interesting article on appliance longevity

[bwoods]

Most of us on AW routinely use 30-40+ year old appliance and electronics, so the estimated lifespan of modern appliances, given in this article, is quite amusing.

(Quite sad, actually.)

http://money.msn.com/personal-finance/how-long-should-your-household-purchases-last

 

[washman]

I blame the consumer too

Once upon a time, there were many quality products made here but since sheeple believe that going to your local BIG BOX and saving a few bucks is the priority, what incentive does a manufacturer have to make something worthwhile?

We had our chance, and we blew it. Junk abounds because the typical American moron wants it for as cheaply as possible.

 

[rp2813]

There's a Lowe's ad that has been running recently on TV.  It presents a scenario (in the choppy A.D.D. style that appeals to Gen Y types) with an over-sudsing washer. 

 

The female user immediately seeks out replacement rather than repair.  Such is the mindset of today's target demographic.

 

[jeffg]

We almost fell over when someone mentioned a new W/D set in another discussion, it has a price tag (including pedestals) approaching $4,000 and comes with a one-year warranty.

What else can you call it imo other than natural selection hard at work.

 

[NYCWriter]

Well ...

... it'll be $16,000 for me to buy and install my washer and dryer ...

 

[launderess]

Major Appliances/White Goods

Got that category name because things were supposed to last ten years or longer. Well that idea seems to have gone by the boards today. You are lucky in many instances to get five years out of a washing machine before something happens.

One major problem is that less and less major appliances are designed to be repaired. That or when they do the cost of parts are often so dear as to equal or approach half if not more of buying a new appliance.

Even such once mighty brands such as Miele aren't immune.

Many major appliance makers of old saw what was coming down the pike and exited the market. That is if you build things to last a generation or longer sooner or later you are almost limited to certain markets such as new home sales etc....

Once the post WWII boom spurred by pent up demand and new home construction/persons moving began to die down what was left? Unlike cars many households didn't see a reason to trade up or in what they considered perfectly good appliances just because new models came out yearly. True while a good number did you basically had to depend upon new home sales, redecorating or replacement to get persons into showrooms.

 

[jeffg]

"One major problem is that less and less major appliances are designed to be repaired. That or when they do the cost of parts are often so dear as to equal or approach half if not more of buying a new appliance."

Sometimes parts are not expensive, but they're made intentionally obscure and hard to find. E.g. when the door latch started failing on our out-of-warranty Panasonic microwave, it took us six weeks to find a replacement. The switch itself was around $4. From reviews it's a very common failure on Panasonic ovens, so you gotta wonder how many thousands were tossed and replaced because of a $4 part.

You know my personal fantasy is that a group of AW users team up to design, build and sell their own W/Ds. I've had images of the front panels inside my head for 40+ years now.

 

[DigAPony]

Well, that article sort of blows a hole in Combo52's argument regarding the longevity potential for the current crop of W/D's.

 

[toploader55]

Even the Mighty Brands such as Miele...

Here, Here Laundress.

Right you are.

Although since they replaced the 4842 3 years ago after 3 months of use and the main bearing gone bad, I still have an extended warranty on it through Miele.

Come to think of it, I'll have to see when it runs out and will probably renew.

This machine has been good, but sometimes will do something strange. I like it for Whites and even with the Water Plus turned on, I usually run the load through a Rinse and Spin just for piece of mind.

 

[washer111]

This is a shameful depiction of the truth. 

 

Some facts I've noticed lately:

~ Co-Worker is presently washing clothes by hand. $400 repair for the washer, new one is $800. Not sure of the age - probably recent model (Given its a rental property)

 

~ Our last washer nearly went at 4 years. Control board getting funky. Had a daughter board and new lock fitted as part of a recall. It still didn't function 100% after that. Sold it a year and a bit later for a better Miele. 

~ The previous washer was from the mid-90s, and was a Hoover TL model. Direct-Drive. Member "mattywashboy" had a similar model. Was replaced in 2009 due to Out-Of-Balance issues, and an electrical fault that could've claimed its user. 

 

~ Friend's HP laptop went bad. HP replaced the fan that very nearly torched the machine. 

 

~ Our Fridge/Freezer is presently on their 15th year (This past May). F&P models, made in Queensland. We were told to expect 7-10 years out of them (This was in 1999!).

The Freezer's defrost timer has just started getting funky a day ago. Nearly left us with a freezer of thawed food. Cranked the temperature to max - so it can't cycle the compressor (and timer) to spare us some time, and prevent a catasphrophe. Timer working, but noisy. Probably going to replace the timer. 

(Meanwhile) - Our older fridges, a "Metters" model from 1964 and an Arcus model from the 80's were still around still at least 2010. The freezer popped a relay, mid-2010 (after having its compressor on for the better part of 10 years). The fridge was passed on to "new" owners within the family in 2010 - that fridge was QUIET and extremely efficient. It was replaced with a Westinghouse "Wideluxe" from 1992(!!!)

 

~ Our Panasonic 42" Plasma is on its 7th year this month. Still working nicely, as is the DVD/Surround system that came with it. Replaced a crappy-ass TEAC unit that had a dodgy picture, bad remote, and "static-discharge" DVD player 3 years older... Discarded (finally) in 2012. 

 

~ DishDrawer on its 3rd year. For all accounts - it should've stopped by now! Apart from the drain-filters failing, no issues whatsoever. 

 

[DirectDriveDave]

I still live with my folks. Thankfully when something breaks, they are more than happy to let me have a look at it to see if I can fix it. The best example I can think of is in late 2011 when I replaced the drain pump on our, now 24 year old direct drive. I wonder how many people would have just junked it, and wasted their money instead of performing that easy (and cheap!) repair.

I wonder what year it was when appliances REALLY started going downhill. We have a Panasonic microwave from 2000, and a GE Triton XL dishwasher from 2002. Both have electronic controls, and have never given us one problem.