> And... they don't smell bad?

If you do not regularly clean the rubber gasket _and_ leave the door open to dry out the rubber completely, you end up with a smelly, slimy mixture of clothing lint-infused mildew.

> Frankly the most important difference to me is this central axis in American top-loaders and which clothes wrap themselves and which always ends up destroying elastics.

You can buy modern top loaders do not have an agitator that destroys clothes.

https://www.bhg.com/impeller-vs-agitator-washing-machine-748...