Now ours started making a horrible squealing noise which turned out to be the spindle burned its way through the main bearing, so now I've got to hunt around for a new one for a machine that may get binned in a few weeks.
We've had the £99 replacement for a month or so now and touch wood its been okay. We only ended up paying £80 after a whinge on facebook about the repair bill for our old one only a year ago. For £80 if it last's 2-3 years then I can live with that. One thing is for certain is I will never buy a Hotpoint product again. I will stick to Bosch in future.
Bosch aren't the quality they once were though. Difficult to know who to choose these days, or just see everything as a disposable product that lasts as long as the guarantee, and doesn't try to kill you in the meantime.
I think he recommends the cheap stuff like White Knight, which says a lot about the state of the more expensive stuff, who are probably surviving on their brand names...
The bearing will be replaced when the modification is carried out.