In your opinion, when was the true beginning of the end for Maytag?

[woodjack99]

I’ve heard they started using slightly cheaper parts in the early 80s when they switched from the center-dial to the dark panel, but those were still really good machines. I guess a bigger change was the switch from the helical Pitman transmission to the orbital one in 89. Even though the buyout wasn’t until 2006, I’d honestly say the last “true” (meaning old school) Maytags were the 90s Dependable Care series machines. So IMO, the Neptunes were the beginning of the end.

Pictured: my 1975 A107 on the right and 1985 A506 on the left. You can tell the metal in the 107 sounds “heavier,” like the dial and the buttons. Perhaps because it’s thicker and stronger.

 

[vacman1961]

Yes, I agree when they went to the orbital transmission was the beginning of the end. Their next step to manufacturing junk was when they marketed then old Norge designed washer under the Performa name, it was all down hill after that, followed by the super large capacity Atlantis, the Neptune and the egg beater, the Neptune TL.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Beginning of the end of MT:

I would have to say was the introduction of the Norgetags Tall Tub Jetclean DWs and the SamsungTag Neptunes. While these machines performed their function well the build quality and reliability was garbage. A lot of poor management decisions and labor disputes with UAW did not help either.

Say what you will about WP but, had they not bought Maytag there would be no Maytag today.
WK78

 

[qsd-dan]

The very beginning was probably after Fred Maytag II died, who was the last family member involved in the company's management. Definitely after they started buying out inferior companies in the 80's.

As for the Newton designed washers/dryers, I'd say mid 90's. The Neptune's were the final nail in the coffin although acquiring Amana financially hit them hard around the same time.

Acquiring Magic Chef, Norge, Hoover, and Amana were bonehead moves. I don't know the story on Hardwick.

 

[maytag85]

The beginning of the end of Maytag started with a the Neptune machines, Maytag shouldn’t even have bothered with those pitiful HE machines since it’s what ended up leading to their demise along with the Norge/Admiral/Magic Chef design and buying defunct companies as Dan mentioned. Some people like the Neptune machines along with the Norge/Admiral/Magic Chef machines which is fine, but would NEVER have any of those machines in my collection since it’s what ended up leading to Maytag’s demise. Maytag should have continued making machines like they did for decades and shouldn’t even bothered with the HE machine craze, sure their sales would dwindle down a little since their washers would still have a design which dates back to 1966 BUT would have a superior product compared to what was being made in the late 2000’s and early 2000’s. Probably would have a lot of market share IF genuine Maytag was still around making their own appliances since Whirlpool wouldn’t even be able to hold a candle to their washers in terms of reliability and dependability.

 

[maytag85]

The beginning of the end of Maytag started with a the Neptune machines, Maytag shouldn’t even have bothered with those pitiful HE machines since it’s what ended up leading to their demise along with the Norge/Admiral/Magic Chef design and buying defunct companies as Dan mentioned. Some people like the Neptune machines along with the Norge/Admiral/Magic Chef machines which is fine, but would NEVER have any of those machines in my collection since it’s what ended up leading to Maytag’s demise. Maytag should have continued making machines like they did for decades and shouldn’t even bothered with the HE machine craze, sure their sales would dwindle down a little since their washers would still have a design which dates back to 1966 BUT would have a superior product compared to what was being made in the late 2000’s and early 2000’s. Probably would have a lot of market share IF genuine Maytag was still around making their own appliances since Whirlpool wouldn’t even be able to hold a candle to their washers in terms of reliability and dependability.

 

[maytag85]

Ignore duplicate post.

 

[goatfarmer]

I agree Neptune was probably the start. The NorgeTag machines were decent enough, a lower market entry machine. The AmanaTag machines were also an issue, never saw one worth fixing.

 

[johnb300m]

I blame the Norgetags and all the goofy acquisitions moreso than i’d blame the Neptune.
The Neptune was a good product and was really the US’s first introduction to front loaders for a whole generation. My aunts had the first 3000 series and it did well for several years.
But then they had the mold issue and repeated wax motor fails.
And Maytag fought them tooth and nail on those warranty claims.
They were so pissed they replaced it with an LG set. And that was over 10yrs ago!
The lawsuits were really the icing on the cake, in addition to that scumbag Ralph Hake.
(Hah I still remember his name and shit eating grin)

 

[rp2813]

Agreed that buying inferior brands sent Maytag careening down the slippery slope into the pick-off pool.  Typical misguided, greed-based decision making by clueless heirs.

