What happened to the days when refrigerators used to last 20 years?

[Darrell KSR]

4 years ago I bought a Frigidaire refrigerator on sale for $1200.

--One year warranty. They offered up to a 3-year extended service warranty. Both have expired (I didn't get the extended service warranty).--

Today the repairman comes out. Compressor gone (refrigerator temperature goes up to 51 degrees, then back down to 36, back up into the 40's, etc.)

Estimate to fix?

$1800.

I hate that it's a disposable item. That's ridiculous.

[KentuckyWildcat]

Built the house 10 years ago. On my 2nd fridge and it makes strange noises at times.

[Catfan73]

We bought a new Frigidaire 3 or 4 years ago and other than having to thaw out the freezer with a hair dryer so it would stop leaking on the kitchen floor we haven’t had any issues lol.

There’s a fridge in the basement that’s still going strong that was old when we bought the house and that was 18 years ago.

[KSRBEvans]

My mother and father bought a fridge from Sears when they moved to Kentucky in 1967. It finally gave up the ghost in 2016.

At our house we moved into in 1996 we bought a fridge, then had to buy another fridge before we sold it in 2009.

At our current house, we've limped along making repairs to a 2002 GE model that's caused too much trouble to list. Should've got rid of it in 2012. (Mrs. BEvans was right about that, too.) Getting ready to buy another one but waiting until we can get installation--no one's doing installation right now. I'm hoping this one will last until we move, which will probably be in 7 years, give or take.

[Darrell KSR]

If they had told me it would be $1,000 to fix it, I would have posted and griped on the board about it being outrageous--but paid it.

It's a long story, but I'm going to have to pay someone to remove some bannisters and railings and replace them just to get the fridge out of the house, too. (Had to pay to get it in as well).

[dan_bgblue]

Judy and I have had great luck with refrigerators. When we got married 43 years ago we moved in to my house trailer and used the fridge that I inherited when I bought the trailer. That one lasted the 13 years we lived there. We bought our first house in 1987, and it came with a new refrigerator. We lived there and when we sold the house 30 years later we moved that refrigerator to our new digs. We are going to replace it within the next month or sooner if the fan in the freezer compartment quits. That will be 30 years with 1 fridge. I typed this using only my right hand because I have been knocking on the wood on top of my desk with my left hand.

I hope I out live my 3rd refrigerator.

[CitizenBBN]

The old ones were way better made and lasted longer, and were serviceable.


Manufacturers keep cutting costs to stay competitive, and quality is one thing that suffers. Another huge thing that suffers is being serviced. It's cheaper to build it with flap a going into slot b with glue and never coming apart versus a proper screwed joint you can open for repair.

I hate it myself. Like Darrell the idea of throwing such things in the dump seems wrong to me. Our pollution problem IMO is worse than our warming problem, and a lot of it is b/c everything is disposable from water containers to major appliances.

[Doc]

4 years ago I bought a Frigidaire refrigerator on sale for $1200.

--One year warranty. They offered up to a 3-year extended service warranty. Both have expired (I didn't get the extended service warranty).--

Today the repairman comes out. Compressor gone (refrigerator temperature goes up to 51 degrees, then back down to 36, back up into the 40's, etc.)

Estimate to fix?

$1800.

I hate that it's a disposable item. That's ridiculous.

Buy a new one...not worth fixing

Our last house had a sub zero. Compressor went out (was 15 yrs old at the time) so we had it rebuilt. Cost was about 700 but replacing was over 5k. That was worth it as it was a custom, built in with the front matching the cabinets. But nowdays appliances are all desposable. I never buy the TV extended warranties. Is cheaper to replace and 9 times out of 10 I forget I have the warranty

[CitizenBBN]

One other thing about older models.

Yes they were better built, but.... they were also often WAY more expensive.

For example I just ran a 1950s fridge that was about $390 then, and a 1970s typical fridge that was $705 in 1972. They fell between $3,700 and $4,200.00.

