The Best Quality Washing Machine Brand Isn’t LG, According to JD Power

There are many factors to consider when buying a new used appliance. When it comes to a washing machine, those features are undoubtedly the most important, as the thing will be cleaning your clothes, towels, and bed sheets as long as you own it. Once you’ve made decisions regarding some of the more obvious options, such as going with a front-loading or top-loading washer, those related to product quality will inevitably follow.

In that category, washing machines from major brands like LG, Whirlpool, and Bosch are likely to come up in your search. According to JD Power’s latest quality survey, however, when it comes to top-loading washing machines, those brands can’t hold a candle to those that carry the General Electric brand.

For the record, the same is true of GE’s front-loading washers, indicating that it may be a brand that will overtake the traditional washing machine market. Those quality numbers are largely derived from the Problems Per 100 (PP100) rating, which presents a technical reliability table for recording problems reported per 100 devices for installed products. By that measure, a lower PP100 score indicates higher quality devices. In the category of top-loading washing machines, GE machines scored the top spot with 60 PP100 points. Maytag was second with 70 PP100 points, while Whirlpool was third at 71 PP100. The research does not make it clear where LG stands in this regard.

Since washing machines from General Electric take a high reputation in both major categories of washing machines, it is important to note that devices from the brand, whose product line goes beyond electrical appliances, are well positioned in all electrical categories. That’s not entirely surprising, as GE is often ranked among the most popular manufacturers of home appliances. However, we can bet that few would choose the top brand in the reliability ratings.

Consumers will no doubt notice the brand’s impressive quality ratings when they read JD Power’s appliance survey results, too, as GE appliances took the top spot in every reliability category except for dishwashers. KitchenAid ended up taking the top spot there with 63 PP100 points, but GE took second in that category, sharing the spot with Bosch at 64 PP100.

As for other categories, GE scored 45 PP100 in the clothes dryer category, 52 PP100 in the side-by-side refrigerator category, and 65 PP100 French Door refrigerators. The brand scored 51 PP100 for its top-of-the-line refrigerators, and took the top spot in cooking appliance reliability with 37 PP100 points. Perhaps most importantly, General Electric also earned high marks for service experience, claiming 778 points out of 1,000 from JD Power. So, if the GE appliance you buy has a problem, most customers seem to be as satisfied with the repair process as they are with the appliances themselves.