Vintage Washer/Dryers Going For Scrap?

[DigAPony]

What is the scrap metal value for washer/dryers these days?

I've lost track of how many Craigslist ads I responded to only to be told the machines are "gone", often quickly and the word that bothers me is "gone" not necessarily "sold".

I find it hard to believe there is big demand for 30-40+ year old Maytag washers that are mostly likely in need of some service. Case in point: Someone had a beat up Kenmore dryer and early Maytag A606 on Craigslist for $50, then "$40 today only". I responded two days after the ad posted and was told "sorry gone".

Are unemployed scrappers grabbing these, especially the cheap ones, just to make a few bucks.

 

[wayupnorth]

I feel the majority of people, other than here at AWO, dont want to mess with fixing good older ones. Even though they would have a much better machine. Most would rather go out, spend the big bucks and get the biggest and best and then it quits in no time flat. Too bad, so sad.

 

[travis]

Most people don't have a clue how to diagnose a problem with a broken appliance.  Common sense and mechanical ability is fading.  We live in a throw a way society.

 

Nearly every seller on Craigslist is negotiable.  Most people just want the appliance gone.  Many go to scrap I guess.  How many 1970's Maytags or Kenmores can anyone have?  Since I have the tendency to want to save everything, I am thrilled that I hate harvest gold, avacado, and coppertone.  If I didn't, I would be covered up with stuff.

 

[everythingold]

Yes. I drive by people with a truck full of appliances every day. I have tried to explain to these scrappers that a good used wp dd transmission is worth $50. Alas, in vain have I ever got a reliable scrapper.

Right now you would get $15 for a wp dd washer at the scap yard.

So, a flair would get, what $45?

I go to the scraap yard routinely. It is unreal what is throw away. But, if I post something, if you don't response within a day, it will be scrapped. I have no room. I have a shabby shack.

 

[cfz2882]

have to go for real cheap or free to attract a scrappie.More than once though,i have bought or been given a beat up old dryer and found several dollars worth of change built up in the lower pan;bought a beat up '79 kenmore dryer for $5 and it had $12 change in it and new belt and rollers to boot!In local used shops in my area,vintage washers usually sell very fast even when priced at over $150-last one that caught my interest was '82 maytag DC.

 

[DigAPony]

Yes, I agree repairs are not a simple task for the average person, thus I suspect scrappers.

Making matters worse Whirlpool is taking after GE and quietly jacking up replacement part prices across the board forcing consumers to purchase new machines when repairing becomes uneconomical. Something Maytag never did it its glory days.

In my opinion they are shooting themselves the foot thinking someone will replace a machine that died an early death and cost a small forture to fix with the same brand.

 

[everythingold]

Jacking up prices

You are 100% correct. Parts have fone up across the board by proabably 20-25% in the last year. But the used parts market is booming. I strip as many machines as I can.

For years I came across great vintage machines up here in Grand Rapids. Look at the dishwashers Pete took alone. Those days are over. Older machines are parts are harder and harder to find.

 

[whirlcool]

People equate new = good, old = outdated and worn out.

Most people need to educate themselves about this. To me new = cheap and not made to last.

Also some people are just not sophisticated enough to understand, and some don't even want to take the time to learn. What gets me as I mentioned in another thread is that a lot of appliance repair places are telling people to "throw it away and buy new" even when they know it's a cheap repair. Just another way of drummuing up business and profits I guess.

Or as the people across the street from me did, they bought their new washer based on how pretty the lights on the front of the machine looked.

 

[DigAPony]

Right, I had a local long time appliance repair/parts dealer try the business on me.

I'm in there looking for a common $30 stem seal kit and he starts in," Why do you want to fix that old Maytag for? Buy a new Speedqueen for.. $859+tax. (Lord knows how many other people he talked into junking repairable machines over the years).

Meanwhile, he's got shelves full of vintage Maytag parts gathering dust in the back, yet wants current Whirlpool MSRP for them.

I wanted to give him some parts business but he was just too greedy for me.

 

[philr]

Prices of Whirlpool washer parts have also increased a lot here in the last few years.

A pump for a DD Whirlpool used to be $38 Canadian just a few years ago (was probably a lot cheaper in the States) but it's now near $80 and the water level switch is $72... And I bought a self-destructing lid switch for it two days ago and it was $52 and it didn't include screws (which often disappear when the plastic switch splits in half where it's held by the screws) at that price!

