Can you buy a washing machine without a welded drum?

Hi, the only reason is to save money on screws, and presumably it makes assembling on the production line easier and quicker. It might not sound much, but if you can save on the cost of about 20 large screws on every washing machine you can save a significant cost when you make millions a year.

The only other "advantage" is that they don't have to store and stock any of the parts inside the outer drum as spare parts because you only sell the whole thing - and the price of it is so expensive no one wants to buy them.

I would imagine that saves manufactures much more money than the savings in screws. There's no advantage to customers unless by any chance some of these savings are passed on to us in lower purchase costs. However, even if they are, the savings are in my opinion far outweighed by the drastic lack of repairability and shorter life many of them will have.

Actually, the cheapest is the WDA 101which can be bought for £599.Still a hefty price but with a projected ifespan of 20 years I reckon it is worth the money

cheapest Miele washing machine is 700quid (£699) and only 7kg.... thats a fair hefty price, but then again I suppose you have to take into account that Miele always has a good reputation for going on for years and years...

ah yes I see what you mean - my Hotpoint WMUD started being noisy on spin and the drum bearings were going, and on that it was a sealed drum where you couldnt just change the bearings couldnt 'split' the drum outer tub either. I ended up getting a complete tub off internet for 90quid and replacing the whole drum before the bearings totally went, lovely and quiet after that. If it had been a previous Hotpoint I would have been able to get a set of drum bearings for around 20quid.

My Previous Hotpoint (wmf model I think it was) was a great machine for servicing. The whole front of the machine could be removed by screws, getting easy access to the drum and lower drum weight and the pump and all that. And the drum could be split in half, and the bearings could just be replaced on their own. I wish they would have stayed with that design, much much better for repairing and servicing. I bet its cheaper these days when manufacturing the machine to produce a sealed drum now. I dunno, maybe a sealed type non replaceable bearing on the back might stop dirt and water getting into bearings as well, maybe thats why they seal them in now? (not just to force consumer to replace whole drum, or for cheapness? - maybe the outer tub cannot be split any more because the water leaked past the seal where the tub splits in half?)

Good luck anyway.

and its the only brand that gives wash cycle figures as well.I think the cheapest one they do may be sufficient for my requirements

thanks for that.Unfortunately Candy machines apparently also have sealed drums, making them irreparable when it comes replacing the bearing .the NFC optiondoes look a good idea and is not one I have heard of before so I will bear that in mind on any future purchase

I dont know how reliable the Candy range are, but apparently made by hoover now, but coming from a Bosch machine and how reliable and well made they normally maybe your not too interested in a Candy but argos (if i am allowed to name companies on here) are doing a NFC 9KG 1400rpm spin speed washing machine for only 250 pounds ! - seems great price, you can download special wash programmes to it by NFC (android phone with NFC feature) and it transfers problems and diagnostics to the phone if the machine ever does act up. Good luck