We had a similar experience: a repairman thoroughly recommending Speed Queen and insisting that was all they used at home. After doing a little bit more research we went in this direction.
But … we made sure to get a 2017 model. Googling “speed queen 2017 vs 2018” shows a large number of YouTube video reviews that suggest they’ve made some engineering decisions for their 2018 model that aligns them more with the other brands (i.e. a more disposable and breakable nature). Unfortunate.
Whirlpool Cabrio H2Low
Got one, based on the fact that my son had one and it performed amazingly.
My favorite thing about this, aside from the fact that unlike my old one it gets clothes clean and does not tear them up, is that it has a HAND WASH CYCLE.
Top loader, but there is no agitator.
No idea how long it will last but my son has had his for ~8 years.
I took a quick look at Consumer Reports (CR), perhaps some of this will help. The two choices you have among top-loaders are the agitator type, and the top-loading HE (high efficiency) models. Let’s cover the non-HE models first.
It shows Speed Queen is among the highest in the reliability rating when it comes to the traditional top-loading agitator models. It’s estimated five year breakage rate was 10% according to Consumer Reports based on years 2009-2016. Obviously some of it is estimated during the later years. Among other brands, the reliability wasn’t too meaningful. Amana 14%, Whirlpool and Maytag 17%, GE and Kenmore 18%.
What I found strange about their rating system though, is Speed Queen’s overall number was considerably lower than other brands, wasn’t even in the top ten. In fact, their first model comes in at 17. Oh well, at least they are reliable.
If you go with an agitator top-loader, four of the seven top spots are Maytag, all others are Kenmore. The Kenmore model that came right behind the top Maytag model that was about half the price and scored just a couple of points lower was the Kenmore 22242. Price on it was $480, compared to the Maytag MVWB865GW which was $900.
Now getting to the top loading HE (high effieciency) models. LG comes in tops in reliability, but CR says it’s not overall as significant from other brands though, with the exception of Samsung which it doesn’t recommend. The ratings from different brands show, 14% for LG, Maytag and GE 16%, Kenmore 18%, Whirlpool 19%, and Samsung 23%.
So for HE, the LG WT5680HVA model got top billing but was $1,080. Samsung got the next four spots for HE, but again, it wasn’t a brand that CR was recommending due to reliability. Here are some affordable HE models you might consider that were further down the list, but numbers wasn’t but just 3 points lower than the top spot. Take a look at Kenmore 26132 priced at $550, and Kenmore 27132 @ $600.00.
Thanks very much for that, razncain! I don’t have access to Consumer Reports and that was very helpful!
Unfortunately, many of those options don’t work for me, for various different reasons. Speed Queen is hard to find and would probably also be hard to find service for, and probably also too expensive as the competing Maytag Commercial model sold for residential use costs about twice as much as the average washer.
And Kenmore is no longer an option anywhere in Canada, thanks to Wall Street crook Eddie Lampert, who was largely responsible for the failure of Sears Canada by bleeding it of cash – a business that had been thriving coast to coast since 1953 – and is now doing the same thing to Sears in the US (you have to turn off ad blockers or whitelist to access that site).
Samsung is too expensive and the open lid too tall to fit under the cabinets anyway. LG is also pretty costly and they’re the ones who made my failed front-loader, plus they refused to give me the flat-rate repair option because according to the serial number the washer manufacture date is a few months outside the maximum eligible age, so screw LG.
But I’m heartened by the fact that Kenmore, although they don’t make any of their own stuff, seems to have a good record of picking good quality machines from other manufacturers. As I mentioned in post #17, one of the Kenmores that lots of folks seem to like is the same machine as the Maytag MVWC565FW, which is a fairly large top-loader, and although it’s HE, it does have a fairly conventional agitator, which I consider a plus. And similarly, both of the Kenmores you mention at the end – 26132 and 27132 – appear to be GE machines. They appear to be variants of the GE GTW680, which has some nice features including a speedy wash but which I ruled out for a variety of reasons.
One of the wonders of the Internet is that you can find YouTube videos of many of the popular machines in operation, going through their full cycle. And although there seem to be differences of opinion about washplate washers vs. those with agitators, I couldn’t help noticing that some of the washplate videos showed the same pile of clothes sitting more or less motionless on top while the washplate scrubbed away on the bottom ones, whereas agitator machines seem to move things around much more.
You can see what a nightmare this all is!
For these and other reasons, my current inclination is either the Maytag MVWC565FW or springing for getting my LG front-loader repaired after all.
Like most anything else, you can buy Speed Queen on Amazon. Free shipping for many of them too!
Speed Queen sounds too much like a Transvestite Crack Whore for my taste.
:D:D:D
It’s not sexy and our local Sears is closing, but I’ve been happy with the Kenmores that replaced the Whirlpools and GEs in our house after they broke down. I wasn’t aware they were actually other brands! I’m sorry you can’t get them in Canada.
Please forgive my lack of contribution to your thread and accept my best wishes that you find something suitable!
So this morning the Maytag I mentioned in post #24 was delivered. And after the delivery guys were done installing and testing, I ran a test load of laundry, and I submit this commentary as a public service! 
Lots of things in the bad reviews (which seem to infest all washing machines) were wrong wrong wrong! It’s not particularly noisy – it sounds like a washing machine, which, coincidentally, is just what it is. True, the old front loader was indeed quieter until it started rinsing and spinning, but it’s just the sound of the agitator, which the front loader didn’t have, and which I consider a feature, not a bug.
And it doesn’t take “forever” to do a load – it ran through a normal wash cycle much faster than the old front loader, somewhat reminiscent of my original old top loader from before “High Efficiency” was even invented. I wish I had timed it but I didn’t. It doesn’t use “too little” water – on the normal cycle and auto sense, it had plenty of water in my test load. And I could see this because – again contrary to some of the stupid reviews – the lid stays unlocked until the rinse cycle, so you can peek in and add things.
My only little surprise is the extent to which the loosely mounted tub vibrates the entire machine when it’s in the final spin cycle. The installer assured me this was normal, and the machine is indeed perfectly level and stable. In fact in playing around with other models of top loaders in the store, all the tubs seemed to be mounted with a tremendous amount of room to wiggle around and vibrate. But the vibration noise through the floor (my laundry room is on the second floor with the bedrooms, where a laundry room belongs – another thing I consider a feature, not a bug!) is actually much less than with the front loader, probably because the front loader spin was like a freaking jet engine. It’s not at all objectionable, mainly I just worry about vibration knocking something loose in the works of the machine.
Anyway, very happy with it, and I want to point out once again this excellent xkcd cartoon on Internet product reviews: 
There are really only about a dozen companies that actually manufacture appliances. Here’s a link to a handy chart: