Repairing an old appliance vs buying a new one - Page 5

shoekitty · ‎03-10-2010

@kivah wrote:
@shoekitty wrote:
This is my opinion for all its worth. Keep your old one if you can. Newer ones are just not meant to last, unless you get the very, very basic ones. I have a 30 year old maytag, and a 35 year old dryer. Neither have been repaired. They are pretty basic though.

most reputable repairmen charge a basic fee to come out. If it is fixable at a reasonable fee they usually take the appt fee off. I have had my new jenn- air down draft fixed so many times. At first it was covered by extended warranty. Then once after it was the computer panel that went out. Yikes. 400 bucks including fee to come out first time. But the stove is worth 3,000 a few yrs ago.

i think a repair fee of under 100 bucks is a good idea. If it was a lot more, I might look at new dryers and see if it is worth it. I have no idea what a new dryer would cost.
Under $100 to repair a dryer --- NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!

Shoekitty said

well, see what I know! Lol!! When you haven't had repairs on washer and dryer in 32 years it's hard one to to call. Lol,

2 years ago I had a leak in fridge ice maker. Cost 95 to come out. If it was nothing i still paid 95. If it was something under 30 mins it was 95.

this guy came out, tweaked a few things, left in 10 mins. But 2 days later it was still leaking, so he came out no charge and said he fixed it again and left. Two days later we had water on hardwood!! We unplugged water line and ice maker and called it a day. Now we just buy ice and put in ice maker and it crushes it, or dispenses cubes...but no water. That's okay, in a year or so we are getting all new kitchen.

songbird · ‎03-21-2010

I'd rather get the new one. You keep appliances as long as you can. About 20 years on average. Just time to get a new one. Have to go withe the higher price. We have an old Whirlpool top loader with computer (early version that came with the house) but it's on it's last legs. It's a at least two repairs. The dryer though is still pretty good. I'm now think of the more modern front loader.

AnikaBrodie · ‎03-10-2010

It's probably a good idea to replace the dryer. It will cost you between $50 and $100 just for the appliance repairman to walk in the door; that's the service charge. Then the parts, assuming you need them, will be extra. And the time it takes to repair (labor costs) will be another added expense. Add that all up and you're likely to have paid about half the price of a new dryer. And, you still have a 12 year old dryer that may have further break-downs.

"Faith, Hope, Love; the greatest of these is Love." ~The Silver Fox~

Lipstickdiva · ‎03-10-2010

It always depends for me. I had a very old dryer go years ago and when the repairman came, he advised we fix it because it wasn't that much and he said the dryer was in excellant shape and much better than a new one I would buy. He said with new appliances, you're lucky if you get 7 years out of them.

Recently my Samsung dryer quit. It heated up but wouldn't tumble. DH went on-line, googled the problem and found out it was more than likely a broken belt. He was able to easily take the dryer apart and sure enough, the belt was snapped in half. He bought a new belt at an appliance store for under $4.00, replaced it, put the dryer back together and voila.

Allegheny · ‎03-19-2010

@gellen As @Lipstickdiva mentioned in her post a broken or loose belt is one of the most common issues with dryers.

sashamatthews · ‎03-10-2010

I been told that the shelf life of an appliance is now 10 years. When I buy a new appliance, I usually sign up for the five-year extended warranty plan. Once I am past the first five years, I either re-up for another five or let it go. But anything after 10 is a gift.