As far as I'm aware under EU law electrical appliances such as washing machines are meant to last 6 years.
> She points out that consumer law does not underwrite six years of use, as is commonly believed.
It's two years. In some countries, e.g. Germany, after six months the burden of proof is on the consumer that the product had already been faulty when receiving it (http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/consumer_topics/buying_goo...).