So they were better built in part b/c they simply cost a lot more. You can get a cheapo today for 600 or so, and a pretty nice one for half of what they cost in those decades.

To do that you have to cut labor costs, but also parts quality. I don't know if that math holds across all eras, but it did for two I googled quickly.

[PedroDaGr8]

Like Darrell the idea of throwing such things in the dump seems wrong to me. Our pollution problem IMO is worse than our warming problem, and a lot of it is b/c everything is disposable from water containers to major appliances.

You and I may disagree on global warming but I definitely agree with you that our pollution and device disposability problems are notably worse. This is the entire idea behind the "Right To Repair" movement which fights against planned obsolescence and the disposable device issues. It supports the idea that you own your devices and should be encouraged to repair them rather than replace.

Personally, I HATE throwing away devices if I can help it. I do electronics as a hobby and MOST of my equipment are things which were destined for the dumpster and I repaired myself. If I upgrade, then I sell the old device or pass it on to someone else who could use it. As a result, I am actually slightly cash positive in my hobby over the past decade. That being said, at this point, I have repaired half a dozen microwaves, a few stereos, a TV, around half a dozen laptops, and well over a dozen pieces of electronics test equipment. Most people don't realize that it only takes a multimeter ($30 for a solid quality device), a bit of logic, and you can troubleshoot 90+% of electronics failures.

A couple good websites related to this:
Louis Rossmann - He's the founder/owner of Rossmann Repair Group which does board level repairs on Apple products and advanced data recovery on most harddrivess/thumbdrives/etc.; they also sell tools and parts to help people fix their Apple products themselves. He is an avid supporter of "Right To Repair" and I linked to his primer on the topic. Note: Ideologically he is notably right wing and very much a brusk New Yorker, which many right wing people on here would enjoy. He has a series of videos in which breaks down device repair into a logic process, one which can be applied to any appliance.

iFixit - famous for their repair guides, parts, and tools. They have in essence crowd sourced repair guides on thousands of devices. These guides include pictures, the tools needed, and the parts involved.

[KeithKSR]

My parents bought a new Westinghouse before I was born, I think it was in 1963. My folks still use it in their basement kitchenette. The Tappan stove in that kitchenette was bought when we moved to Kentucky in 1978. That’s a combined 99 years of use for two appliances.

My folks needed a refrigerator for their rental place two years ago. I checked prices and got them a Frigidaire at Lowe’s for $530, including taxes and delivery. They probably paid nearly that much for the 57 year old Westinghouse back in 1963.

Modern appliances are expensive to repair, because the cost of parts far exceed the cost of an entire unit. About five years ago we bought an LG washer, paid nearly a $1000 for it, it replaced a then 14 year old Whirlpool front load washer that needed parts that would cost half of The price of a new one. The LG had an error last summer indicating the clutch was out. I replaced the clutch at a cost of $150, doing the labor myself. It then came up with another error having to do with the electric motor. A service call to determine what was wrong was going to be $200. Then a second service call charge of $200 plus the cost of parts if it was something other than the electric motor. I am pretty sure it was going to need a new $250 control panel. I opted to toss the LG and we bought a new Maytag for $499.

[dan_bgblue]

There is a lot of similarities with automobiles and trucks.You buy a 1/2 ton truck for $40,000 and if you had to rebuild it one part at a time, it would probable cost a quarter million in parts and $50,000 in labor to build it.

[blueboss]

Girl I work with just mentioned to me she’s leaving early because her 8 year old refrigerator went out and “the man” (TAGS) called and said it’ll be cheaper to replace it.


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[kingcat]

Cant beat a Frigidaire

[Darrell KSR]

Cant beat a Frigidaire

I'd sure like to try...

[KeithKSR]

Cant beat a Frigidaire

Our Frigidaire refrigerator lasted about 19 years, then the compressor went.

[CitizenBBN]

Pedro, you and I are definitely together on disposable everything, and pollution generally.

If I were POTUS I'd push to ban water bottles, etc., outright. Plastic is all but zero recycled at this point. No more plastic bag for every bag of peanuts you buy at the corner store.

