Maytag Performa

Any feedback on Maytag Performa washer and dryer? This is the top load washer, plain controls, no digital or electronics.

There is a set at my moms house. They are '99 models but have been used very little. Mom has had no problems with them. Look like new.

We're getting her house ready to sell, thinking about swapping out our aging Kenmore (Whirlpool) washer and dryer.

Anyone have any experiences with them? I know Maytag has had problems with the newer models, especially the front loads, but this is an older top load. Old enough to have any quality left?

Thanks!

Steve - my wife has a Maytag Performa washer, probably about the same age as your mother's. She likes it, but I have had to replace the bottom tub seal once. It wasn't a real bad job, but I wanted to mention the problem we had with hers. When the seal fails, it leaks water under it. Otherwise, it's been a good one.

Not sure if those were they type we purchased or not, but back in early 2000's (probably 02 or so) we purchased a new set of Maytags to replace an older set that were very good. That was a bad mistake, as the new set lasted all of about 2-3 years before the pump locked up, and literally melted the plastic pulleys, and ruined the belt on the washer. Purchased the parts from a local reputable parts dealer/shop, and he brought me up to speed that at that time the only Maytags worth buying were the high end models, and that the set I had were actually rebranded low end from a company Maytag had acquired (Roper?...cant recall). I did purchase the belt/pulleys, and pump, then promptly sold them and since the wife wanted a new set of front loaders we went that route. That was our second mistake, as those never cleaned the clothes, and had an odor if you did not leave the door open, so up for sale that set went, and we now own a Fisher Paykel set, and have been fairly happy with those. You might want to open up the washer and check if it has the cheap plastic pulleys, and if so, I would pass, and keep your old set if they are still working. I have found the older models were much higher quality. That was the last Maytags for us

I'll tell you the experience that we've had with Maytag. I bought a new Maytag washer about ten years ago from a dealer where my brother worked. He advised me to stay away from them, but we thought we would patronize the company where he worked. The first one lasted a few months after the warranty expired and then needed so many repairs that we gave up on it. We then bought the exact replacement from my grandma's estate sale. This one was about a year old and probably hadn't been used 20 times. It failed in about a year but had no warranty because we weren't the original owners. Our Maytag refrigerator won't stay cold in the summer and freezes food in the winter unless you continually adjust the setting. Repair man says it works fine. My mom had a Maytag deep freezer that needed warranty work. It had to be taken back to the shop because it had a freon leak in the wall. (BTW, they admitted that it wasn't from abuse because of where the leak was located) Now get this: They never filed any paperwork with Maytag so when the freezer again failed after the warranty expired, my mom couldn't go after them because she didn't have proof of warranty work.
My brother no longer works for Maytag and we won't touch any Maytag products with a ten foot pole.
Now I'm sure there a some people who love Maytag products and won't post about them because they haven't had any problems, I'm just tell you about our experience.

I'm being nit-picky, but Maytag did not buy another company. They were bought up.

Thanks everybody, think I'll just leave them where they are. Looked at other reviews online, seems Maytag has a bit of a quality issue across the board!

Maytag was bought out by Whirlpool.

Probably so. Been a while, and all I knew was the washer/dryer we had were "rebranded", and he seemed to think they were same a Roper, so likely Whirlpool bought both Maytag, and Roper, and was selling what was previously Roper with Maytag mame on them. Pretty common today, to purchase many companies, place the name on an inexpensive/inferior product and market under well known name. All I know is the Maytags we had were outright junk, and did not hold up at all vs. the older set, probably mfg in the late 70s were well made. You cannot give me a Maytag washer/dryer now.

You cannot give me another Maytag appliance either. My wife bought our refrigerator without me knowing about it and we've both regretted it ever since.
While we are on the subject of appliances, my mom's Kenmore washing machine shot cr*ps about a year ago. She's had that machine since the early 70s and washed all the clothes for a family of 7. It was even lime green in color! When my brother and I hauled it out of her house, that thing was so heavy we were both complaining about the weight of it. (I can assure you that my brother and I are not weaklings either) Anyway, the new machine that she purchased was probably only half the weight of the old Kenmore. They've cheapened them up a bunch.

I know that Maytags were still darn good in '94, just replaced washer and dryer pair bought new in 94 and they were still running w/o issues.