Sounds like our experience with our Swedish Asco washer, cost $2k over 10 years ago, and when we needed service, the local place had gone out of business. We replaced it with a Kenmore front loader, and have been very pleased with it. With a family of 5, we do alot of laundry, and the Asco had too small of a volume and a very long cycle.
It seems like the weekness of the frontloaders is the drain pumps getting clogged. I did have to replace the controller on the dryer a few months back, but ordering one online was the same price as a service call.
