Product review (5 stars): I had a good view of the reliability of the Speed Queen brand ...
Thirty some years ago when we married we went shopping for the washer/dryer setup. Getting past the usual BS of the salesmen, I found one that knew his stuff. I had a good view of the reliability of the Speed Queen brand from my evenings at the laundromat. They worked well in that environment.
 I found from the salesman that the Speed Queens for retail were the same guts as the commercial laundromat machines. I paid somewhat more for the pair but I had a prejudice because of them being made in Wisconsin. (I prefer to keep the earnings at home rather than simply ignoring our fellow workers.) I would not have considered that unless I knew that the machines were reliable.
 The first set went on with no repairs excepting a v-belt for twenty two years. I wanted to take the old machines to my work to wash and dry the shop rags so that was a consideration to replace them with a new set of Speed Queens. I also wanted to satisfy the wife too.
 That was eleven years ago with not a single need for maintenance or parts on the latter pair. I cannot overstate just how reliable their machines are. You will save a lot of money by paying for the high quality up front and the extra cost is not all that much.
 You get an ultra durable transmission with solid steel gears rather than the failure prone powder metal type.
 At sixty-five,I'll be dead before I need to buy a replacement as I doubt that I will make it to eighty five years old.