Miele T230C

Fantastic dryer. Clothes come out undamaged and dry every-time. The trick to any good appliance is to read the instructions and follow them. When this dryer was around condenser dryers were relatively rare. What you have to do is clean all 3 lint filters after every use and the condenser after every week or so. I have done this and never had a problem.

I recently purchased a second one of these dryers secondhand as a "faulty" machine. With the same fault as the other reviewers here have regarding the dryer not heating (It's definitely a common fault on this). As soon as i saw the condenser in this faulty unit i could see why it stopped working it was filthy as if it had never come out in 6 years use. I cleaned the condenser then took of the back panel (4 screws for the heater unit). Immediately with a multimeter test I could see that the thermostat/cutoff was not working. I popped this in the freezer to rest and voila. It now also works. Both dryers are going beautifully and I would never look back. By chance I saw another one of these at a office I was working at which again became faulty. I checked the condenser and hey it was filthy and it had tripped the thermostat/cutout.

So to all the other poor reviewers READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and clean the unit and it will last forever. Any Miele will outlast a lesser brand but it can't overcome lack of care no matter how well it's built.

First out the traps - I've had this tumble dryer for several years and it gets HAMMERED! It has never missed a beat in all that time and I love it. Last week it stopped drying and it seemed to me that the fault was mine as I had not cleaned the condensor unit (front bottom, left) so it was blocked solid with wet fluff. I made a few telephone calls only to be told that the heater unit had gone and that they cost in excess of £200 to buy - and then you pay some outrageous sum of money to have it fitted.

So, back to t'internet and trawling around. One contributor on a forum advised that the thermostat is a one hit special - once it's tripped, that's it. He suggested, in effect, hot wiring the stat by bypassing it in order to check the heater. I did just that and the heater was fine. I then ordered a new stat on line which was £33 including delivery (still a STUPID price for a tiny part), fitted it and off we go. Works a dream. The cautionary tale here is not to let some service engineer stiff you for a full heater and stat unit plus fitting when just the stat can be replaced.

BTW, for those of you electrically minded, if you take the top cover off the dryer, there are two folded up pieces of paper stuffed inside the frame with the full wiring diagrams and complete parts lists!

The heater element failed after 4 months and was replaced under warranty. It failed again after 3 years and two months. Called out an engineer who identified the problem and told me how much a replacement part would be. I decided to buy a new drier (not miele),as this was the cheaper option.

The engineer was very nice, however miele customer service were a bit frosty and uninterested when I called to have a winge. I have lots of meile appliances in my home but will not be making any further purchases from them.

The heater elements on my Miele T230C tumble dryer packed up after 3 years. The call out charge of a Miele engineer is £108 including VAT - this only includes 1 hours work. Even with a discount off the parts, I'll practically be paying the same price to repair it as I would for another reasonably priced brand that will probably last as long as the Miele, and at half the price the Miele cost me when new. I bought Miele because they are supposed to last, and having children at the time meant our family income would be limited for quite a number of years, ie. I wanted some that would last and bought into the brand!

Poor response from Miele customer service on the issue of cost and life time product claims, and a shocking call out cost. Hardly a good message from the company if they have environmental policies in place to minimise the impact of white goods on the environment. Being German I am certain they do. Is that relevant? I'm not sure, but I am annoyed at paying top dollar for a rubbish product that's supposed to average 15 years of operation and it breaks down after only 2 years and 11 months!