Product review (5 stars): Well-designed efficient washing machine
I don't understand all the negative reviews here. When I bought my Cabrio about 5 1/2 years ago, it was one of the highest rated machines by Consumer Reports. I don't always agree with or go by their ratings in some things, and they can overlook problems, but they seem to have a pretty good testing system for washing machines. As mentioned, I've had it about 5 1/2 years, and I have not had a single repair problem, although I only need to do laundry about once a week. I usually use it set on Normal, but I may try Casual now, as one reviewer mentioned it gives it more water. However too little water has not been a problem. I have a white machine with a clear top, so I have watched the mechanism in action as it's washing clothes, and even in the Normal setting it does wet and rotate clothes in the wash. At first I didn't realize it needed HE detergent, but no harm was done and once I switched to HE detergent the clothes seemed even cleaner, about as clean as with an old Kenmore with a traditional agitator used in my previous residence. It seems like the agitation used in cabrio is gentler on the clothes, from observation of the action and perceived wear to my garments. More recently I started adding non-chlorine bleach (hydrogen peroxide). I always run the extra rinse cycle, just to make sure the detergent is rinsed out completely--I did that with my previous machine and would do that no matter what machine I used.

I thought the washer may have been eating some socks, as I was missing about 4 or 5 mates, but I recently found several, including one long-lost one, so it wasn't the machine. I don't know if most modern machines have this, but I like the load balancing mechanism--I assume that's what it is--which gives the load a few spins at first, stops the drum short, and a balancing weight slides into position. If there are too many clothes, at some point in the wash cycle the machine stops, drains the water, shuts itself off and gives its shut-off beeps. The LCD screen reads oL, which means overload, so you need to take out one or more pieces of clothes and start the wash over with more detergent (it shuts off before the bleach is added, so that doesn't need to be replenished). This only happened for the first time in the last year, and only a few times.

I think most of the problems people have with the machine (I can't speak to repair problems, as I've never had any), is that they are not used to the agitation mechanism and wash action, expecting it to fill the tub, and don't understand it. When Consumer Reports did one of their wash tests, which is to leave the clothes in the washer, for a period of days, I think, to see if any mold or odors developed, the Cabrio did fine in that regard, an indication it was thoroughly cleaning the clothes, and I have never experienced any odors in machine.

PS My model, being from 2009, may be a little different than the ones reviewed here, as someone mentioned a Sanitize setting, which mine doesn't have, but I believe it's basically the same model, 4.6 cu. ft., stainless steel drum, clear top, etc.

PPS it's now January 16, 2016, 11 months after I wrote this review, and the problem with the overload shutting the machine down and having to remove a garment, which is not fully spun dry, is happening almost every time now, and I'm not putting any more close in that I did before this started happening about two years ago. Researching the problem it seems this is a known issue, probably related to either corrosion or rust on the driveshaft, or the nut on the bottom which holds the assembly together becoming loose and falling off--this assembly is usually designed with the nut of the top to avoid this problem. It could also be a control panel or sensor problem.