Yes the 'appearance' is nice, but I would not purchase after owning a Whirlpool made Kenmore elite that is very tough on the clothes, and other family members who own Whirlpool machines that complain about the same. I have had many other top load machines, this one is the worst on clothes, so it does not matter to me how dependable the 'Whirlpool' design is, because the fact of the matter it truly is a 'shreaderator' as defined on this forum. If I had to buy now, only Speed Queen would be my choice.