The price of washers and dryers..WOW!

There is only one washer/dryer manufactors of 100% USA made -- "Staber".

Speed Queen, Maytag and Whirlpool still have manufactoring plants here; however, most of the parts are manufactored in Asia and Mexico. They are only assembled here.

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"Challenges are what make life interesting -- overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

well, at least there is one. it's only $1299. i wonder how many of the internal components are made in the USA. no matter how many? anything that employs americans is a good thing.

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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

Maytag- most of the parts still come from America. Not all, but most.
I really don't care where you get your appliances, but just don't start a thread bashing american businesses that go overseas. Those overseas businesses don't compete on a level playing field. We all want things for cheaper prices. So, to stay in business, our American businesses go for cheaper labor.

Maytag didn't move to Mexico. They moved ONE plant to Mexico. And I believe that Mexican plant is now closed. Believe me, WP/MT have many, many plants alive and running in the USA - for now. They just laid off 400 people in Ohio and 200 here in TN. Temporarily closed a plant in Iowa - Amana plant, I believe, but I might have that one wrong.

Roper is a brand owned by Whirlpool.

I will have to stand corrected on this - MT/WP do have plants in Mexico still. Most refrigerators/ranges are made there. There are parts made here shipped to Mex and parts made in mexico shipped here for assembly.

yeah look at used. Our first set of washer/dryer was $75 used. Never expected it would last long.. They were maytags and worked great.. some college kids were moving and didn't have a way to haul em.

Long story short we had them for several year and sold them for $100.. never a problem with em.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

Hey.

I made the pilgrimage to the big city a couple years ago and bought a new Whirlpool washer and dryer at Best Buy; each component was in the $300-$400 range. They still have washer and dryers in that price range. Previous to that we had a Whirlpool dryer that had served us faithfully for 22 years and was still going strong with only a belt change and no other maintenance...we left it with our old house when we sold it. Paying so much for cute little stackables could get you two washers and two dryers otherwise...

RF

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It's not good enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. - Winston Churchill

I agree with all the suggestions for the radio's swap-shop, Craig's list, FreeCycle, auctions, etc.

I would never buy new appliances. Nice, used ones are easy to find.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

If space is an issue consider a combo washer/ dryer(NOT a stackable- AN ALL IN 1 unit)
www.compactappliance.com or www.compactappliances.com
never can remember if that S is in there or not
I paid $899 for the unit at our lake cabin. Fits in the footprint of the dishwasher that we removed. We're on septic there, so using less water is important.
It doesn't wash sleeping bags or quilts, but those should be tromped out in a bathtub with borax and a sheet under them to support them as you move them to the bushes to dry.

callieslamb, just for the record, i didn't start any bashing about non-american made stuff. i was one of two or three people chided for buying roper brand stuff. the "offender" suggested we shouldn't gripe when more jobs are lost and i wanted to know if there were actually any machines built in the us anymore.

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this message has probably been edited to correct typos, spelling errors and to improve grammar...

"All that is gold does not glitter..."

I just saw a scan of the black friday sales at Sears. In the morning only, Sears will have a front load washer and dryer. $599.00 for the pair. That, is a bargain!

I wasn't replying to anyone in particular. I was replying to the drift of the thread. We all want cheap prices, but we also want health insurance and nice wages. It is how the world works today. American prices are very high. We allow goods in from other countries that don't have the constraints put on them that we put on our companies. If American standards were put on all companies, I think we would see the prices of all foreign good go way, way up in price.

Personally, I would never buy top-of-the line appliances as I don't need the gadgets and gizmos. And people need to look forther than the price tag - the front loaders can get a lot more water out of the clothes with less water. You save on water as well as the energy to dry. Granted, probably not too large of an issue with many on this board, but pretty important in many areas of the country.

Dont kid yourself, its all about profit margin. Even if a company could make fair profit with American labor, they find they can make whole lot more with 3rd world labor. Want American manufacturing jobs back, you use tariffs to make it less profitable to use cheap overseas labor and eliminate tax breaks that encourage corporations to do so. Also in many third world countries they arent slightest concerned about environment and dump chemicals in open, etc like was done decades ago here.

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"What would you do with a brain if you had one?" -Dorothy

"Well, then ignore what I have to say and go with what works for you." -Eliot Coleman

Bosch Nexxt machines are German engineered, but completely built in the USA in New Bern NC.

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http://tinksquared.com

Profit margin is what keeps them IN BUSINESS! Little profit, no investors - lotta profit, lots of investors. With investors there is the ability to grow the company aka - stay in business against foreign competitors. They are, after all, in business to make money. And the companies have no control over the tarrifs, which was part of my original point. Health insurance is also a huge expense for American companies.

I buy third world products because I am paid the equivalent of third world wages.

Went looking at machines and really got some sticker shock. The high end frt. load jobs are in the $3k for the pair. We settled on a deal for a new pair of top load Kenmore at $575 for the pair.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

I usually buy used or estate sale items. My old washer was used...gave $60 for it...it is a Maytag, and still going after about six or seven years of use. If I have to buy a dryer, I usually get one that only has a few settings...cotton, permanent press, and gentle. The less things to go wrong is my way of thinking....I can hang them out if I must .

Look at the Fisher Paykel brand washer........only 5 moving parts, 2 year warranty......spins at 1000 rpm, uses less water.......= lower drying costs,and less well pump usage.................You have seen the rest now get the best.........I have had a Fisher Paykel washer for 3+ years........remember only 5.....yes 5 moving parts............hurrah!

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www.outsidewoodheater.com

We bought a front loader and a new dryer a few years back. Its the LG brand atsBest Buy. It cost us around $1500 and I swore it was a rip off but hubby was adamant about that brand. Well..I saw my water bill drop by 50% the first month. So for that savings it will take a long time to recoup that money spent but...my old maytag washer and dryer went belly up after 4 years and we had spent $1000 on them.

I do like the front loader but man I wish they werent so expensive. Ah well..just my 2 cents.

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Be the kind of woman that, when your feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"

Tammy

Our last washing machine lasted about seven years and it came from a yard sale for $40. This "new" washing machine came from the transfer station (dump) and needed a new belt so I guess it is a $7 washing machine. It doesn't have as many different washing cycle options as the last washing machine but we only used one cycle anyway. Haven't a clue what manufacturer they are, never looked.

The stove is a Roper and we like it since it doesn't need electricity. It is hard to find completely non-electric stoves these days. That was $50 at a yard sale and came with a gas refrigerator which has since been replaced with a new refrigerator my DH swapped a 4WD jeep for. He got the jeep with a blown head gasket just for getting it out of the guy's yard and it cost him $40 in parts for the new head gasket. So I guess our new refrigerator cost $40. It is labeled "ConServ" on it and I haven't a clue where it was made. It is pretty hard to find refrigerators which can be run on an off the grid system so we didn't even shop for a made in the U.S. product.

Does it matter where the item was made if it isn't bought retail?

No. Your purchase isn't requiring that the manufacturer make a new one to fill the retail space.

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