My aunt bought a Hotpoint ultima WMUD942K in black a few months ago and it's an amazing machine. Very quiet, decent drum size, flexible programs and handy options like time saver, extra rinses and much more.
Was over last weekend so did 4 loads in it, it performs very well and the water levels vary on every load.
The new models (same model number) seem to have Cotton Standard 60, 40 and 20 programs instead of Cottons 90, 60 and 40. However you can select higher temperatures such as 90 by using the variable temperature button.
cheers still keep an eye on yours! im not letting it go with lg just need a washing machine thats heats water lol so i now have 3 lg machines what a waste.
if the internal water heater do not work then the solution is just plain simple wash in cold water or just send a complaint letter to the store where you bought your washer and have it exchange for another brand other than lg or look to see if you can connect your washer to a hot water connection?
The Hotpoint might look fancy and full of features on the outside, but I can almost guarantee that it's cheap and nasty Indesit engineering inside...
We had a 'top of the line' Aqualtis AQ9D-69I (look at my YouTube video link!) and when we first bought it, it came with a faulty control panel which a Hotpoint engineer changed out fairly quickly. Anyway, the insides were pretty dire... a low quality sealed plastic wash tub, cheap looking plastic shock absorbers etc.
Anyway, it ended up breaking a few months short of its two year anniversary, which appeared to be some kind of motor failure because it wouldn't spin up properly and the wash would end with a failure code.
Costco always seems to have great customer service and took it back with no issues for a full refund and we got a Maytag Intelliwash 9kg machine (model MWA 09149 WH/1) which I believe might be some Swedish brand rebadged? I'll try to post internal photos of that soon, because it has a full stainless steel (serviceable) wash tub and so on; very nice quality!
Where did you see that they were made by Maytag China, btw?
I know that Maytag have had some of their European sold washers manufactured by Swedish manufacturer Asko (same as who make the ISE under contract) and there seem to be some sources for that on the web (like the ukwhitegoods site for instance)...
If you have some info on the Maytag China connection for the European washers now that would be interesting