The Short Life Span of Appliances Nowadays

I see them everywhere. Maybe a regional thing? Target sells them as well as my local Ralphs, plus you can get them on Amazon too. The 3 brands I’ve seen are Tide, Affresh and Oxyclean. We usually get the Affresh ones when they are on sale at Target, but Amazon had them on sale for Prime Day so I ordered some then.

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It’s a real problem. Very little is made to older standards, but I contest the view that costs are much (if any) higher, adjusting for inflation. Things are cheaper, because made of less and lesser materials and tolerances. Throwaway culture.

To buy a stand mixer equal to a 1960 KitchenAid, you have to spend $1500 or more on a Hobart, Made in USA. Weighs at least four times as much as currently typical mixers because of all the expensive copper coiling in the motor and other quality metals that make it rule. But how much market is there now for $1500 stand mixers?

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You are now into a plumbing area , and I have been a licensed Master since 1981, thus, we set up the water heater in the premise with a direct 140 degree hot water line to the clothes washer and a 110 degree direct line to the home with a special tempering / mixing valve to rest of the house.
As a matter of fact in the USA, all commercial laundering establishments such as hospitals, food service, etc, require the first washing water to be no less than 160 degrees.

There are clearly ways to get around this, but most the time in the past forty or so years I find that people don’t care about sanitary standards, the only want to pay the cheapest price. If an uneducated person pitches something they will buy it as long as it is cheap…
Thus your choice…as I always say…make a decision based on accurate information , not price…

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He was correct…check CDC (Center for Disease Control in Atlanta) standards to kill most bacteria.

We have a front load washer know to be smelly. Knowing this I have not had a problem but I dry up any standing water in the silicone seal and between it and the drum where some black scum seems to form.

Never a smelly day after over 4-5 yrs of use and my nose is sensitive to those faul smells

My wife does the laundry most often but when I do whites I like to add a little bleach. Grew up on bleached whites and figured it would kill nastys in the machine

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We sell appliances where I work and we get at least ten back from service every week that are sold at a discount but I wouldn’t touch them. I buy new with an extended warranty.

We also sell open item floor models marked down that are discontinued. These are good values and it’s easy to detect whether they’ve been used or not.

As I already posted above we have decided to replace the still working well, but old refrigerator that came with our house. Having gone through way too may refrigerators in the last 10 years we decided to make an investment in a better product. I thought I had a brilliant idea, we would go with a company either “made in the USA” Big Chill, or Canada’s Elmira stove works or even Italy, Smeg. Sigh … So disappointed that Big Chill and Elmira stove works are both under the whirlpool umbrella and Smeg just gets consistently horrible reviews :sob:

If you accept those facts, and just plan on buying a new one every 4 or 5 years like a car, you will never be disappointed. The appliances built to last a lifetime are no more…the new ones like cars are so much more sophisticated but have programmed limited life and obsolescence, that they want you to buy new units…repairing is a cost nightmare as the parts are soo expensive and my repair man here in NYC costs more than I charge…and I am a Licensed Master Plumber!!!

It may very well be that. Calculators used to last, but they used to be very expensive too, and I remember there were many professional repairmen for watches, and calculators… Now, you have a bad calculator, you just toss it away because it would cause you far more to fix one.

My disagreement is cars though. I think cars actually last longer. There was a time where cars didn’t last as long (70’s or 80’s) but today cars easily go up to 150,000 miles. 200,000 is not even that unusual. I remember a time when 100,000 miles is a big deal and it takes works and efforts too. Now, it is like a no-brainer. Even an idiot like me can do it.

http://business.time.com/2012/03/20/what-you-only-have-100k-miles-on-your-car-thats-nothing/

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OK…but the appliance industry is catching up with the car in terms of marketing…Heck in Cuba you have a 57 Chevy convertible still running around the streets!

How old are you?

And in California too. In and around NYC the cars get trashed because of the winter weather, or more accurately the de-icing chemicals used on the street that eat away at the chassis.

Don’t you see more old cars on the street in CA, Chem? and I remember used cars being cheaper there too for that reason.

These are the exceptions, and these are survival data. I see Great Wall of China, it doesn’t prove the engineering back then is better than now. Seeing a 100 year old man now also does not prove to me that people from 1918 have a longer life expectancy than this generation. It is the same thing. Seeing a 1957 Chevy on a street does not prove it neither. The average/mean is the important number, not the extreme numbers.

The 57 Chevy convertible in Cuba is a case of not having a choice, not because of performance. North Korea is still flying MiG-17, but that is because North Korea doesn’t have a choice. The Russians retired these planes.

ratgilagogo Yes, California can maintain older cars because of the nicer weather, but also people take it as a hobby.

That makes me feel better. Yesterday a car dealership at which I had shopped a few years ago called me looking for a sale. When I told her I’d ended up with a 2006 model she said ‘gosh that’s really old’ Ouch! It may not have bluetooth but it’s paid for and I don’t mind if it gets a few scratches here and there. And I’m sure my sister’s Subaru is much older!

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What are you getting? It is not too late to get a Tesla… Just think about it.

I’m not getting anything, I’m going to run the (not THAT old) one I have into the ground. A friend got the new Tesla, she loves it!

Ah, sorry, now I get it. 2006 isn’t really that old… 12 years… Not that old. The average year of the cars on the road is 11.5 years, so your is right on the average only.

My is a little younger, but not by much. So far my car has given me very little problem too. I kind of want to drive it to the ground too, but I also thinking getting a new one just because life is short. :slight_smile: But I haven’t seen anything I particularly like.

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I bought a new Camry and drove it for 18 years with very minimal repairs.

I just bought a new 2018 Corolla for 17,800 cash drive out.

I turned 62 about an hour and a half ago and there’s a good chance it will out last me.

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Best birthday wishes to you! :birthday:

My Civic had over 200,000 miles and was problem free for 15 years. After 17 years I got a Prius. I’ve had it 9 year. Hope it makes it to at least 17 also. Then I’ll only have to go through car buying one last time!

You can’t win!!