POD APRIL 7 2011

[appnut]

1986 money

Jim, I guess at the time that was a lot of money.  I'd always wanted a Lady kenmore and I finally got it, although in hind sight I wished I"d gotten the last of the BD Ladys.  but the salesman told me about a couple of the new features coming out, along with restyled concoles, and I was star struck and waited.  And by that time, there weren't any BD LKs to easily be had. 

 

[mixfinder]

Design 2000

The earliest Whirlpool and Kitchenaids with DD did not come with a dual action agitator.  If you added one T-shirt too many roll over came to a screeching halt.  The vanes on the Design 2000 were not a tall as the later dual action agitators nor was the tub the larger diameter is is now.  I have no complaint about the function of a DD but someday I am sure in hell all I'll hear for eternity is crack crack crack crack crack of the DD transmission highlighted with softer clacking of the agitator dogs.  Shut them machines up and we'd get along just fine.  The Maytag Dependable Care transmission is silent and makes no clack or bang so why does Kenmore/Whirlpool?

 

[strongenough78]

And I don't know why, but I've always liked this model of DD Lady K in almond. I know, I know, I'll get hissed at and probably even barred, but there was something about it with the matching almond knobs and panel that attracted me.

 

[spankomatic]

Memory Lane... I had the POD Kenmore's in the late 80's and the Maytag pictured above in the early 90's. Both are much better than the brand new GE top loader I've been using in the apartment complex (Neptunes are in storage

).

 

[appnut]

Using inflation calculator, the $1080 almond pair would cost $2186 today.  A $2400 front load pair would have cost $1235 in 1986

 

[supremewhirlpol]

Vern, so do I. Something about that console makes them VERY attractive. I'm already hissed at here, it doesn't change my opinion of them.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

The last time I heard a production tally on the DD machines, WP had built over 90 million of them and that was sometime in mid 2010. Since DD production is continuing much of the rest of this year on some models, perhaps they will have time to approximate 100 million?

Throughout that many machines, the design has changed very little, so if there was truly a major clothes damage problem, WP would have tired of replacing laundry LONG ago. Bad designs don't stay in production for 30 years AND be the best selling washer in history, it just doesn't work that way.

I will agree though, these machine are much more utilitarian than they are romantic or soothing to use. But, for the most folks, a washer is nothing more than utilitarian anyway.

The prices back then are really something to think about. The last BD Lady was usually priced around $569, at least the porcelain top version with the white double coated basket. The lesser model with the powder coated top I think was a few dollars cheaper. Even though the DD was much less expensive to produce, Sears decided to raise the price 30-bucks. They must have made a fortune on those machines. Regular price on my BD Kenmore 70 that I bought in summer 1986 was $449, with each incremental model up being $10 more.

I am not sure when pricing began to slide back, but toploaders generally speaking are much less expensive today than they were 25 years ago, as we all know.

Gordon

 

[cphifer5115]

When did Kenmore top load washer go from the side opening lid to rear opening lid like all the other machine?

I remember buying my first band new kenmore back in the fall of 1995 and it had the box type control panel in all white with blue and gray colored graphics. It was $399 plus tax. It's still running today but have had to replace the motor coupling twice, agitator dogs wore out twice as well. but instead of replacing the dogs the second time i opted to just replace the agitator with just the one piece str8 vane. my niece now uses it and seems to be quite pleased with it. but i agree the DD were very noisy.

 

[gr81nknox]

kenmore lids

I always remembered Kenmores having the side opening lid until I was shopping for my own in 2002. The Elites at that time were the only KMs that had the front opening "wide mouth" lids. So sometime between 1997(when I left Sears) and 2002 is when they started using the front opening.

As for the BD v DD debate, the only washers I am really familiar with are DDs. Both mine and the 90 series Kenmore my parents had. I have never had a problem with mine damaging clothes. Having said that, the heavy cycle(fast/fast) does a pretty mean wash. I only use that cycle with towels, denim, or other heavy fabrics. Clothes I wear every day are either normal(slow/fast) or gentle(slow/slow). I suppose if I washed something which had a label saying gentle cycle and I used heavy it might shred it, but that's my fault for using the wrong cycle. The machine my parents had since 1995 had the same set-up and I never recall them saying it damaged clothing.