Built In Obsolescence
 

In 2009 we remodeled the kitchen. So far this month the microwave stopped working, not worth repairing if I could even work out what was wrong. Then the oven kept turning off at 350 degrees, research online gave a clue as to what it might be. Spent ages tracking down someone who had the part in stock, and waited 2 weeks for it to arrive. Repaired oven Tuesday.

This afternoon a puddle appears under the dishwasher. Spent the afternoon on my hand and knees trying to find the source of the leak. Had a new bottom door seal so changed that, still leaks. Cannot see anywhere the water is dripping from, but the puddle keeps getting bigger. Had to admit defeat and call the local repair guy. Now we have to hope that whatever it is they have parts in stock, as both parts and new appliances are in short supply due to covid.

3 out of 4 appliances lasted 11 years.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

11 years isn't too bad.

Google tells me the average lifespan of a modern dishwasher is 6-12 years.

Microwave about 7 years.

They certainly don't build em like they used to.

When my grandmother died in 2004 or 2005, she had a fan from the 1960's, still worked, and here I am lucky if a modern fan lasts me 3 years, sometimes 4.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

The husband was an airport firefighter for British Aerospace back in the 80s. The factory had a garage sale type thing to get rid of 'stuff'. He bought home a computer and a dehumidifier. The computer lasted about a year - well it was still going, just had the memory of a gif! :D. The dehumidifier is still going and since we've been in Aus, we've had it running nearly every day. He's had to replace the fan a couple of times and it's now quite noisy but bloody hell it's a solid piece of kit, I can only just pick it up. I went out looking for a replacement and absolutely nothing, regardless of cost, comes close to the quality of this one,. We're going to be gutted when it finally dies.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

My mother in law married in 1946, so quite a few things we still use are of that vintage. Three electrical things that we use regularly - Electrolux vacuum cleaner, still works perfectly and is really powerful. In the kitchen, we use her “meat grinder” not for meat, but I use it once a year to grind up potatoes for potato latkes at Hanukkah. Then we have her big, heavy, cast iron electrical griddle that we use to make pancakes (and the potato latkes.)

We also use several of her vintage Pyrex bowls, these round, colored ones for instance.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Built In Obsolescence is the worst. I’m trying to “retire” young, and everything breaking all the time makes this goal harder. Btw, I put retire in quotes because I don’t really plan on doing a do-nothing retirement, I just want a slower pace.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

As per Jsmth, 11 years for a dishwasher is about typical - we recently gave up on a Bosch D/W after 14 years when the circulation pump failed. Replacing the pump would have been easy, however the "flood resistant" design, placing all the mechanical parts in a sealed plastic tray underneath the main washing tub meant that the only way to replace the pump was to dismantle the machine, removing the tub off the tray - which meant a couple of hours of labour, making the process economically unviable. I actually still have it and might have a stab sometime at taking it apart myself and replacing the pump, assuming one is available, so then we'll have a spare dishwasher, because who couldn't use a spare dishwasher? :)

About 8 years ago I had a fridge fail after 5½ years (I am so glad that I hadn't bought the 5 year extended warranty on that one, though I have never, and will never by an extended warranty, on any appliance, full stop), and after coughing up $70 for a call out fee to have the tech declare that it was a refridgerant leak that wasn't repairable (actual location couldn't readily be identified), I have sworn to never call a technician to a fridge again, as I would sooner put the call-out fee towards a new fridge.

Our ten-year-old cooker had the oven fan fail, and it cost us about $250 to replace that earlier this year, about a tenth the cost of replacing it (it's an induction cooker, or at least the rings are). I could have probably done that myself, but didn't really have the time.

IMO microwaves are in the same category as kettles and toasters - dirt cheap to buy new and pretty much unrepairable, even if you wanted to. :nod:

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I hate the extended warranties, especially at Best Buy where they really push them hard. When I bought my pc a year or 2 ago they were pushing the extended warranty hard, it was like $200, but the damn computer was only $399, no flipping way I am spending $200 for a warranty on a $399 computer....plus the first year is covered by the manufacturer, and eh never had a computer actually break hardware wise, it's always some Microsoft Windows problem, if I get 3 years from a PC, I am good to just buy a new one.

Wal-Mart is on the extended warranty thing too, bought a $20 electric coffee maker, their self check out asked if I wanted a $15 3 year warranty, um no.

