I broke down

[appliguy]

Maytag stopped making the center dial machines in 1980

and then they made the ones that looked like the ones in the pic above until circa 1989 after that they changed the color of the control panel and the style of the knobs and dryer door knob before going to a more round and soft looking panel all together circa 1996 PAT COFFEY

 

[mayken4now]

kennyGF, I had never seen this either. I thought it was only white or almond like you did.

All, I ran the washer last night and it does need a few things which I will hope to find today. Nothing real majore, just a tub bearing that is really dry, a brake, fill injector, and belts!. About 6 hours. Really strong tranny and motor. The dryer has a broken belt only and is in perfect shape beyond that.

bpetersxx - post a pic of your machines.

toggleswitch - they must have lost thier brains??????????

gansky1 - buy them and take a road trip to my house in Florida!

hoover1060 - thanks and you will learn a lot here. These are 1981's.

You guys are so supportive, thanks.

Steve

 

[repair-man]

I have also seen (only once) this style in avacado green. Probably a first year (1980) model.

As applyguy said, this control panel shape ran through 1996. From 1980 through 1984 it was exactly like Steve's in the picture. In late 1984 through 1989 the buttons and timer knob changed to brown. (also a very mild change to the graphics on the panel but still basically woodgrain) Then in 1990 the panel color and buttons changed to black. In 1994 (late 1993?) everything changed to all white. Another significant change on the 1994 line was the first use of knobs instead of buttons. Only the upper models had all buttons. Then in late 1996 came the new more slanted and rounded control panel.

I just have to make a comment about Maytag's switch from the helical drive design. I have sold Maytag all through the 90's and up until recently. I own a small appliance dealership to go along with my repair business. I have spent way too many hours on my sales floor through the years. But through those years I watched the customers slowly move away from those machines. I also watched Maytag do everything to keep it. I/we may not agree with all the changes they made (i.e. Loadsensor Agitator, etc.) but it was all in a move designed to recapture slowing sales. Believe me I watched it in front of my very eyes. Every year for almost 5 years the price was lowered until a point where a well featured model retailed at $399. This same featured machine was $549 five years earlier. Small dealers like myself who understood the value of the machine could sell them but they didn't have a chance at Sears or Circuit City, etc. You had to show the customer the difference. Even then, customers would come in to replace a 30 yr old A606 and still prefer the bigger tub machine. Bottom line is I could show you 50 old props that we used to push these machines but in the end it didn't hold up. Maytag even shipped us little clear plastic boxes that were .3 cu ft in volume to show the customer the difference between the biggest and smallest tub. It was the equivalent of a pair of socks. Year after year Consumers Reports would give the machines a poor rating. You can say what you want about CR but they do have a lot of influence over peoples buying decisions.

Anyway, this was my observation of what happened. I'm not saying that Maytag didn't make mistakes but it was by no means all their fault.

ED

 

[mayken4now]

Very good ED - You are right!

Steve