for electrical goods | E&T Magazine (theiet.org)
Maybe the OP could link us to where he “read” that manufacturers are intentionally making machines have a shorter lifespan.
Maytag is a brand of Whirlpool now.
As for the lifespan question. I’ve got an LG front loader that’s 13 years old. As a conservative estimate, it’s done over 3,400 loads. Only problem it’s had so far is needing a new water valve assembly, but that was the fault of hard water, not of the machine, and it was an easy DIY fix.
The question I’d ask is what does “good for” mean? Does it mean time without ANY repairs, does it mean time until it irreparably fails in some way, or does it mean until some part fails that’s not economical to repair/replace?
My personal thought is that 7 years seems low for the last two, but probably dead on for the first one. I wouldn’t expect any repairs at all for the first 7 years, but sometime after that, you start doing the “is it worth it to repair it?” questioning after that.
Other things like cars have large repair bills, but even the largest single repair is usually less than say… 20% of the price of a new car. What makes appliances different is that they often have repair quotes that are 40-70% of the price of a new one, and that huge amount often means that it’s considered a better use of that money for a new one, instead of repairing an old one.
Anecdotal data poin t:
My 1996 Maytag washer is still running with not a single repair. I love that thing!
My 1996 Maytag dryer needed bearings, motor and a belt. There really isn’t much left after that, but theyw ere easy repairs.
This is really the center of the issue.
Particularly with the more heavily electronic appliances, if the “brain board” dies on a 6 yo machine, the part sells for half the price of a whole new machine. Plus labor and unlike the washers of the 1960s, there may well be special tools and software needed to diagnose the problems, foreclosing DIY as an option for the vast majority of users.
Coupled with creeping feature-itis which was probably in its heyday for washer driers in the 2010s, it became all too easy to justify throwing one away at the first expensive repair.
Nowadays washers seem to have reached a plateau of complexity. There are only so many ways to gold plate that particular pig. Stereos have their audiophiles, cars have their driving enthusiasts, guns have their insatiable collectors, but I’ve never met a laundrophile. And don’t expect to.
The result is that I don’t see a 2025 or 2030 clothes washer or dryer being materially better at doing its job than a 2020 unit. Which will swing the balance of benefits back towards repair & keep using, versus premature replacement.
I love that idea.
“Would you like to come to my place and see my vintage washing machine collection? I’ll let you run a load.”
Maybe there could be shows. People taking pictures of immaculately restored avocado and goldenrod Kenmores. “Ooo look, an 1957 Dumont! They only made them for the one year!”
Speed Queen, for one, still sells washers and dryers with mechanical controls. These are often what you’ll find in commercial laundromats but they’re also available for home use. But they seem to be several hundred dollars more expensive than the more easily available ones with electronic controls and I have no idea if the efficiency is better or worse. So is it worth it?
I saw a report on CBS Sunday Morning about people who actually collect and use old, vintage washing machines, so one option is to seek one of those out. I remember decades ago when the mechanical control on our washer failed, we were able to get a refurbished replacement through the local appliance parts dealer.
The good washers (eg Miele) say they are reliable for 20 years:
We are the only manufacturer in our branch of industry to test products such as our washing machines, tumble dryers, dishwashers, and ovens to the equivalent of 20 years’ use.
At least that is a concrete claim. I had one that lasted about that long, though it was serviced once. Never had a Speed Queen.
Our GE front loader failed catastrophically after 4 years. The main problem with front loaders is all the weight of the drum and clothes is cantilevered off the rear bearing. And the drum is very heavy. It has several concrete weights on the far end to help balance it, Like 60 pounds of them. There is also a ring that goes around the front of the drum filled with 1" ball bearings that circulate and offset any vibration.
But the main shaft seals failed and then the bearing got noisy and allowed the drum to droop. This caused the ring of bearings to fail and they started shooting out. It was terrifying. I wouldn’t go near the thing as it was hopping around the floor making loud banging noises. I managed to throw the breaker.
I had already bought the bearing and seal kit so I took a look at it. It is damn hard to get apart even with step by step pictures. Everything is so darn heavy. To slide the drum out after getting down to it and removing all the springs and braces was going to take a couple of helpers. I could see the front part of the drum had cracked. You cannot buy it as a separate part and the entire drum and spider was a few hundred dollars. I took it apart and hauled it to the curb.
I bought a new Electrolux and it is very smooth and nearly silent.
The good news is that top loading HE washers are getting better and larger. So we should reach the point of the energy & water efficiency and gentleness on clothes of the front loaders with the durability of top loaders.
I half suspect that the reason for lesser durability is because of a combination of relentless downward pressure on costs, combined with higher requirements due to energy/environmental constraints. For example, our “new” washer (it’s probably 8 years old by now) has an extremely high spin cycle speed. It sounds like some kind of jet turbine when it spins. And it does get the clothes drier than the previous one did for sure. Presumably a faster spin cycle and less drying time is more efficient overall than a slower speed and longer drying time. But it is more mechanically demanding. Same thing for the actual wash cycle- ours has some kind of sensors that will adjust the water level to just cover the clothes and no more, so that the load is pretty clothes-dense, relative to the old way where I typically went for more water than the new one uses. I imagine moving clothes around in water is easier on the motor and associated parts, than moving sodden clothes around in a minimum of water as well. I also wonder if the energy use requirements might mandate a smaller motor than what they used to use as well.
Isn’t there a fundamental aspect of the physics, that something spinning on a horizontal access with loose and therefore transiently uneven loads will always put more stress on the bearings that something spinning on a vertical axis?
Front loaders have many more points of failure. That I’ve read in every article I’ve seen on this subject. The bearings & motor have more stress, the gaskets can fail and cause issues, they are apparently more prone to building up bad odors are among the things I’ve seen cited. ETA: they take longer to wash.
They clean better, are more efficient and gentler on clothes. But they also cost significantly more and last less time. ETA: they take longer to wash.
A big issue with front loaders is that they don’t rinse off detergent as well as top loaders. Which isn’t an issue if your skin is fine with that, but for some people, it’s a big itch issue and requires a 2nd rinse, which then consumes more water than a top loader just doing it once.
We read with interest proposals in the EU that appliances be designed to be repairable, rather than needing to be replaced when the weakest part fails.
On a slightly different topic, gas stoves (top only, a set of gas rings plus controls). We had to output the house of my parents after the place burnt down, so all appliances were new. After about four years of not so heavy use one of the controls became floppy and the burner could not be used. We called in a service technician, who looked at it, said that it was not economic to repair it, and they were designed as such.
There is some debate as to whether many consumer electronics are designed to last for the length of the warranty, plus a few days. There could be some truth in that, but on the other it is very rare nowadays for such items to fail prematurely.