The Maytag Neptune TL: The Washer that Caused Maytag’s Death

whirlpool862 said:

Today, I’m going to be discussing one of the worst washers ever, the top loading Neptune. Extremely rare to find one working these days because most broke down years ago.

It had so many mechanical problems and it was notorious for tying clothes into knots. Common failures included the motor, transmission, and control board.

The transmission used on those was also plastic I heard, and the design caused mold to build up in the washer. It was like a top load washer replicating a front loader.

Video of someone with issues with Neptune TL (note: NOT Whirlpool made).

This is one of the reasons why Maytag had to be bought by Whirlpool, I heard they were actually sued for making this extremely poor design.

The Whirlpool built Maytags are much better than the TL Neptune (even the new new ones).

Click to expand...

hvtech42 said:

It certainly had problems, but I highly doubt the Neptune TL was anywhere near close to the top of the list of things that caused Maytag's death.

The high prices and unusual design of the machine means they didn't sell a whole lot of them in the scheme of things, so there was only so much brand damage they could do. And the Neptune TL was only on the market for like, a year and a half before the Whirlpool merger was announced, so there wasn't that much time for them to start hurting Maytag's reputation before then. Let's not forget the Neptune TL got very positive early reviews for cleaning performance - it was the #1 scoring toploader in Consumer Reports at the time.

IMO, the early Neptune frontloader issues, the Searcy Amanatags, the tall tub dishwasher issues, and the general failure of Norge/Magic Chef/Admiral and other stuff they were rebadging to live up to the quality of the Maytag name, were all much bigger factors in hurting Maytag's brand than the Neptune TL.

Side note, it's hard to believe that in just about half a year, Neptune TL related posts are gonna have to start going in the Imperial forum. Time flies, eh?

Click to expand...

gelaundry4ever said:

so what was by far their biggest issue before Whirlpool swallowed them? I could've sworn Whirlpool was the world's largest to begin with.

Click to expand...

johnb300m said:

I don’t think there was a “by far biggest issue.”
I think it was death by a thousand cuts.
For many reasons already mentioned.

I did think of a new one. The Neptune Laundry Center. That huge drying cabinet that went for thousands of dollars.
I can’t imagine they sold many.
The tooling alone for that must’ve been crazy expensive, and they never ever recouped that.

All their odd mergers acquisitions, Maytag just seemed unfocused, flailing around. Corporate greed in there too.

Oh! They had this sports fridge/vending machine too?
Seemed cool to my college buddies and I at the time. But way way too expensive and out of our reach.

Click to expand...

vacerator said:

I agree partly it was the Neptune series. What about also the traditional top load non dependable care aka "Norge", and the twin orbital impeller was it the "Atlantis"??

Click to expand...

hvtech42 said:

The twin impeller machine was the Neptune TL being discussed in this thread. The Atlantis was a higher end, larger capacity version of the Norge design.

Click to expand...

gelaundry4ever said:

What about the Amanatags? I heard those were a disaster.

Click to expand...

hvtech42 said:

Yes, they were. Amana washers, which had been forced to completely redesign after spinning off from Raytheon, already had enough problems at the time Maytag bought them. They should have just been discontinued. But instead, Maytag made them the backbone of their whole washer lineup, and put the Norge transmission into them, I believe because they had limited time rights to use Alliance's transmission design which expired. That turned out a complete disaster. The machines could barely even make it through the warranty period without catastrophic seal failure. Around mid-2005 Maytag just gave up on these machines and replaced them with the Norge design.

As John said above, it's hard to pick one product that killed Maytag, but if I had to, the Amana washers would be near the top of the list.

Click to expand...