Customer Reviews

Bosch Nexxt 500 Plus Series : WFMC5301UC 27 Front Load Washer

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After three years the washer is still working great.


We had an old sears 'lady kenmore" that died and this was our replacement machie.
What I like about this machine:
1. The greater rpm on the drum wrings a lot more water out of heavy towels and blue jeans. If you hang dry your laundry this is a very good thing. Towels used to take up to three days to dry (in winter months) now they only take a couple of hours. Clothing will dry in minutes depending on fabric thickness.
2. Laundry seems to come out cleaner.
3. Water and soap consumption are reduced.
4. Machine is quiet

What I sometimes find annoying:
1. Cycles sometimes take forever and the lcd timer is anything but accurate.
2. Small items, like ankle socks will sometimes end up in the space near the door gasket so you have wring them out.
3. When the cycle is finished, the machine keeps buzzing at you repeatedly. I would prefer one 'ding" or "honk" or whatever and then be done with it.

Overall, I am happy with the machine. It is way way better than the top loading antique we were using!!!

Some people write about the detergent being a problem for front loaders. I have found the liquid biodegradable detergent from costco works fine and is cheaper than the powder detergents overall. Just don't use too much or you will have bubbles everywhere...I speak from experience!

Washer is great!

We got ours in April 2009, so we have had it over six months now.
- Water bill has been cut by approximately 1/3 ($720 down to $480 per year).
- Water savings alone mean it will pay for itself in less than four years.
- Machine uses about half the amount of laundry detergent per load than our old machine.
- Capacity is enormous. We do about half the loads we used to. You will be surprised how much you can fit in one load.
- I'm sure the hot water bill is less also, but I can't quantify those savings since we got a new furnace around the same time.
- Clothes take much less time to dry because they are so much drier when they come out of the washer.
- Quiet. Quality machine, no problems.


The new high-efficiency washers are very different from your old top loader. Most of the complaints that you will read about are caused by improper installation or use.
- The washer *must* be adjusted to be level in order to work properly. The clothes will not be spun properly if it's not level.
- Don't use too much soap - if you do, you will have electrical and other problems
- You *must* use high efficiency laundry detergent
- If you leave the door closed all the time, you will get mold. You have to leave the door ajar when not in use.
- The wash cycle does take longer than a traditional top loader, but you make up for it in the dry cycle.
- It will look like there is almost no water in the machine when it is running. It is designed to work this way. The clothes do get clean!

It's true that the clothes are often twisted when you pull them out. I give each item a quick shake to straighten them out, then toss them in the dryer.

Unless your dryer is broken, don't bother getting a new one. You won't need it.

The only negative: you can't do small, heavy loads very well. When I need to wash the bath rug, I have to wash it with other items (like old towels) or the washer won't run properly (because of how it needs to spin).

The washer washes cloths. There is a lot less lint so I think it is better on the cloths. It takes much longer than the old top loader. It is quiet. No musty smell but we use it every day. It uses very little water and looking through the door the cloths do not even look soaked. The power bill dropped about 10 to 15 dollars with this washer over the last one. The cloths come out clean but nothing spectacular, most washers make the cloths come out clean. You still have to pretreat collars and stains. The extra high temp setting makes one feel the towels are sanitary but the dryer gets about that hot so the sanitizing effect is redundant unless you hang your laundry. Had it for over two months and hope it lasts. A lot of money for a washer and dryer set though. It is nice not having the dog go nuts when the washer hits the spin cycle. The matching dryer keeps trying to stop early so some of the cloths are still damp. I think the dry sensor is off a bit so you have to set it for dryer than normal. Minor inconvenience.

The smell can be combated with Affresh washer tablets and the tangled laundry can be unfurled in the dryer but then there was this unbalanced spin cycle business that caused the washer to bounce around moving it as far as two feet in any direction. Finally after 1 year of the madness, the washer was leaking water underneath.
The repairman found the right concrete counterbalance broken off and on the floor of unit; and with the violent vibrations, the boot of the washer ripped, hence, the water seeping underneath the washer. If anyone else has a violent vibration with the spin cycle and the washer is perfectly level, I recommend checking out if the washer is still balanced with the counterbalances.

I bought this washer one year ago and it was the biggest appliance mistake I have ever made. The first problem that we had was plastic cracking around the rivet joints on the dial panel and inside the door. Our appliance store replaced the panels and even the replacements have cracked! [We asked our repairman to check that the washer is level with the floor and it is]. Today I noticed the clear plastic cover on the front of the washer is cracked and coming off. Another issue with this washing machine: the washer door needs to be left open to dry out after wet clothes are removed - otherwise a bad smell will accumulate in the drum. These are not issues one would expect with a one-year old washing machine. I now associate Bosch with "crap" and I will never buy a Bosch product again.

After 6 months of use we were fortunate that Sears would take this washer back. The vibration on the spin cycle was moderate to severe. Even after I reinforced the floor under the washer twice and confirmed the washer was level the vibration was loud and unacceptable. If you are looking to buy a front load washer take the advise of Consumer Reports and others, you must have a concrete ground floor to set it on or a be willing to rebuild your floor to the point where it is as sturdy as concrete. To be fair to Bosch, I did a lot of research into this problem and discovered that vibration issues is common to most front load machines. Otherwise the wash seemed to perform well, but because of the load and balance problem we could never fully determine just how well it performed.

I suppose it is possible that I just got a lemon but this machine stopped working after 6 loads of laundry. There was an electrical smell and it would never finish any cycle after that. I had just purchased it so I returned it. I wavered between getting another just like it and the Whirlpool Duet. I got the duet. Not sure I made the right decision. The delivery man who picked up the Bosch said that it was the first he had ever picked up. The Bosch was much quieter than the Whirlpool and looks better. But the Whirlpool got the clothes dryer. The Bosch has no option to just spin dry cloths, you have to choose a whole cycle.

First, the good news. The Bosch Nexxt 500Plus washer is very quiet, saves energy and gets laundry very clean. It does have a couple of shortcomings that are a frequent nuisance. A digital display reads out a supposed time for completion of whatever wash cycle is in operation, but that readout sometimes does not accurately indicate time remaining. Perhaps the biggest irritation with this washer is that you cannot use partial cycles. For instance, you cannot wash something by hand and then use just use a spin cycle to get rid of excess water. That was a much used feature on my old Whirlpool washers x2.
We purchased the matching Nexxt 500Plus dryer at the time we bought the washer. Both are much easier to access with the optional foot high pedestal/drawer unit. The dryer does have a light in it, which is helpful. The lift out lint screen/filter is easy to clean after every use. It took me a while to realize that when I vacuumed the lint filter space I should just use a brush attachment and clean it from the front of the louvres rather than trying to get a tool into the space that the screen occupies. That proved to be an exercise in futility.
All in all, the washer/dryer set was a good choice although almost every week I wish I had the partial cycle feature on the washer and I must bring the vacuum down to the laundry room to clean the lint filter space about once a month.