Maytag Man gets a multitasking makeover and gets busy

The days of the lonely Maytag Repairman lamenting his lack of work are over. He's been replaced by a younger spokesman who's kept busy performing the functions of a refrigerator, range, dishwasher, and matching washer and dryer. Not only is the rebranded Maytag Man working, he's multitasking—washing your clothes, cooking your meals, and literally running to keep your refrigerator running.

As far as repairs go, Maytag is neither the most nor least repair-prone brand in Consumer Reports tests of kitchen and laundry appliances. And some Maytag products have been stellar performers in our tests, including the top-rated Maytag Maxima XL MHW8000AG front-loading washer, $1,450. In our washing machine tests, the Maytag Maxima had superb wash performance, a large capacity, and excellent water efficiency and energy efficiency. We also recommend the matching electric dryer, the Maytag Maxima XL MED8000AG, also $1,450, which was excellent at drying and among the quietest we've tested.

In our tests of kitchen ranges, the Maytag MET8885XS, $1,700, just missed the top spot. The 30-inch electric smoothtop range features a smaller oven on top and a larger oven below, allowing you to cook a roast in one while baking a pie in the other. It was excellent at baking and cooktop heating but not as good at broiling and self-cleaning.

In the new ads, the Maytag Man squeezes himself into a spot for a French-door refrigerator but in our refrigerator tests, none of the five models in that configuration made our list of top refrigerator picks. We do recommend two conventional bottom-freezer Maytag refrigerators, the Maytag MBF2258XE[W], $1,100, and the Maytag MBF1958XE[W], $1,150. Both were very good overall with excellent temperature performance. We also recommend the Maytag M1TXEGMY[W] top freezer, $770, but don't expect many convenience features. No Maytags made our list of recommended dishwashers.

We'll kind of miss the old Maytag Repairman but it's clear that his replacement has a lot more to do. In addition to filling in for your appliances, he has his own Maytag Man website and is active on social media. You can follow him on Twitter @TheMaytagMan and he has his own Facebook page and YouTube channel. Guess that'll keep him from being lonely.

—Mary H.J. Farrell