After all the efforts Whirlpool made in making their DD machines serviceable, now they seem to want us to throw away our better machines so they can sell expensive disposable appliances and let younger generations believe that these things were never meant to be long-lasting or serviceable...

I wish our governments, instead of trying to force manufacturers to make their appliances "energy efficient" until they become not efficient at all, could instead force big corporations to provide free replacement parts for their domestic market products for at least 15 years and regulate the price of replacement parts for older machines so the sum of all the parts required to assemble a new machine from scratch couldn't exceed 3 times the original value of the appliance adjusted to inflation and that each part couldn't exceed 10% of the original price of the machine... That way, manufacturers would be forced to keep their designs longer to avoid stocking a lot of different parts and we'd have better machines too.

 

[DigAPony]

Don't want to get political here but the state forcing "X" to do "Y" is the main reason we've arrived at the sorry state of affairs these days.

 

[travis]

I think most consumers gave up on appliance repair long ago. Maybe the cost of parts has increased as the demand for the parts has decreased. Appliances are much more complicated (electronics) now than they were years ago. With this, comes more rapid obsolescence.

I would love to have parts available for my stuff even if expensive. Everything for my appliances is NLA, has to be rebuilt, or made.

Society has bought into the thought that all our kitchens must have granite counters and stainless appliances. It's irrelevant if those appliances are any good as long as they're stainless!

Efficiency is a load of crap. Fuel efficiency has destroyed our cars. Sure they're lighter and safer, but if you had a bunch of 1960's cars on the road, no one would text and drive. You can mandate efficiency, but not how you use anything. I feel that length of service has to be factored into the efficiency. All my appliances have been built and have already had the environmental hazards dealt with.

That being said, it's unrealistic to think the average person will be content with the same thing for a couple decades. We're assaulted by advertising attempting to convince us we need the next great technological thing.

 

[goatfarmer]

Around here, scrap is about $225.00 a ton for appliances. I probably take in 7-8 a month.

As stated above, most people don't want something that's 10+ years old fixed. New is more appealing. Used appliances is still a decent business, I made about $1500.00 profit last month, working it part time. But it's getting harder and harder to find inventory to sell. Most of my customers are landlords with rental property, a used stove or 10YO refrigerator makes perfect sense to them.

 

When I get something vintage in, if I don't keep it, I usually offer it here, for nothing, or next to it. But most times, it get's scrapped, because some of the folks around here who keep saying they can't find anything vintage, won't drive more than an hour to get a vintage machine. Or won't put forth the effort to get something shipped. It's sad that these go to the scrapyard, but ya can't save everything.

 

[DigAPony]

The replacement part price increase is deliberate and calculated to drive sales of new appliances.

If demand was down prices would at least remain somewhat stable, yet they've increased far beyond the rate of inflation.

Automakers do the same thing with their OEM parts.

 

[kenmoreguy89]

Maybe they were just sold to used appliance stores, there're some around they regenerate machines and give warranty also...
That is good and people should be educated to this...
I recall also having read that there were some people who collect appliances and then send in bulk to South America...

 

[norgeway]

Im tired of the government...

Telling me how much water i can use or how much electricity!! If I pay the bills with money I earn, they should mind their own business!!!

 

[kenmoreguy89]

                                                                     <span style="font-size: x-large;">  Holy words!!!</span>

 

[davetranter]

Old = Good

This is a topic I could rant on about for days!!

Part 1 (of what could be many!!)

It is unlikely that many subscribers to this site would disagree that Old = Built to last and New = Built to make a fast buck. The Problem seems to be that dissatisfied customers (see Reply#5) have nowhere else to go, because ALL manufacturers are now playing the same game, of low quality and 'planned obsolescence' (i.e. deliberately NOT building to last). The usual excuse offered seems to be 'efficiency' or 'eco-soundness', but since when has it been cheaper, more efficient, or less ecologically damaging to destroy and re-manufacture an item several times over, rather than to repair and re-use it as it is?? Try asking your local politicians.... I'm sure that you will get the same kind of 'fob-off' reply (if any!!) as I have got from mine....

As for the diminishing mechanical (and/or electrical) aptitude of the 'younger generation', I'm glad that I'm not the only one who has noticed.... But then, I think it was the late Frank Zappa who said in his autobiography that it appeared that the aim of the education system now (and that was the late '80s) seems to be to provide just enough education to turn out 'good consumers'.... And repairers are NOT seen as 'good consumers'......

I think that's enough for now, and I am aware that I am 'Preaching to the Converted' here....

All best to everyone on this wonderful site

Dave T