Appliances now days are garbage level compared to decades ago.
Last edited:
New-ish Maytag washing machine from 2018 is already dead
- Thread starter KGMtech
- Start date
My experience is that appliances don't die, they just need to be repaired from time to time. My 20 year old Fisher Paykel washer has "died" twice. Once it needed a water pump which cost $100.00 and just recently it needed a cold water inlet valve which cost $35.00. My brother, on the other hand gets a new washer and drier every three or four years because his die. When I ask him what was wrong with it he says "it just died."
I agree. I have a lot of friends that say "My washer, dryer, died and I had to get a new one." In reality they probably could have fixed it with less than$100 worth of parts and an hour of time.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Yeah, I think my dryer is at least 20 years old (it may be older than that). It seized up several years back, I took it apart, the motor was packed with lint and the bearings were dry. The bearings had those little oil wick felts on them, so I took it apart, cleaned it, saturated those with M1 ATF IIRC, or it might have been M1 0W-40, and it's been working perfectly ever since, and that was almost 10 years ago now.
Absolutely agree.
My Kenmore He3 washer/dryer combo is also a little over 20 years old. At about 5 years, I had to replace the water pump on the washer. IIRC, it cost about $45. About 8 or 10 years ago, I had to replace the heating element in the dryer. I can't recall the price, but it seems that it was under $50. Repaired both myself, so only cost me my time and parts.
As far as reliability goes, I would have to agree. But doesn't a lot of that rest on the shoulders of the consumer? Household appliances today are loaded with features way beyond those that I grew up with.
When I was a young boy, the refrigerator in our home was simply a refrigerator with a freezer. When Mom and Dad did buy a new refrigerator, the ice maker was nothing more than a water dispenser that filled a traditional ice cube tray. No French doors with a fancy center seal that swings in place between the doors. No ice maker. No water dispenser or filter. The compressor didn't have to meet Energy Star regulations. No touch panel control, LED lighting, adjustable glass shelving, or door panels that could be touched, to show what is inside the refrigerator. No beautiful stainless finish or interchangeable face panels, so you can match the kitchen cabinets. And it wasn't wifi enabled.
All these features, and I would imagine that we spend no more for an appliance today, as a percent of our household income, than what it cost in the 1960's. There is a price to pay somewhere, and it seems to be in durability.
We bought our Speed Queen washer and dryer in 2005 or 2006 and never had any sort of trouble or had any service, good today as it was when new.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
My vintage 1996 appliances I purchased when I bought the home are still going strong. My 28 year old Hotpoint dishwasher is still working good. The White Consolidated Industries washer and dryer purchased and installed by Best Buy for $499 for the set are still working fine, never an issue. The GE refrigerator from Best Buy is still soldiering on at 34° for 28 years. Have the change to replace but Why? To buy junk, I don't think so. My only failure was the builder installed Hotpoint Range. It only lasted 15 years.
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2024
- Messages
- 225
I think manufacturers and of course their engineers have lifespan of appliances down to a science. They figure the frequency of replacement into their overall profits and compared to decades ago, are able to much more accurately forecast how long something will last. And us consumers are the recipients of this fabulous ability, hehe.
My wife and I have been married for 25 years and it seems like every 6-8 years we replace the washer. A bit longer for the drier. We don't have kids and our appliances lead a pretty easy life so I can only imagine how long these things would last under heavy use. I learned a long time ago that it's just the way it is these days and it's better to just accept it and move on than be annoyed about it. I'm sure my attiitude is exactly what appliance manufacturers are hoping for, haha.
My wife and I have been married for 25 years and it seems like every 6-8 years we replace the washer. A bit longer for the drier. We don't have kids and our appliances lead a pretty easy life so I can only imagine how long these things would last under heavy use. I learned a long time ago that it's just the way it is these days and it's better to just accept it and move on than be annoyed about it. I'm sure my attiitude is exactly what appliance manufacturers are hoping for, haha.
What tipped me towards Speed Queen is the fact they offered an optional coin box for the washer and dryer, that tells me it is not just a homeowner grade appliance.
Well my Maytag washer died today, so per both of your recommendations, i ordered the Miele WWD 660. The Maytag was a 2018 model, didn't last that long.
Sorry about the maytag. No joy in an early demise.
Eager to hear how you like the Miele.
Did the control panel go belly up? Are there any appliance repair stores close by? If so sometimes they may have the same appliance with a different issue and can scavenge parts. Just a thought.
Yes one of 2 panels, i don't know which, each are $300. Probably i could get both on ebay but I just decided to cut my loss and buy something better this time.
Its smaller, but its just 2 of us now, so we don't need to do large loads of things.
I'm going to give the TwinDos detergent system a try, and see if its economical.
It's probably rated to hold more weight even though the drum size is smaller.
You'll find it uses less water in the wash, and about the same in the rinses.
On the twindos Im at 18 ML per load. the factory setting was something like 33, and I found I could dial that way back.
I refill the twindos carts with off the shelf persil and it works great it's incredibly economical.
The only time it's actually full is when I wash the king size bed, pretty much every other load is a sorted and a partial load.
Maytag now is just a name....the quality is long gone...
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2022
- Messages
- 5,989
Sorry to hear about the Maytag. I don't know if many is the right word, but some of us when we replace an appliance, the one that's getting replaced is 20+ years old, and it's hard to accept the replacement costs a lot more but won't last, and go into the purchase anyway (we have no choice).
So you refill the bottles of the twindos? Are both bottles the same ? I didn't know what the second bottle was. I thought it might be fabric softener.
Only one of the two, the soap cartridge.
The other bottle is a little like oxyclean for white loads.
