Im old enough to remember when you could expect an appliance to last 15 to 20 years. Our washer is 7 years old and its leaking. We know a guy who fixes them. He said 7 years is very good, many only last 4 to 5 years now. So I guess fixing it may be a waste. My SIL has lived in her house for 21 years and just bought her 4th set. Its disgusting.
I discovered the source of the leak. The rubber seal between the door and the drum had cracked. To replace it is 550 bucks. So I did what hillbillies do, I duct taped it. 3 loads in no leak.
@Phil You haven't lived until you have an LG refrigerator that needs repair. The compressors are shit.
It took 4 months to get our refrigerator repaired.
@russes our washer is LG
@Phil LG washers & dryers are fine. We have both. The refrigerator is another story.
Kenmore refrigerators are LG these days. There's a class action lawsuit with LG over their refrigerators.
Asurion refuses to extend the warranty on the refrigerator. I wonder why…
@Phil mom gave me her washer and dryer we grew up with. 1982 whirlpool. I think I might will them to my son when I die.
The appliance repair guy told me that for washers and dryers, buy a Speed Queen.
Made in the USA.
Rugged design.
Should last 20-25 years.
Most other brands are not designed to last.
I was happy to leave our front loaders when we moved 3 years ago. We purchased a speed queen set a couple years ago. The washer even has an agitator like the old school washers did.
This is the brand you find in the laundry mat. Has a 7 year warranty. That’s one of the longest warranties these days.
I’ve also read Miele (German I think?) has great appliances. Though No personal experience yet.
@HeyLiberty @Davez_Not_Here @Phil Repair man also said that the fewer options of wash cycles or dryer sensing were better than the multiple options because they break.
@Kat @HeyLiberty @Davez_Not_Here @Phil
We have a Speed Queen. Excellent machine. Don’t overload it.
There seems to be a shift back to top-load washers from what I can discern.
@Davez_Not_Here @HeyLiberty @Phil yes. People want to be able to add something after it started and an agitator. The front loads notoriously smelled.
Yeah, water gets trapped between the drums and seals. We had a Kenmore that was REALLY bad. I had to clean it out by hand as best I could but there were still some areas I couldn't get to.
Simple Green, Vinegar, hot water, old rags, and a lot of cursing was involved.
FWIW, the GE dishwasher didn't drain all that well either. Water would get trapped along with crud and the resulting orange slime was nasty. Had to clean that out every few weeks.
@Davez_Not_Here @Phil I have also heard this advice from experts.
Yes. Some parts on these front loaders can be extremely expensive and considering what needs to be replaced for repair AND what is on the future possibilities of failure and cost ...it may be the better option to replace the entire unit.
I just replaced the bellow and drain pump on my front loader. Bellow=$75 Amazon and pump=$29. Appliance clinic websites for OEM parts are double and triple the cost.
If the basket main bearing needs replacement the labor is INTENSIVE and $$COSTLY$$.
@Phil Every appliance in my house needs replacing. We've had them "fixed" but it doesn't last. We were looking into getting someone in here for the washer, but from Angies List, it costs $400 just to come out. Sigh. We're hanging on as long as we can. It's going to cost a small fortune to replace everything.
@vandys Years ago, I tried fixing the washer myself using a screw driver, and it nearly killed me for not unplugging it first. I did get it to work, though, lol. I've used repairmen, but we're at the point of no return. With the fridge, we used them 3 times. I've fixed the dishwasher, too. At times, I was told there's nothing wrong with the appliance, but had to pay them for the trip. Our cooktop burned out the big burner, and the air flow thing stopped working, too. @Phil
I sold white goods in the early 90's. Not only are they making them for replacement ($$) also cheaper, no more 0r little enameling.
We purchased a new fridge in 2008, it quit defrosting three years ago. So my reliable dh checked the unit and it was the control board. Purchased a new board ($139) he replaced it kept the old board.
The new board just did this again two weeks ago.
He purchased 10 defrost relay's and replaced the one on the older board and it works fine now.
@Phil My experience is that electronics board go kaputt. E.g. washing machine and vacuum that were perfectly good, but the electronics failed, and were too expensive to be replaced. Which is quite absurd. :/
@Bleukitty Wow that was cheap. @Phil
Duct Tape Forever! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY7nx5Z6Kzo