When we bought our car it was used a year old, but still had 3 years left on the manufacturer warranty which was transferable, the dealer spent at least an hour trying to convince me to buy the extended 5 year 100,000km warranty, so glad we turned the offer down, never had an issue and that extended warranty would be no good now, and eh now is the time when things will start breaking.....:rofl:

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I had to fix our dishwasher due to a high pitch squeal that I couldn't hear. Ended up costing me $200 for complete new innards. It was a very easy job and would probably do it again. If it wasn't the fact that it was $1000+ to replace, I would have got a new appliance. However $200 is cheap to buy peace with the rest of the family.

I have found that Lowes does reasonable extended warranties, I think it was $99 for 5 years on $1200 fridge. I also use my credit card often to get the extra year free warranty on a lot of things.

The car warranty I bough online for about 1/3 of the cost the dealership wanted to charge.

Generally I avoid paying for extended warranties though.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I have never paid for an extended warranty on anything ever, and in all the appliances I have ever bought I have only ever had one fail within 5 years. By my calculation I am already several $'000's ahead even after having to buy a new $900 washing machine to replace one that failed after 2½ years.

We did sit through an extended pitch by "the finance guy" at a Honda dealer when we bought Mrs P's current Accord, back in 2017. The successive pitch of five or six different optional Honda warranties reached the level of farce when we were offered some sort of additional drive train warranty that would cover, among other things, a replacement clutch. The finance guy told us, with a straight face, that "clutches don't last longer than about 60,000 miles". I responded by telling him that we had another Accord at home on the drive that had its original clutch and 320,000 miles on the clock. The finance guy said nothing, shuffled his papers and moved on to the next warranty program. :rofl:

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

The car warranty was just over $200 a year which included breakdown coverage for those years. I have had little problems go wrong with almost every car I have had over the past 20 years, I like it for peace of mind. From a courtesy light to a door motor. Door motor was about $1000 each side. Also with so many electronics on cars, which are fairly reliable, I was OK with the price as it covers everything on the car. It costs almost $200 before any repairs. Plus, it gives me access to free rental if they cant repair it.

It's just a peace of mind thing, not an economical decision.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

That make sense. :)

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

My mother had one of those Electrolux vacuums. They looked like art deco trains and weighed a ton.

She never used cast iron, but we now now old cast iron things (Griswold) to cook on. Lovely stuff, but a pain to deal with because of the seasoning, rusting etc etc.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Nice!

I would have been tempted to stand up and say "Thank you for admitting that to us, that was a near miss. We'd better go to the Toyota dealership."

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Yeah the Electrolux is heavy. It is an object of beauty though. We have five different vacuum cleaners, in different parts of the house, so we never have to schlep them too far (massive Victorian pile we live in.)

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Well it was the pump and motor that were leaking, plus they found some other parts broken, the door springs for one. Cost of parts wasn't far short of a cheap new dishwasher, and if I had them do the repairs 60% of the cost of reasonable one.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

The plastic spray bottles that household chemicals come in always stop working not long after re-filling the bottle after the original product has gone. For example: If I finish a bottle of Clorox foaming cleaner or Lysol anti-bacterial, I refill the bottles with diluted Citrus cleaner or diluted bleach and they work fine for the first 2 or 3 refills then they stop working.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

The Whirlpool oven and microwave are original to my house. Both have date codes of1993. Touch wood still working fine. Dishwasher is 8 years old (Bosch) and starting to fail, it throws an E24 error occasionally. I've tried just about everything to fix it but so far I've been SOL. I'll run all of them 'till the wheels fall off, and then fix them myself. I just did the drier. Now rollers, tensioner, heating coil and belt.. I also heard the other day on OPB about shortages of white goods and long wait times for repair technicians. I have a friend whose dryer went out and she ordered a new one in Sept, It will arrive 'some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas' according to whoever she ordered it from. Crazy times....

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Just don't buy modern Whirlpool, we have those in our rental, they are less than 1 year old, and nothing but trouble, they are having to constantly repair and replace them, and the repair guy does nothing but complain about how bad they are....:rofl:

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Vance Packard was the writer who highlighted this, many decades ago.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

It's smart on the companies part, find the sweet spot where consumers don't get mad when their appliance breaks and needs to be replaced but you as a company get more sales.

I guess from a companies perspective there is no point in building something that lasts 2 or 3 decades and can be easily repaired when you can sell more instead.

I'd imagine modern appliances having a lot more electronic stuff may play a role too, always seems to be some electronic gizmo breaking these days.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

It's not smart when they get it wrong, my LG microwave died a couple of weeks ago after 2 years, I won't be buying another LG kitchen appliance.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I've not heard good things about LG. Wonder if the Microwave was made by LG?

