IMHO- I have seen people abandon perfectly good machines to get a washer with a "Permanent Press" cycle.
This makes no sense to me when a person uses their dryer for "modern" no-iron fabric. It's the dryer's extended cooldown that de-wrinkles.
Like all plastic articles, polyester clothing (and other "miracle" fibers) is more pliable when warm and less so when cool. The time to fluff out wrinkles is when warm and maintain that into the cooling process.
In effect, then, when machine drying Perma Press items, the Perma Press wash cycle is just a waste of water and time.
As far as PP cycles go.. Whirl-mores were the best (IMHO) with multiple partial drains (that was able to be done due to neutral drains) and fills with cool water. The Norge was nothng more than 4 cold spray rinses while spinning...with the marketing ploy of labeling the spin between wash and rinse on the timer "automatic cool-down".
All washer PP cycles with a cool-down (other than the utility of a slower spin) are USELESS when washing in cold water!
Perhaps another reason washers were abandoned is the desire to get a machine with a larger capacity. However if the dryer does not also "grow" it will not "iron" as well in that the clothing is more cramped in there.