need to vent over appliances grrrr!!!!

[Dogmama]

Smiling cat - if things happen in three's, hang on because you ain't done yet!

I'm on my third dishwasher in about 10 years because they kept being recalled for catching on fire (GE's). The manufacturer would give a "rebate" of $25 or so IF you bought one of THEIR new dishwashers. My dishwashers were usually old enough to not qualify for replacement or at least a good deal on replacement.

I smell a rat.

[OakLeaf]

I'm sitting here listening to my 3-year-old fridge rattle. Reason it's rattling is, every time there's a power failure, the drain freezes up, and unless we disassemble the whole thing and take a hair dryer and boiling water to it, the freezer will fill up with water from the drain. Of course nothing that's plastic and popped together ever goes back together exactly the same way. Ergo the rattle.

OTOH, I bought a new belt for my 11-year-old washer, which I'm pretty sure is all it needs, and haven't got around to installing it yet.

[kermit]

I feel your pain, but the technology has changed so much the new ones are great. My house in Georgia has top of the line frig and washer and dryer. WOW are they quiet, fast and energy efficient. The house we rent in Miami, well... our washer just died. It was super old and a commercial size. Worked great until it rusted and fell apart. So I go tell my landlord that it died and he goes okay I've got another one. He points to this old, yellow thing sitting on his carport. I'll get some guys to help me and bring it over afterI clean it up. Grrreeeeaaattttt! This thing is older than the other one. So he installs it and it's TINY and leaking. I let him know and he spends the day FIXING it. Was hoping he'd realize the thing is a turd, and a polished turd is still a TURD! Well he spent all day replacing hoses and guess what I'M ALL SET! At least you can go pick out what you want!

[badger]

yeah, things aren't made the way used to be. Companies need to make money so appliances these days are only made to last 10-15 years. Oh, and don't bother with any of those extended warranties. They're just useless money pits, and if/when you do need to use them, they make it really difficult to redeem.

I just wish they made cars to last longer than 10-15 years!!

and I feel your pain on spending. I just spent $1000, yes, one THOUSAND dollars on a nighguard for my teeth grinding.

[Irulan]

Consumer Reports gives expected lifetime on major appliances as 10-15 years now, depending on whether its a water heater, washer etc...

[Zen]

My clothes dryer is from Montgomery Wards

[TsPoet]

in 2003 my brother talked me into spending $$$ on a 50" DLP TV. It blew up 3 weeks ago (as in exploded, my poor dog was sleeping behind it, she ran an hid in the closet for 2 days!). I called my brother, and he said that 6 years for these modern TVs is about right!? I paid that much money for a TV with a 6 year lifespan???
My brother also feels that you should replace appliances, TVs, etc every 5 years anyway, to get the benefits of new technology.
My brother is nuts, but I think a lot of people agree with him.

[nscrbug]

My clothes dryer is from Montgomery Wards

Ha ha...so is our stove! It was brand new when we moved into our house back in 1993. The previous owner purchased it in May, 1992...but apparently had never used it. I had to dig up the owner's manual last week to find the model number of it (for a part), and inside the manual was the original receipt from Monkey Wards.

Incidentally, the stove started leaking CO last Sunday during my Xmas cookie baking marathon. Had to call the fire department out...that was fun having all of our neighbors standing outside to see what the "hubbub" was all about. Turns out that a hose in the back of the stove was "crimped", thus causing a leak. We are STILL waiting on that part to come in...I have been without a working stove/oven for 10 DAYS...and counting!!! At this rate, I'll be lucky if my stove is working by New Year's. I'm so tired of cooking meals in the microwave and on the Foreman Grill. I miss my stove...

[zoom-zoom]

Consumer Reports gives expected lifetime on major appliances as 10-15 years now, depending on whether its a water heater, washer etc...

My dad does some appliance repair. He agrees. When our dryer died after about 11 years he said that was typical. Luckily our washing machine is still going strong after 13.

We have fixed relatively minor things on our washer at least 2-3 times, now. This site is fabulous: http://applianceguru.com/ we've ordered parts and done simple repairs that would have had a lot of people simply tossing their washer in the landfill. For chump change we've easily squeezed more life out of our washer.