Our Bosch washing machine failed recently (error code f21). Turns out that the motor brushes had worn down so much that the commutator had been scored. New brushes only cost £8-£15 so wish I had checked them regularly.

Wife needed it fixed asap so I ordered a new motor at £160 on next day delivery. If I'd got a service engineer in it would probably have been over £200.

Today I took the old motor apart and took the armature to an engineering co in Peterborough. They quoted me just £20 to skim the commutator so I could have fixed it for just £28-£35.

The motor was dead easy to take out of the Bosch. If yours is more than a few years old and you know one end of a torx screwdriver from the other then it might be worth you checking the brushes before they wear right down.