Product review (1 stars): Complete disappointment and waste of money!
I happily owned a Maytag for 20 years, then purchased this disappointing Whirlpool less than 3 years ago - neither with an extended warranty.  When it was installed and demonstrated, I commented that it was rather noisy but the installer assured me that it was normal for this model.  My husband and I are not home six months a year, our house sitter does maybe two small loads of laundry per week and yet the machine failed in less than three years.

In October the hot water setting stopped working.  Also I carefully sort my clothes by color, water temp, and weight i.e. delicates, towels, whites, etc. but during the wash and rinse cycles, the machine started to made sounds like it was horribly off-balance but no amount of rearranging corrected it, and each time I tried I had difficulty unlocking and restarting the cycle.  I had been noticing that my whites were not getting white even with bleach, while some other light colored clothes were coming out dingy; I chalked that up to the detergent.  Sometimes I would remove "cleaned" items that crackled, which I now know was soap residue.  When my husband called for service, the repairman quoted $400+ for repairs.

We decided to shop for a new machine.  I was disgusted when the Lowe's (where it was purchased) Appliance Sales Rep told me that today's machines are expected to last only six years, regardless whether I paid $500 or $1000!  I asked what he thought about one lasting less than three years?  His reply, "Did you purchase and extended warranty?"  I was appalled and told him that my last Maytag washer lasted 20 years; his reply, "If they lasted that long there wouldn't be an appliance department in Lowe's."  Constructively, he did suggest I go on-line and check people's reviews for this machine, then contact Whirlpool.

We were shocked to discover that 75% of the reviews on Amazon.com, Lowe's, and another site were strongly negative about this model and we agreed with most all of them - noise, poor cleaning, low water, the insufferable locking lid, and repair cost quotes.

Then we spent a week grudgingly shopping for a new washing machine, then coming home and checking reviews.  Finally, I decided to look for a simpler top-loading machine with a real agitator, manual water select, dial controls, and a non-locking lid.  We adjusted our expectations, which meant the machine would last only six years (mentally, my husband calculated and accrued the cost per year to do laundry) and anything longer would be a bonus.  AND we purchased a FIVE year extended warranty (Be sure to add this cost to the machine price for actual price comparisons as we found a significant difference between Sears, Best Buy and Home Depot.  Also consider whether the store will still be around in five years!)

In conclusion, I selected a GE - GTWN4250D1WS that was delivered this week.  The hot water setting worked fine along with the warm and cold settings; the agitator works; the wash and rinse cycles don't sound like a jet plane; and I could open the lid while the tub filled to rinse out the detergent cup!  My first use was a large, white with bleach load that took 50 minutes and suddenly my whites were a lot cleaner.  The second load was a small and delicate that too 40 minutes. I am hopeful :)