 

As for the Neptunes, they got off to a rocky start, but the 2004 stacking set that came with my current home has served me well.  The washer uses plenty of water compared to modern FLs and goes right into spin mode.  I hope this set continues to impress me well past its looming 20th birthday.

 

Meanwhile, the '87 A712 keeps plugging along doing occasional dirty jobs at 35 years old and counting. 

 

[qsd-dan]

Ralph Hake

Ah, yes, the former Whirlpool VP who helped Whirlpool finalize the sale...

 

[maytag85]

Maytag should have never even bothered with making the Neptune machines along with buying those inferior companies who should have just gone under.

As mentioned, Maytag would still be around if they never bothered with the Neptune machines along with buying such crappy companies like Norge, Amana, and Magic Chef.

 

[DADoES]

 
The original Neptune frontloader had no more long-term effect on Maytag than the Calypso did on Whirlpool.  Maytag's demise was due to other factors of more consequence.  IMO.

 

[goatfarmer]

Amana

was a quality company, WRT refrigeration, and microwaves. Laundry, and cooking? Not so much.

 

I had always heard, that when Neptunes came out, Maytag dealers had to have in stock any part that might fail, so they could repair it quickly. Truth, or a tale?

 

[qsd-dan]

The Neptune washers would have been successful if more time was spent in R&D and overbuilt them to be on the safe side. Instead, they pushed them out too soon.

They should have taken a page from Toyota with the Lexus LS400. Toyota spent something like a billion dollars on the project and overbuilt the living crap out of them to ensure they would be successful and reliable. It paid off.

I will give Maytag slack in certain areas that were largely unknown back then. It's common sense today to wipe the door gasket and leave the door ajar between uses, but that wasn't the case in the 90's and early 2000's. There were no "clean" cycles, and still like today, not enough hot water washes between cold washes. Most people back then were using way too much detergent yet still had mold/mildew/buildup/ungodly odors from the drums.

 

[DADoES]

 
I have a MAH4000 given to me by a friend several years ago when it developed bad bearings and the door boot caught a tear.  The door lock wax motor failed some years prior and damaged the associated components on the control board.  I found a repair kit online with an updated wax motor and replacements for the board components, repaired it at that time.  It had no other problems until the bearings.  I've dissassembled it.  Mexican farm employees for their agriculture and ranching operation were using it during the last years.  They tend to overdose detergent.  The spider is in excellent condition and drum/tub smutz was minimal.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The worst thing about the Neptunes was that they severely shook customers' faith in Maytag when Maytag failed to honor warranties on Neptunes' circuit boards that were just over the warranty period when there was trouble related to the wax motor door lock or something related to it that fried the board. Maytag forced customers to pay for replacement of the board. I think it led to a court case. The suspension in the Neptune was wonky, too, and the tub had a propensity to fish tail with unbalanced loads. There was also strange software whereby Max Extract offered fewer attempts at balancing than the regular spin option.

Maytag's conservatism was responsible for a lot of their problems, like sticking with their small tub machines way too long before offering their only slightly larger tall tub machines that were still small in comparison to large capacity machines offered by other manufacturers. You can only get by so long by having Consumer Reports lie about the load capacity of the 16 gallon tub and, before that, the 12 gallon tub, all with the agitator designed for the large tub of the wringer washers. The argument could be made that Maytag's downfall started with their poorly designed automatics that were largely sold on the basis of the reputation of the Maytag conventional washers which had excellent washing action of standard size loads. Many Maytag owners, after having experience using another brand of automatic, did not buy a second Maytag.

