Speed Queen in Australia

[spinspeed]

I went to Harvey Norman this morning. A major electrical and appliance outlet here in Australia. I always like to have a mooch around the washing machine section. There was a speed Queen TL. $3,295.00 Au which is $2,039.93 US. Seems pretty steep to me. Nice looking machine. Obviously made for the Australian market. No matching dryer on display. Sure that would have been really expensive too. Maytag used to sell in Australia but not seen a Maytag appliance for sale here for many years.

We do have a really good selection of TL and FL machines to choose from.

 

[petek]

Yikes, no way would I pay that much.They're pricey here in Canada as well, the toploaders run about $1600 to $1800 Cdn . Doesn't appear that they sell the front loaders here currently which is odd, they used to. Reviews I could find on them from Canada are mixed and they don't sell in big numbers either. Most people aren't familiar with the Speed Queen name anymore like in the past and even less so than Huebsch

 

[spinspeed]

I was looking on YouTube re the “high efficiency” option on the Speed Queen TL. What a misnomer. There is a video by Laundro-Matt explaining the function. Adds 4 soaks of an hour each to the wash cycle with 12 mins of agitation between soaks. It then does spray rinsing and omits the deep rinse. Would make the whole cycle extremely long. It only holds about 8kg of laundry. My LG front loader boasts a 12kg capacity. Not sure I would want to own a Speed Queen TL.

 

[henene4]

I haven't gotten into what the Australian efficiency ratings entail yet, but similar to the EU, they appear to require a certain cleaning target.

FLs down there - generally - appear to have a 40C Cottons cycle with 3 rinses ranging in the regime of VERY LONG (3h or more) cycles as rating cycle.
TLs similarly have long wash times on eco cycles. The SQ does wash steps interspersed with half hour soaks to get that cleaning rating - and they all appear to use the typical transmission design, not the TR redesign single piece tub and agitator with VFD motor.
Thus not a continuous wash - don't think 2h of continuous agitation would do much good.

The prices actually seem kinda reasonable.
US price, plus transport, taxes and service overhead.
Wouldn't pay it for such a machine, but the price does not appear outlandish.

 

[gizmo]

Choice have tested Speed Queen top loaders and they rate poorly.

(The one tested here is an earlier machine than the one pictured in the original post.)

They even feature in this "Washing machines to avoid" article.

The article is free for all to view, unlike their full tests which are member-only.

https://www.choice.com.au/home-and-.../three-washing-machines-to-avoid-in-the-sales

 

[spinspeed]

Thanks Gizmo, that is really interesting. Defo won’t be splashing out on a Speed Queen TL from Harvey Norman. Second worst machine in there list of washers not to buy. The guys from the USA seem to really like the Speed Queen TL. It certainly is reminiscent of the top load washers in regards to build and design of the past before all the flimsy plastic Asian machines became the norm. A proper agitator too. But then looks aren’t everything.

 

[grnappliance]

Speed Queens

I have had some encounters with Speed Queen here in New Zealand. Harvey Norman was the only appliance store selling them at the time, and I recall seeing all the different models shuffling in each year. In 2018, the AWNE92SP113TW01 and matching dryer arrived, and they were unfortunately going to be the last Speed Queens I ever saw new at the shops (Not that I wanted to buy one, it was just cool seeing them there).

The TR and TC machines never came to Harvey Norman in New Zealand, so I assumed they stopped supplying them to the stores or it just became too expensive. Anyhow, I haven't seen the new Speed Queens since. I guess the only way to get one now would be to shop for them online. There are also plenty of second-hand commercial units for sale on TradeMe.co.nz.

The Machine itself is probably made for those who are coming off of a vintage appliance and want a machine of the same quality, where performance and capacity aren't that important (This is especially true in America). Of course, Speed Queen has an advantage in that they are the only brand still doing that today, which would explain the high price tag. Outside of that group of people, the Speed Queen doesn't really shine so well. Energy Rating here has given both the washer and dryer 1/6 stars. By today's standards, they are also quite slow with the spin and short on options.

Compared to the U.S., I don't think New Zealand is too big into quality over performance appliances; That's probably why Speed Queen never did so well here and they are no longer for sale at the shops. I still think that it's a fantastic machine, and well done to the brand for keeping it alive so that those who want it can buy it.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Speed Queen Laundry!

I love how Speed Queen washers and dryers do the job they're supposed to do without fuss. I don't care about style. I care about substance.