Product review (1 stars): Disappointed - Premature Bearing Failure - DO NOT BUY
When you buy something for close to $1000, you expect it to last longer than 5+ years. We purchased this model back in November of 2009. While we were initially happy with the performance of the machine, we started to see issues. Each spin cycle started to get louder and louder with each use. And clothing started to show significant wear and tear after each wash. On further investigation, I discovered that this particular model has a history of bearing failure. If you search the internet for 'maytag bravo washer noise', you'll find a video on YouTube where you can hear the end result of this bearing failure. It literally sounds like a jet is taking off in our laundry room.

Cases of this premature bearing failure are all over the internet. There is even a bearing replacement kit out there to fix this issue yourself [...] While I haven't found one yet, I would be willing to join a Civil Lawsuit against Maytag/Whirlpool to address this issue. Its completely unacceptable that they would sell a product that would fail after such a short period of time. The repair for this issue is as much as the machine costs. We paid around $700 for the washer and calling Maytag service, they quoted the repair at $400 and that doesn't even include the labor yet. We plan to just buy a new washer at this point.

My advice is to stay away from Maytag/Whirlpool.  It's a terrible product and a poor design.