No One Else Considering Neff?

Many people still have dated ideas about the quality of many makes of washing machine. Many of them have undergone big changes over the last decade or so. Lots of manufacturers have been taken over by big groups and we now have the ridiculous situation where completely different makes of washing machines are all owned by the same companies. It's very confusing for consumers although ironically there are so many makes of washing machine available that competition is intense and this forces prices down. The bad news is that a significant proportion of these price drops are achieved by lowering quality so in the end I don't personally believe that consumers benefit much at all.

As far as I'm aware all Bosch washing machines in the UK are manufactured now for the midprice range and have therefore been reduced in quality compared with Bosch washing machines from the past. You only have to see their basic washing machine being sold at £230 to realise that they are no longer competing with people like Miele.

Bosch, NEFF, and Siemens are all made by the same group. Neff are now built-in appliances in the UK, Bosch are midprice to low price range and Siemens are the flagship product which tend to have more features. Even so, Siemens are no match for a Miele although I expect they would argue that they are perfectly good washing machines and extremely good value for money.

As with many manufacturers, some production has moved over to other countries where labour is cheaper. This is especially attractive for German manufacturers as their labour costs are high. It does not follow that because the product is not made in Germany it must be inferior. It's totally possible to maintain the same standards but just with a cheaper labour force. However, as moving production to a cheaper country is all about reducing costs it's also common for some other cost reductions to take place at the same time. Those cost reductions (such as making something from plastic instead of metal) can just as easily be done in the German factories too.

Despite reductions in "quality" Bosch are still currently considered to be a good buy compared with other washing machines in the same or similar price ranges. However, anyone wanting to buy a real high quality washing machine - and by that I mean one that is built as well as washing machines were built 20 years ago, and significantly better than the average washing machine - needs to consider something like a Miele.