I notice at Wal-Mart often the brand name on the small appliances is licensed to another company, so it may say LG or whatever brand, but it's not actually made by the brand. Wal-Mart in Canada does sell LG microwaves, considering the price point is so low, not sure they are actually made by LG.

I see in Canada the magnetron is warrantied for 10 years, but the rest of the thing is only warrantied for 1 year, and I have this feeling it's the "other" stuff that ends up breaking.

Marketing people, gotta love em. Aquariums are getting like this, brands buying "fancy" looking aquariums from China, slapping their own name on them, putting on a 1 year warranty, then posts on forums of 2 and 3 year old tanks splitting at the seams. A well built, well hell even a mass produced aquarium should last 10+ years before the seals start to give, but these manufacturers use the el cheapo silicone glue, and with glass aquariums it all boils down to the quality of the silicone.

But if a $200 off the shelf aquarium has a life time warranty against manufacturer's defects, but the 1,200 "fancy" one only has 1 year, gives me red flags, but people buy these expensive ones and more $$$ seems to most = higher quality which isn't always necessarily true.

Except when an aquarium goes, especially a big one, your floors, walls etc are ruined too, especially if its a saltwater tank, as saltwater is treated like sewage for insurance/cleaning purposes, but 100-300 gallon aquarium bursting causes a lot of damage.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

After buying an expensive 'brand name' kettle and toaster, they both conked out after a year. I bought cheap chain store replacements and they're still going after 3 years.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I'm assuming it's LG, it was the first microwave I've bought as a Panasonic one came with the house and lasted 10 years. I think it was $250 so probably mid-range price for a microwave. The issue with it is that the fancy diagnosis over the phone feature doesn't work so although the magnetron part has a 10 year warranty you run the risk of calling someone out to fix it, that not being the issue, and then getting stuck with a bill for more than the microwave is worth. Suffice to say I have another Panasonic microwave now. It doesn't look as nice and doesn't play tunes or magically know when popcorn is cooked but it will probably last longer than 2 years.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Fancier it is the more there is to break it seems.

We were looking at microwaves the other day, (some reason this rental doesn't have one which isn't the norm) and I think I am just going with the el cheapo RCA (not really RCA licensed by some company in China) but when on sale its like $48 so even if only lasts 2-3 years, the per year cost is pretty low and good chance we will be in a different rental 2-3 years from now that will again have one included.

Upside to renting, just call the landlord "my stove isn't working, deal with it" but you know in a nicer tone.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

A very good friend of mine used to run an engineering design department for a Korean electronics firm. He impressed upon me a deep scepticism of the quality of Korean electronics and appliances, and, to the points quoted above, I only ever hear terrible things about LG and Samsung appliances, and have stayed clear of them.

One of our neighbours told me just a few weeks ago that his LG washing machine has been repaired several times despite being only two years old.

I am pleased enough with my Samsung phone, but there isn't a lot of competition if you don't want to join a cult, and think that Chinese electronics are the worst possible choice. :unsure:

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I find anything with a screen is usually ok with Samsung such as TVs, monitors and phones. They do tend to ditch support for their products quicker than I like but so long as they keep working as they did when I bought them I'm not too upset. I'd never go near a fridge or cooker from them though even if it did have a screen.

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

I remember reading an article describing Korean engineering as faster paced and less deliberative than the Japanese, which has allowed the Koreans to undercut pricing. That said, LG has for years made the best TVs in world (OLED).

Re: Built In Obsolescence
 

Another example although less common products since its aquarium hobby based, but the "name brand" LED lighting usually they have a 1-2 year warranty (of course you have to send the lights to them usually at your cost both directions, but varies by company) and these lights have the nasty habit of breaking not long after the warranty ends, usually a control chip and not actually LED thingers that emit light, oh and they have taken the Apple route of where you can't buy most parts, but they will offer a 10 or 20% discount on a new one.

The chinese knock offs are far less, and while they don't last much longer than the name brand ones do, $100 every 1-3 years surly beats $700+ for name brand versions which are likely be done and needing to be replaced every 2-3 years.

Funny the whole thing about LED's is they were supposed to save money on both electricity and bulbs, so the higher price point on the LED aquarium lights was marketed as such, but man do the LED lights suck and short lives, but its the trend in the aquarium hobby all around, even basic box filters, making it so not one part can be replaced, pump goes, gotta buy a new filter, where in the past you could buy a new pump and presto working again.

There are people running filters from the 80's where a filter bought today might last 3-5 years tops.

There is one filter the AquaClear it's basically the same today as it was 40 years ago, and the motor can be replaced if it goes. Sure it doesn't have the fancy bells and whistles, but if it ain't broke why fix it?