Our 2 year old maytag is out of warranty and instead of spending several hundred dollars to have a technician come out we are thinking of just buying a speed queen. We have 4 children and do a ton of laundry. I want a machine that doesn't have a lid lock like our old whirlpool.

I believe the TC5 comes with a 5 year in-home labor warranty? Anything I should know before we buy it? It'll be about $1230 out the door after tax and delivery fee.

Update: We've had our Speed Queen for several months and I absolutely love it. It's built SOLID. I do wish it had a few extra settings like water level. Also, if I wash on cold my clothes come out stinky. It could be our crappy water but as long as I was on HOT there are no issues.

I’ve read that Speed Queen is the best washer/dryer on the market, but having trouble convincing my partner that the price (2-3x the cost of a basic machine) is worth it.

Tell me what makes SQ the most legit option. Or tell me I’m wrong, and which appliance I should buy. I’m looking for washer and gas dryer.

Thanks!!

2-22-25 EDIT—UPDATE AND REQUEST FOR ADVICE

Thank you all for your valuable insight and guidance. I read every single comment and weighed my options. I’m omitting parts of the story for purposes of brevity.

I was able to locate a refurbished speed queen on Facebook marketplace. The seller was somewhat sketchy, but I was running out of time and options as I needed to leave town to handle some family matters.

The seller would not exchange cell phone contact information so I was messaging the wife (W) who had made the original post and setting up delivery for her husband (H) who is the person who repaired the appliance and would be delivering.

H made delivery while I was out of town to my partner. We were able to get the speed queen washer and a refurbished LG gas dryer. Seller was located about an hour away and was willing to deliver (for 100.00) and haul away my old washer. all in I think we paid just under US$600.

My partner opted to make the first load of wash a set of really nice white sheets (he has been sick for weeks and was sweating through sheets like crazy).

When the wash came out, the sheets were inundated with paper like flecks of debris.

We were able to determine that the cause was probably soap scum built up under the agitator. After some research, we purchased air shims and lifted the agitator. I will post photos in the comments.

I cleaned the washer as much as humanly possible, using the guidance directly from speed queen (including a solution of vinegar, baking soda, and dawn).

I have run a number of of cycles since then and while there is vast improvement, I’m still getting some flecks (see pics below).

I suppose the next step is to call for a speed queen tech to come out and evaluate the appliance. However, I wanted to ask you all if you had any further suggestions for taking apart the device to find the offending crevice where this scum is hiding. I assume there’s more scum behind the drum. Any advice?

SECOND EDIT: I guess I cannot upload any photos. If anyone is curious, I will send them via direct message.

THANK YOU!!

I recently purchased a TC500 and DR500 Speed Queen washing machine and dryer based on all of the positive reviews. I would honestly return them if I could. The dryer has been repaired twice in the one year of ownership and the washing machine constantly leaves water marks and stains on clothing. The genesis of this post was after washing my athletics, which usually go in the upstairs front loader, and they came out just as dirty as when I put them in. I ran the cycle on delicate and it’s honestly a joke. My 6 year old apartment sized front loader does an infinitely better job and uses a fraction of the water.

They come with pretty good reviews and seem pretty durable. I know they make commercial units but I’m kind of curious if they are serviceable. I have a whirlpool stack washer and dryer now that the spin bearings are bad on that is only a year old. The repair place told me I need a whole drum and it would be $475 with shipping. If this was 3-5 years in between changes it may not be that bad, but I don’t think I want to put $475 in it every year plus whatever else breaks. So with durability and the ability to be repaired being the most important factors, is Speed Queen good?