From a $199 stick vacuum to a $2,090 designer dishwasher: Experts reveal the products you should NEVER buy in the end of financial year sales
- For those after a bargain, the end of financial year sales are starting soon
- Consumer advocacy group, Choice, revealed the six items you shouldn't buy
- These include robot vacuums, fridges and two separate dishwashers
With the end of financial year sales starting at the shops, it's always tempting to spend big and claim back on tax.
But not everything is worth your money.
Choice, the leading consumer advocacy group in Australia, has done the hard work for you to ensure you don't end up with a faulty product.
Their experts put household appliances to the test and revealed the six items that are best avoided in the sales.
Choice, the leading consumer advocacy group in Australia, has tested a variety of products to see which are worth your money (stock image)
Washing machines – top loaders
1. Speed Queen AWNA62
Cost: $2,495
Score: 59 per cent
With a price tag of $2,495, the Speed Queen might be fast, but according to Choice experts it does not do a good job at cleaning clothes.
The washing machine scored only 54 per cent for dirt removal, 57 per cent for spin efficiency and 16 per cent for water efficiency.
On top of this it costs $1,469 to run for 10 years.
'Its bad points far outnumber its good points: very poor water efficiency, only scores 54 per cent for dirt removal, no auto-sensing water level, no selectable spin speed, no time remaining display, no woollens wash, no fast program… you get the idea,' experts from Choice said.
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With a price tag of $2495, the Speed Queen might be fast but according to Choice it unfortunately does not do a good job at cleaning clothes
Washing machines – front loaders
2. Haier HWX8040DW1
Cost: $2,499
Score: 67 per cent
Sadly this machine only has a dirt removal score of 55 per cent, making it not worth its $2,499 price tag.
As a positive, the experts said it has good water efficiency and is relatively quiet.
Sadly this machine only has a dirt removal score of 55 per cent, making it not worth its $2499 price tag
Robot Vacuums
3. Neato Botvac D series
Cost: $1,199
Score: 52 per cent
'While the Botvac is very good at cleaning hard floors, it sucks – or rather doesn't – when it comes to carpet, pet hair, corners and edges,' Choice said.
'It scored a sad 30 per cent on each of these tests, but 85 per cent on hard floors.'
'While the Botvac is very good at cleaning hard floors, it sucks – or rather doesn't – when it comes to carpet, pet hair, corners and edges,' Choice said
Dishwashers
4. Smeg DWAFI6314
Cost: $2,090
Score: 60 per cent
5. Smeg DWA6214S
Cost: $1,550
Score: 60 per cent
According to Choice, price is no predictor of performance.
Although both of these Smeg dishwashers are at the higher end of the price scale, they failed to impress the testers.
'Two of the more expensive models we tested, we found these Smeg dishwashers to be relatively noisy with a long cycle time and very poor drying performance,' they said.
'One positive is that they're cheap to run and have very good energy efficiency, which is just as well: when you're paying this much for a dishwasher you may not have much left over for power bills.'
According to Choice price is no predictor of performance which they said is especially true when it comes to these Smeg dishwashers
'Two of the more expensive models we tested, we found these Smeg dishwashers to be relatively noisy with a long cycle time and very poor drying performance,' they said
Stick vacuums
6. Hoover Cordless Stick Vac SD101
Cost: $199
Score: 63 per cent
This model earned a disappointing score of 48 per cent on Choice's quick clean test, and only 55 per cent on their thorough carpet clean test.
The vacuum also might not be effective for hard-to-reach areas as it doesn't have a hand-held mode.
There are plenty of other stick vacuums that will give you a better clean for a similar price.
This model earned a disappointing score of 48 per cent on their quick clean test, and only 55 per cent on their thorough carpet clean test
'This Beko fridge might look the business, but its beauty is only skin deep. It's not great at keeping the temperature stable in both the fridge and freezer, and it doesn't deal well with external temperature changes,' they said
Fridges
Beko BFD629DX
Cost: $2,749
Score: 37 per cent
'This Beko fridge might look the business, but its beauty is only skin deep. It's not great at keeping the temperature stable in both the fridge and freezer, and it doesn't deal well with external temperature changes,' the experts said.
'For this price, you can easily pick up a fridge that'll give great temperature stability while still looking good.'
