German Quality not as good as British
Now that is funny. Really whilst British brands were good, in particular Hoover and Servis, even these were behind the German brands in almost every instance.
As for replacing the Miele dishwasher with a British machine, which one exactly, a Hotpoint? So a Bosch then LOL!
I'm sorry but as far as I'm concearned the only reason there are any Hotpoints still going now is because they were so cheap and easy to repair with parts readily available and good service infastructure, yes this is an excellent attibute to the Hotpoint name, but they were certainly not reliable machines by my understanding of reliability.
Even the ones I knew of back in the day were rusty, had cracked fascias, doors repalced or damaged and required regular and numerous reapairs, mainly brush changes and bearings. The cabinets also reverberated when they span, and they were all fond of throwing themselves accross the room at you.
It may be a more modern machine but it's still based on the same design, my Mum's WM52 really was the biggest pile of junk, didn't wash properly, was probably worse at rinsing than most more modern machines, broke down frequently and shook the kitchen apart on spin. This is what all Hotpoints I know of are/were like. It only lasted four years and the Hoover (Candy) that replaced it was really a refreshing change for the better!
Even the twin tub I've just got, the cabinet reverberates when the spinner runs and the fascia is all cracked, I've come to expect this from GEC Hotpoint though so it's really no surprise.
All things aside they really do bring back fond childhood memories for most of us, and make some great noises and have lots of drama, but as a practical functional machine I've found them to be some of the worst of both the old and the new, and an old Hoover, Servis, Zanussi or German made machine would certainly be a HUGE step up IMHO.
Having said this the machine in this post is absolutely beautiful and in amazing condition for it's age. I'd love one to play around with
Matt