I bought this semi-automatic 6.5 kg machine in 2001 and we are still using it . In the last 7 yrs it has not given us any major problem. We went for an extended AMC for 5 yrs or so after the initial warranty period expired. But for the last 2 yrs we did not renew the AMC since the AMC cost it much more than the value of the machine itself!
The machine is sturdy and almost trouble free. The motor is working well despite our habit of overloading the machine often.
In the last 2 yrs the only problems we faced were;
The agitator tube in the drum got loosened and came off frequenly. So after every few washes, we make it a point to tighten the screw to prevent it from coming out . Once it comes out, it takes quite a bit of effort to put it back in place.
Clothes get entangled often and removing them without damaging the clothes is difficult.
The spin tub shakes too much if the load is not distributed evenly and hits the walls. So often we are forced to switch off supply and remove some clothes and redistribute the load. My wife, especially finds it irritating.
Whirlpool’s service support has been reasonably good so far. They came within a day or two and attended to the complaint well. However, during the AMC period, their routine visits once every few months was more of a formality. They did not bother to clean the underside of the agitator base where lot of dirt used to gather. The service guys were more keen on making us buy a chemical powder to clean the wash drum which we refused since just a manual cleaning would suffice. We have learnt to do it ourselves anyway.
We have decided to go for a new washing machine since this is 7 yrs old. This time we have opted for a fully automatic top loading machine. We have chosen to stick to Whirlpool because of our past experience with their machine and almost all dealers in Chennai recommend Whirlpool.