I have some experience with home appliances because I used to fix them for my mother.
1 - DO NOT BUY BOSCH stuff, it's shitty. My mother had a fancy stainless steel stove that some internal parts melted down after she used it for just a couple of times.
2 - A relative has a Miele washer that after +30 years broke down. A Miele technician came by and charged 150 euro to fix it. He said that it probably will be good for another 30 years. What impress me the most is that externally and internally it looks new, no exaggeration.
3 - Premium brands such as Miele and V-Zug are better quality and will last longer, but are also much more expensive than Samsung or Haier. I would choose premium if I had a long time horizon (+10 years), otherwise I would buy a popular brand that offers a decent warranty.
Are today's Miele appliances as good as the Miele appliances of 20, 30 years ago?
The only Miele I have are their vacuum cleaners - and I've seen a degradation in quality over 20 years. (I've bought several in that time.) The machine I bought 20 years ago is still going strong, the machine bought in the last few years is less robust, it gave up the ghost within a very short time.
Would be interested to hear how larger appliances compare.
That's not what it says. It says the whole appliances in the lower tiers are made elsewhere. It doesn't mention the parts (at least that's how I read it).
When our Electrolux drier broke, I replaced the fan motor with one from our V-Zug which was on the way out for other reasons.
This is what we've learnt:
You use these things every day - make sure they are easy to use. Our V-Zug oven controls are excessively complicated. We have two different ones from the same year - both have completely different ways of setting/changing the time.
Our old Siemens one was beautifully simple.
We've got a Gaggenau fridge. It's very nice but uses the same parts a s a Siemens one which is much cheaper.
With regard to driers - get one which has a filter which is easy to clean - the Electrolux one is impossible.
Miele dishwashers are great - the top drawer for knives and forks seems OTT but it's brilliant.
I've had most of the major appliances in various homes and can honestly say that when we do get our own place in Switzerland, I'll give V-Zug cleaning appliances a wide berth! We've had to call technicians, in the last 5 years for: 2x Dishwashers, 1x Dryer and 2x washing machines (One of which, because it was 8 years old "Is not economic to repair", so had to be replaced)
I've had pretty good experience with V-Zug ovens and hobs, although I don't think the price premium is justified. Would also not go for Gaggenau, style over substance and pricey to repair.
I've recently got myself a new washer and dryer. Second time I went for Korean products. Happy with both LG as well as Samsung.
Got five year old "Neff" products in the kitchen as the former owner was apparently on a budget. Lived with top of the line V-Zug in CH before. Can't say I experience a difference in the fridge or cook top. My V-zug oven had a built in steamer which I miss... (Oh, yeah - one difference: The landlord forced me to pay for a new cook top on moving out as we had some stains burned into the glass... If the expensive ones break as easily as the cheap ones but don't do anything better would I have rather replaced a cheap one...)
I don't have personal experience in purchasing these brands in CH, but a quick check on the website did bring up a Swiss distributor: http://zbaeren.ch/
I would also suggest perhaps looking in Germany. My experience in buying high end items in Germany is very good, with suppliers taking care of everything.
As a slight side note. I have just used a high end Siemens induction hob and it was terrible. On side failed to pick up the pan that was on it, it took a long while to heat up the pan and on the top 'temperature' my sausages were barely sizzling. (I used the matching oven yesterday and while it has amazing functionality and touch screen technology, it took forever to get to temperature)
the problem is that few of us will sufficient experience with various brands unless someone here manages a property portfolio of thousands and have gone through a scientific testing process.
my own experience, i haven't been a big fan of v-zug because of their poor UI. not a luxury brand, but have been very happy with Beko.
my own advice would be:
- buy separate washer/dryer (unless the technology has evolved substantially in the last 10 years - previous experience leaves me not wanting to try again)
- buy what you like and will enjoy. depreciated over 6+ years, cost isn't a big deal
- forget about repairability, you want to organise a repair person and have the hassle of a 'potential' fix? when it breaks, just buy a new one, removal and fitting is a quick job
- use 60cm EU norm and have space for future replacement/upgrades (see last point)
also, old appliances can eat electricity - i had an old schultheiss appliance sure it might have lasted 20 years, but running costs can outweigh capital costs for some items (unless you go into luxury territory).
also, how often will you replace the entire kitchen? probably every 10-15 years. no point in appliances lasting 20 years if you're going to redo everything after 10 years.
It was definitely induction compatible. I know because my parents in law keep on banging on about how they changed all their pots and pans once they got the said stove!
We have both a Siemens hob and two ovens and we have been very happy with them. We have had them for five years without any problems and they are certainly not slow to heat up.
We did have a problem with our Siemens dishwasher but they were very quick to come and rectify the problem under the guarantee.
I've been using Siemens hobs for 15 years, the last 5 years with induction. Pots and pans on the induction take a lot less than a minute to reach frying temperature. Pots of water takes only a few seconds to start to bubble up and start boiling after only 3 or 4 minutes.
The ovens take about 5 minutes to pre-heat but I don't think it is any slower than other ovens.
That's why I suggested either the pans are wrong or the hob has a defect.
I'm using a 40CHF Lidl portable induction hob as our V-Zug Halogen hob is broken (one ring) and just rubbish. The Lidl hob at half power is too hot to fry many things.