Flea Market Sightings -- GE & Kenmore

[DADoES]

I'd surely like to have the GE, always wanted a MiniBasket. I'm leery of the speed-clutch being bad, and leaking. I have a lower-end GE 1-speed without MiniBasket, obtained at the other resale shop in town. It had a cracked drain hose, no big deal to change that, but it developed a leak from the tub boot 2nd time I ran it. Doubt there's a way to water-test this one at the flea market, but perhaps I could convince the fellow to let me run-test it for both speeds.

The other resale also 'burned me' on my Calypso, I had to replace the motor controller board. They talk a good spiel -- "Yeah, it works, no leaks. 30-day guarantee." Lotta ruckus to haul a machine back and who knows if they'd honor the "guarantee." They're in the business of selling the stuff at a price, not concerned with details or history. If I won't pay the price they want, they know another sucker .... uhhh, somebody else, will come along wanting the pretty blue dryer, not realizing it's ~42 years old.

The LK is tres kewl, except I already have four dryers in the garage, plus the F&P inside. What I'm gonna do with SIX dryers?? LOL! NO way to run-test it at the flea market, they couldn't possibly have a 220v line.

Lotsa work this afternoon ... not much time for errands, don't have a truck available today (Austin, you wanna make a quick road-trip??) ... don't know what time the flea market closes today, it's open only on Sat & Sun.

eBay. I hate eBay.

Steve, I know you're aching for my 906s! But I'm holding on to them for a while, at least until Austin & I can have a stab at fixing the washer's leak. The 906 dryer is the one I occasionally use in the garage, ran it last night in fact.

 

[danemodsandy]

906's

"Steve, I know you're aching for my 906s!"

Isn't everybody? Those are the 'Tags I'd really like to have, but I'm very concerned about parts on those. And I don't yet know enough to do my own fixing.

 

[gansky1]

Glen, that LK dryer is a pretty one but if you have enough dryers now, the pictures are easier to find space for ;-)

The GE washer isn't too bad - the top is a mess with that porcelain chippage, but that can be replaced with another GE top.

As mentioned in another thread, functional Maytag parts are still being made that will work in the 906 - stem & seal kit, tub bearing kit can be had at any appliance parts company. Controls, buttons, panel glass, etc. haven't been available for years so that will be more of a hunting trip - but that also doesn't mean there aren't some out there sitting on shelves.

 

[powerfin64]

question...

just out of curiousity, what price were they asking for the Lady K dryer??

Rich

 

[DADoES]

I apparently pissed off the proprietor. Went back this afternoon to dicker. Nobody around. Found the LK & GE inside a stall. They had tried to touch up the chippage on the GE, and both had price stickers ($125 washer, $100 dryer), higher than he quoted yesterday. I pulled the agitator, it came off easily, VERY clean beneath. Couldn't get a look beneath the machine, not enough room to tip it back. I went looking for a body, found a little fellow who took me around back to the head honcho. I offered $140 for the pair. Nope. $150. Nope, minimum $170. Not without confirming the speed-clutch is good, already dealt with two "bum" machines at another resale shop in town. He seemed offended that I questioned the condition after he said they were good. 30-day guarantee. Yeah, but I'd have to haul them all the way back. He wouldn't budge off $170. I said no deal and walked away. Then I turned back, asked if he'd take $85 for the dryer as quoted yesterday. He hesistated, but said yes. I said OK, I have to go find my buddy with the truck.

We went back about 1.5 hrs later. I planned to go ahead with $170 for the pair. The GE was gone. LK still there. Little fellow was outside, big fellow across the way. Little fellow got big fellow's attention. He said "Sold, both sold." Clearly he didn't want to talk to me any more. I could be wrong, but I question whether they're sold (I think he moved the GE around back, didn't get a chance to move the LK). All three times I was there in the last two days, I never saw anybody else looking. There were other newer machines on display for road-traffic to see today, seems unlikely somebody needing a pair of machines would pick the *oldest* dryer (except for it being blue), and a washer with badly chipped porcelain.

Now what I don't know is if it was a mistake not to jump right away. Nobody ever mentions how much they've paid for their finds. There seems to be a "gentleman's agreement" or an unwritten rule that money is not discussed. Only that "I picked this up yesterday" or "my favorite recycler called and lookee what I found" or "I found this at the curb on the way to work this morning," etc. There's also a lot of "insider trading" that happens. The rest of us are left with no points of reference on how to react when finds come along. I've been told several times to "skip that one," it's too new, in too bad condition, or too questionable. If I skip everything, then there's nothing viable left amid the piles of rust. My 906, which I bought from the original owner who kept them in an air conditioned utility room for 35 years, is a leaky rust-bucket. The 906 pair cost me $250. I have no idea if that was reasonable or if I got ripped.

 

[powerfin64]

the Lady K that got away..

sounds like they didn't want to sell lady K very badly..what a shame.

Rich

 

[washoholic]

You’re a smart man. You where born at night, but it wasn’t l

Glenn, I think you did the right thing by haggling with the guy. Surely he is used to it if he works at a flea market. I’ve had a few yard sales myself and no one just pays the marked price. They always ask if you’ll take less. For this reason, most things at yard/garage sales and flea markets, as you know, are marked up higher than they think people will actually pay.

It’s not unreasonable to question the condition, especially for such old machines. I think it was pretty smart of you to do that. A 30 day guarantee isn’t much when you consider the back breaking work you’ll have to do to get them on the truck, then off the truck, then back on and off the truck if you had to take them back. Then you have to get someone to help you, and not to mention paying for the gas in the truck. And of course, your time and the person’s time helping you is worth something, also. If they worked and he knew that they worked then he wouldn’t have been offended by you asking about the condition. He would have said, “Sure, I understand,” and plugged the washer in and showed you that it would spin. Surely, there was an extension cord somewhere. It sounds like they didn’t work and he knew it. He probably recognized your intelligence and then he knew he couldn’t sell them to you because you would just bring them right back when they did not work. He had to save face and hide them because you just weren’t the sucker he was looking for. I’ll bet if you go back during the week you’ll find them set out for the trash.

It definitely was not a mistake to not jump on them right away. You saved yourself a lot of heartache and disappointment. Imagine how you would have felt if they did not work and you had to wait a week to take them back and fight with the guy.

If you ever need help working on your washers, shoot me an e-mail, I’d be glad to lend a hand.

~Jeff