Planned Obsolesence

Ned Bulken

Member
Messages
5,529
Location
Lakeport NY and/or the nearest hotel
Dagnabbit,
Just got a call from the washer repair guy. After a service call to check on why my Generous Eclectic basic clothes washer won't spin, it turns out to be the clutch assembly. Now, this wasn't a top of the line unit, but it has done the job fairly faithfully for about 5 years or so now, so we were looking to get it repaired. WRONG

GE has evidently decreed that they want to sell more washers, so the parts for their units are ridiculously high priced. I'm debating whether or not to buy the part and attempt to make the repair myself, saving the labor, or just to say to heck with it and buy a new washer.

rattzlefrazzin...:(
 
Hi Ned.

The car repair guys on PBS radio, click & clack, say it is cheaper to repair than to buy new. I may not apply to washers, but it sounds like it should.
 
We are on our 3rd set of washer and dryers.

Kenmore is all we have ever bought.

My wife has put up with me for 33 1/2 years now :eek: :huh: :dunno: :D
 
I just fixed/replaced a switch on our electric range. Yes, me and an electrical thingy. :eek: No sparks, no flames when I kicked the 220 back on.
Now, our dishwasher is giving fits. Repair guy at the store where we usually buy appliances says that cost of fixing will be about 50% what a new washer will cost. And, if fixed, we would still have a 12 year old dishwasher.
Vance Packard, where are you when we need you? ;)
 
Jim,
sure does. If we go new, it is going to be a Maytag or a Whirlpool for sure, no more GE washer/driers (guess what we bought last summer?...)

Ken,
well here's the math... Service call on saturday was $50. JUST the part alone, no labor or additional service charges is $170 plus tax. Tack on another $50 for another service call and we're up to $220, labor for at least an hour and we're at $270 or close enough) for a rebuilt machine.

Hmmmm for about $300, the same tech can sell me a NEW washer of similar size/ability (not the fanciest machine, but it just has to agitate, spin and that's about it). If I go to the Borg or similar vendors the price goes up to about $400 for a brand new machine, which includes a warranty.


As for vehicles, absolutely rebuilding current vs buying new makes sense, up to the replacement cost. Some folks don't understand that, however. My wife's Ex and his current girlfriend are slowlly rebuilding a car. Not themselves, but they're paying local repair shops to replace part after part. I pointed out to my wife that pretty soon they'll have a brand new ten year old clunker, and she laughed.

I think I'll see what the tech can do for us on model/delivery etc... and put this unit back together and offer it up for free on the freecycle pages with a warning that it needs a clutch. I'll let someone handier than me rebuild it. Then we'll have a New machine again.
 
We just replaced our washing machine for the same reason, clutch. I have not had much good to say about American Home Shield (appliance insurance program), but they actually came through on this one. Recommendations we heard was that Whirlpool is the best bet right now. The clutch assemble is expensive. I was going to replace it myself (found this to be most economical most times), but the clutch was several hundred dollars alone!:eek:
 
Gee Ned, when I first saw the title I thought you were talking about me!:D :D

Sorry to hear about the washer. Five years seems to awfully young to be cashing in. You might check online for parts - even if it costs a bit, new units aren't cheap.

Edit - just saw Ed's post - oops.

OBTW, Kenmore washers are usually Whirlpools. A friend works at Whirlpool and has no problem recommending their products.

Good luck,
Wes
 
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We just replaced our washing machine for the same reason, clutch. I have not had much good to say about American Home Shield (appliance insurance program), but they actually came through on this one. Recommendations we heard was that Whirlpool is the best bet right now. The clutch assemble is expensive. I was going to replace it myself (found this to be most economical most times), but the clutch was several hundred dollars alone!:eek:

Name brand reccomendations can be tricky these days. With buy-outs and mergers you can't tell who's on first without a score card. I believe there are only one or two appliance makers left in the U.S.
 
I've got a neighbor out here who put in some fancy scandinavian dishwasher- all stainless inside with a light no less. When it broke, he got lucky that it was still under warantee. The company sent him a new one, no charge, because they said it was cheaper than sending a service tech out from where ever the nearest one was - must have been Denver or California to make that worth it! :eek: That guy was soooo lucky to be under warantee still.


Man, I hope it never gets this bad with cars! Maybe I better hang on to my clunkers.
 
Steve, believe you me, I feel your pain. I have 11 kids and we go through appliances like kids through a box of chocolates. I have tried them all and am looking for a commercial machine or 2........still looking. I recently fixed a dryer, it is all now new just shy of a new motor. It was actually cheap considering the appliance repair class fees.:huh: I have heard that the Amish can still order Maytag wringer washers........I'll bet those last a long time. If you can get the wife too use one....Shy of beating the clothes with rocks, it seems like the industry has us by the...where ever that goes...Good luck!!!
Actually there is an alternative machine you might consider. It is a light commercial machine-something in between consumer grade and a higher level. It is called a Staber. We also broke one of those down after about 5 years. It is relatively easy to fix. My friends who bought one at the same time have yet to fix it one time. It runs about a grand, but uses a lot less soap and water so the operating costs make it cheaper in the long run. It does have a high speed spin cycle so the clothes drying times are shorter. I think we bought ours through a company called 'frog mountain' something or other. You might find the info through a google search. Again, good luck!!!!
 
