In my opinion, the only real problem that older GEs have, besides being water hogs, are dealing with unbalanced loads. With or without the cable suspension, they will shake!
Other than that, they're fun to watch and do a good job of washing. Anyone who doubts their reliability can just look at the February 1991 Consumer Reports issue; in descending order on the reliability scale, it was Hotpoint, Maytag, and then GE. Not to mention serviceability...an older GE is definitely a good machine for someone starting to collect and one of the EASIEST machines to work on out there. I posted about a transmission/belt/boot replacement I did on my '77 Dispensall last March; after all of the parts came in, it didn't take long at all!
Also, there has been some confusion on when the last old-style GE top-loaders were made. Some say 1994, others 1995. Looking at another CR report, it was indeed 1995. The last GE and Hotpoint machines with the "handwash" agitator were tested in the February issue for that year. The new "plastic" design was introduced before the next washer report for the July 1996 issue.
--Austin