Return to more reusable or recyleable items. Massively reduce packaging waste. Honestly stuff like straws is a drop in the bucket compared to the endless packaging we make from plastics that really never can be reused without massive additional pollution if they can be reused at all.

I'm far more concerned about us destroying the oceans than I am warming. We can deal with warming even if I lose my beloved Key West, but I don't see us easily replacing the entire food chain if the base of the pyramid collapses.

[dan_bgblue]

Return to more reusable or recyleable items. Massively reduce packaging waste. Honestly stuff like straws is a drop in the bucket compared to the endless packaging we make from plastics that really never can be reused without massive additional pollution if they can be reused at all.

The hard plastic bubble wrap phenomenon occurred to cut down on petty theft st the retail level. Someone decided that solution was better than shooting the perp at the scene of the crime and employing millions of drooling theft police to keep watch and pull the trigger.

[Darrell KSR]

FWIW, Costco has a Memorial Day sale. Not a lot of bells and whistles on it, but a 28 cu ft (same size) Samsung, basic water and icemaker dispenser, stainless steel, with 5-year warranty, for $1080. That's 1080, not 1800.

I really hate that I did that, but they made me do it.

[KeithKSR]

FWIW, Costco has a Memorial Day sale. Not a lot of bells and whistles on it, but a 28 cu ft (same size) Samsung, basic water and icemaker dispenser, stainless steel, with 5-year warranty, for $1080. That's 1080, not 1800.

I really hate that I did that, but they made me do it.

That’s a really good deal on a Samsung. I gave $1500 for our Samsung with French door and bottom freezer nearly three years ago. We had purchased a black stainless range the winter before and black stainless refrigerators in the width we had to have didn’t leave many options.

[KentuckyWildcat]

My last fridge made a nice cabinet in my garage.

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[DanISSELisdaman]

46 years ago, the wife and I bought a used Signature freezer(and I don't mean slightly used, it had seen considerable use). We still have it today and it has never gave a minutes trouble. We have used it continually since we bought it. Might be the best 50 bucks I ever spent.

[blueboss]

In answer to the question posed in the title, based on the posts in the thread. It appears the answer is about 8 years ago, give or take a year or two.


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[bigsky]

Meeting the energy star standards requires tiny compressors with on and off on and off cycling. So, libruls.

[CitizenBBN]

Meeting the energy star standards requires tiny compressors with on and off on and off cycling. So, libruls.

Great point.

[KeithKSR]

Meeting the energy star standards requires tiny compressors with on and off on and off cycling. So, libruls.

So, basically by trying to save a little usage energy they pushed for appliances that will cause more pollution through early replacement and expend more energy produce. Figures.

[MickintheHam]

In answer to the question posed in the title, based on the posts in the thread. It appears the answer is about 8 years ago, give or take a year or two.


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I just replaced a 15 year old Whirlpool refrigerator with a new Samsung last June. So far I am pleased with both. French doors top and bottom. Bottom has one compartment that can be used as a chiller or freezer, changable as needs change. Filters are designed to be replaced every 6 months. What a racket?

[blueboss]

I just replaced a 15 year old Whirlpool refrigerator with a new Samsung last June. So far I am pleased with both. French doors top and bottom. Bottom has one compartment that can be used as a chiller or freezer, changable as needs change. Filters are designed to be replaced every 6 months. What a racket?

Sounds like 16 years ago Whirlpool started making 15 year refrigerators. Couple years later they started making the 8 year refrigerators.

Hopefully you’ll get 8 or more years out of your new Samsung.


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[Darrell KSR]

Delivered today, thank goodness.

This one comes with a 10-year warranty on the compressor, so hopefully it will last. Pain in the rear when these things go out and you have to do without.

[KentuckyWildcat]

Delivered today, thank goodness.

This one comes with a 10-year warranty on the compressor, so hopefully it will last. Pain in the rear when these things go out and you have to do without.

So did mine. Everything but the compressor went out

I hope it does well for you!

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