We bought a new washer and paid 35% less than MSRP

As I've discussed previously, our washer was going to need replacing sooner rather than later. It turned out to be later than I thought it was going to be, and for a new problem rather than the one that had a repairman at our house six times last year. Two Fridays ago, the tub simply stopped spinning. It was time to get a new washer.

My husband and I had previously discussed where we would buy our washer when the time came. We had ruled out Best Buy and Circuit City, based on all of the negative experiences we've read across the web, and we weren't crazy about Sears either (even though we bought a new fridge from them last year without a problem). It just so happened that earlier in the week, I had read some comments on where to buy a new appliance on this thread at The Consumerist, and the numerous suggestions on buying from a locally owned store persuaded me that was the way to go.

So the next day we went to a fairly large local store, where my in laws had purchased all new kitchen appliances a year or two ago. I asked some questions, narrowed our choices down to two models, one GE and one Maytag, and asked the salesman to write the model numbers down so I could research them. That night, we looked the models up online and found many complaints about the GE and few about the Maytag. So even though the Maytag cost $220 more, we decided to go with the Maytag. I went back to the store on Sunday and made the purchase (they don't do phone orders). The store's price was also the MSRP: $999. Because they didn't have any in stock, the salesman gave me the choice of ordering it and waiting until Saturday for delivery or buying the floor model at a $70 discount. (Note: I probably should have taken FMF's advice and asked if he could do better.) I really didn't want to go a whole week without a washer, and I liked the discount, so I took the floor model. It was delivered this past Wednesday and seems to work fine - I'll post a review of it after I've used it for a while.

Because it's a high-efficiency model, the washer is eligible for a $250 rebate from LA DWP and a $35 rebate from The Southern California Gas Co. That reduces the original price of $999 to $644. I'm considering the cost as charged to our tax rebate.