My dad used to always buy Kenmore washers. Not because they're better, just because he worked on them so much, he knew how to do it. I bought one once and when I had to work on the transmission, I opened it up.:eek: . You wouldn't beleive how much stuff is in there. Belts, levers, pulleys, wimblejammers, etc.
Then I had the chance to look inside the cabinet of a Maytag. It's almost empty. Mostly their electronic.
One suggestion, if you have a chance, save parts. Years ago a timer for a Kenmore was $75 for a rebuilt and they broke often
 
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Jim,
sure does. If we go new, it is going to be a Maytag or a Whirlpool for sure, no more GE washer/driers (guess what we bought last summer?...)

Ned, you "Might" want to eliminate one of your above mentioned choices if going for a New Machine. In the past, we have always used Kenmore, Whirlpool, and even G E washers and dryers with good results, (actually the Kenmores lasted the longest, and ours ALWAYS get a LOT of use), but the last time the LOML succumbed to the "Hype" about quality/long lasting/excellent service, etc from the Maytag folks. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It lasted exactly half as long as the worst one we ever had, cost $260 + tax to repair, and did the exact same thing two days later. The service people said it would be ANOTHER $190 + tax to Rework it. The assembly that keeps the "Tub" upright when washing and "SPINNING" is EXTREMELY weak and poorly designed and it gets out of balance, dances across the floor and shuts down, EVERY TIME it spins. (we did NOT go for the second round of their maintenance and it will be replaced shortly).

In short, the Machine was NOT worth half of what it cost, and the service was even worse. As a matter of record, we had NEVER had poor service from ANY of the other Brands Service people or Dealers before, and needless to say, we will NEVER buy another Maytag. Just our experience, YMMV.
 
As far as I know Kenmore is still made by Whirlpool. The only difference is the style of the control panel.
 
Norm,
went with a whirlpool, just couldn't pile enough scheckles for a Staber, though I will start saving up for one.

Good deal, Ned, because unless they've changed a lot, the whirlpool has always been a good quality machine. I have a WW Buddy that is the appliance repairman at a warranty shop for several brands, and his opinion is that the Whirlpool is the Best one by far, (in that price category). (I still don't know whatever possessed the LOML to go for that Maytag, but you can bet she won't do it again after the way they treated her).
 
As far as I know Kenmore is still made by Whirlpool. The only difference is the style of the control panel.

Just because someone makes a product for another company, doesn't mean it's made to the same specificaitons.

A couple of years ago I had to replace a electric kitchen range. The old one was a Kenmore. The LOML and I shopped around and ended up buying a GE. It was identical to the Kenmore....I mean it was IDENTICAL looking. When a buddy and I carried the old one out....we set it on the carport next to the newone...identical.....But when we carried the new one in....it was at least 50 lbs. heavier. I'm sure the Kenmore was made by GE but the oven in the new GE was manufactured in such a way that my wife still says some 8 years later that it's the only oven she's had that she didn't have to rotate things around 1/2 through the baking cycle to get them evenly cooked. The electric burners in the new one are heavier and last longer.

In short.......company have other companies build stuff for them but the buying company dictates the manufacturing specifications and that determines the product quality.
 
Well washing machines in Japan are a whole different thing, they don't have the agitator up in the middle of the drum, and they are, for the most part, smaller, but we have a fairly large one. It is now about 12 years old, bought it just after the eldest daughter showed up.

I has had two minor problems, one is the membrane switch to turn it on cracked, but my wife fixed that with a piece of clear packing tape :thumb: The other problem was a valve.

You see our machines have a "pump" in them to pump water used in the first wash cycle from another source. OK, this is where things are different in Japan. We take a bath most nights, the bath is nice and big, and it has an auto fill function, you set the level of water you want, and how hot you want it, and then walk away, in 10 or 15 minutes your bath is ready to go. You shower, shampoo and get clean before you get in the bath (all in the same room, I very much like this style of bath) then you get in the tub and soak. We all use the same bath water, and there is a cover for the tub to keep the heat in, and the system keeps the water hot, so the kids and wife have a bath, and put the cover on the tub, then when I come home I hit the auto button and the water is brought back up to temp, and it's my turn.

When I'm done, I put the cover back on, and open a window.

The next morning when my wife or I put a load of wash on, we hook up the hose that is then dropped into the bathtub, the pump in the washing machine sucks the water up from the tub and uses that water for the first wash cycle. The valve that dictates if the water comes from the pump or the tap went funny, it would not work. The system senses if there is any water to be had at the pump, if not, it switches the valve to tap water.

We got the make and model of the machine, called the maker and asked for the part, they told us we could get it at such and such parts outlet, I drove about 20 minutes to pick it up, and then spent about an hour removing the old valve and installing the new one. Total cost, about $30.

We have another machine, similar to this one, that a friend gave us, it is at the L shop, we use it all the time for rags and shop aprons etc, it is over 15 years old, one is a Hitachi the other is a Sanyo.

They run about $300+ new, but you can buy them slightly used for about $100, as people move a lot here in Tokyo and the foreigner moving home has no use for them, so I know I can get them cheap used.

Maybe more than you wanted to know, but that never stopped me :rolleyes: :D

Cheers!
 
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