I still remember the 1974, I think, issue of Consumer Reports with a large capacity Whirlpool washer and a standard tub Maytag on the cover. The Whirlpool washer had two laundry baskets in front of it while the Maytag had three and big print explaining that this was to show that the Maytag took three loads to wash what the Whirlpool could wash in two. Whoever did the purchasing for that washer report sure goofed up by buying the small tub Maytag. Earlier, Consumer Reports did a rating of one speed washing machines and the Maytag Fabric Matic ruined casement weave curtains washed on the Delicate Cycle. It was needless self injury to keep offering single speed machines when Sears had two speed machines far down in their line and two speed motors were not that much more expensive than single speed motors, but Maytag wanted customers who wanted a Maytag to pay for every feature.

 

[launderess]

Maytag suffered some pretty bad management decisions from 1980's until going belly up and nabbed by Whirlpool.

First and foremost they were late to many games, things like being one of last major appliance manufactures to offer a dishwasher.

Good or bad Maytag bought Hardwick stoves then later Norge and Magic Chef because though late in game they finally realized where market was heading. Major appliance makers increasingly had to offer entire product lines: fridges, ranges, ovens, dishwashers..

Consumers looking to fit out a new kitchen or whatever, builders doing new homes, etc... all put pressure on dealers to offer product ranges from one source. Her Indoors liked in many instances having things match and so forth. There was also a value in having then as now place fitted out with appliances from one company. Miele, Bosch, Whirlpool, and many others long have done this.

Problem for Maytag is they couldn't make what they bought (which later included parent company of Hoover and Amana) work.

Disagree Maytag should have avoided "HE" washers and not done Neptune line. Knowing then what we all know now Maytag could have had a solid product and been streets ahead of Whirlpool and others by offering front loader washers.

Sadly as oft was case of Maytag management they never would be told. Disaster followed disaster as they treated customers who bought Maytag washers with issues like idiots. What should have been a bright spot ended up dragging Maytag's name through the mud and company into endless litigation.

In 1970's it was a heated battle between Maytag and Whirlpool washers. For most of that decade Maytag was top rated with CR coming in slightly second.




Where Whirlpool washers of that vintage shined over Maytag was in capacity and features.

 

[combo52]

The downfall of Maytag

There were many factors that contributed to them getting in such bad financial shape.

 

First and foremost was bad management you had a cash rich company with very conservative right wing management that was very anti-union.

 

They also wanted to take on whirlpool Frigidaire and General Electric not an easy thing to do by going full line. Maytag should’ve stuck with washers and dryers maybe dishwashers and disposers possibly a few other things but they didn’t need to be fooling with refrigerators and such and certainly not things like Hoover vacuum cleaners.

 

Buying  Admiral, magic chef, hard work, Norge was ridiculous all of these companies were going to go out of business they should’ve been left to go out of business. They probably should’ve gone after Amana that was the only quality company they ever bought and it had its own problems.

 

Neptune front loading washer did contribute to problems, like every new appliance that Maytag brought out since the late 40s there were a lot of problems with it initially but they were trying to cure them, Maytag never had the great engineers that WP, GE and WCI had. Biggest single problem but would hardly of cost them a dollar to fix they put a light in a machine that you could not turn off so guess what people closed the damn door.

 

Other problems were a lack of a window a wonky suspension system and a tilted tub that caused tangling none of those are the hallmark of a quality product.

 

When I was on the initial training for the Neptune front loader I pointed out the fact that you couldn’t turn off the light, they also put a crappy main water sealing  it and I told him that it would leak leak and not have a long life, they changed it about three or four years later to the type I would’ve used.  [ they used a face type lip seal but changed to a concentric lip seal a few years later like every other FL washer uses worldwide ]

 

Good thing about Maytag is their final top load washers we’re by far the best performing Toploader automatics that they ever made, their dryers also got pretty good toward the end.

 

Their disposer was way too expensive to make but they could’ve just gone to the premium end of the market and probably continued making them.

 

Their final tall tub dishwasher was riddled with problems They made over 40 improvements in in the first four years but they were getting a pretty good and they could’ve continued making that.

 

If you want a vintage Maytag grab one of those later top load washers with the load sensor agitator and orbital transmission. The dryers that went with them were pretty good also [ but never as good as what WP was selling for much less ]  Many people like the Neptune front loaders you want to rebuild one the parts are still out there.

 

John L