So washing machines etc will now be able to have their life extended by 10 years. Given the current lifespan is around 5 years, then we could be looking at a washer that lasts 15 years.
I had a Zenith that lasted 19 years, but in that time the manufacturers started to use cheaper, thinner casings. Casings that start to rust quite early on, with paint bubbling up. I can’t see many people wanting to put up with an ugly, rusty, paint-peeling washing machine, even if the innards are repaired and working well. So not only will machines need to be manufactured differently to enable repairs (i.e. no rivets, glue etc), but they will also need to go back to better quality outers.
I can see a new washing machine costing upwards of £1000 in future, so they damn well better last and be repairable!
No, not at all. I often wonder how much money companies lose by having to replace items before the warranty runs out compared to making them properly in the first place.
Some items seem to have parts which will obviously have a limited life expectancy.
For example, the cable that connects the control panel to the inner workings of a dishwasher has to wend it’s way around a pivot point at the botton of the door. Hence it gets flexed every time you open the door, and we all know what happens if you keep on bending wires to and fro.
Similar thing on our bathroom cabinet with a light fitted into the mirror on the door.
Have had to repair these things more than once, and the wiring loom is either too dear or not a servicable part, so can’t be bought.
I have a Dyson V11 cordless vac - around £500 after a £100 discount. The first one just stopped working, so they replaced the whole unit but this one has a dodgy trigger.
I have an Aqualisa electronic shower, cost around £600. The first one went wrong, they came down and replaced the digital unit for free (that was a year ago), now this one is playing up.
Joseph, Joseph kitchen bin. The first cost around £200 but a tiny plastic lug broke on the catch rendering it useless. They would have sent the whole lid (worth £35) but they had stopped making them, so they sent a whole new bin. Sadly it is really flimsy compared to the original and the catch is hit and miss.
We had a kettle (Can’t remember the make now)) but it wasn’t cheap. Once again, a tiny plastic lug broke on the lid so the whole lot had to be thrown away.
Sometimes I wonder if I am just unlucky with things like this or whether everyone suffers the same. All I know is, when something goes wrong, you know you have a long process ahead to get it sorted.
We pay for an extended warranty on some appliances, and thank god we do.
One dishwasher developed the curious fault that the rivet that holds the water entry point to feed the upper arm had fallen out.
Would have taken 5 mins to repair and cost the price of a rivet or even a 1/2" nut an bolt. But, no, it’s a mechanical failure and hence the machine had to be scrapped and we were given a replacement.
The replacement’s door seal rubber kept falling out of it’s channel. First repairman came round and replaced the seal. Reoccurred! Second repairman came out and said that the problem was that the channel hadn’t been crimped to hold the seal in place. Could have been fixed with a tap of a hammer. But no, mechanical failure, and we now have another replacement.
Also had an oven which was about 6 years old and hence out of warranty. Heating element went, which I could have replaced easily enough given 1/2 hour with a generic one. Repairman came out, but not allowed to use anything but manufacturer’s own. Oven model no longer manufactured, hence no replacement part available, hence new oven.
I lost count of the number of carbon brushes I changed in Hoover automatic w/machine my ex bought in 1977. She loved overloading the machine despite me telling her that was the cause of the brushes wearing out. Then, after moving to Italy, she managed to get a load of washing out of balance and the drum counterweight hit the controller smashing it to bits. I actually found a supplier not far from us that had one in stock - easy task if you put labels on the wires to identify where they fit on the block.
One of my contacts in Malaysia still manufactures suspension and other rubber parts for Morris Minors, Austin/Morris Minis and other old British-made cars. He says it’s very good business for him.
The last thing any manufacturer wants is for their products to last too long.
Presumably the extended warranties, which seem to be handled by insurance companies, run at a profit and keep registered tradesfolk in work.
It’s the apparent wastage that they appear to accept which befuddles me.
After all, you’re hardly likely to buy or recommend a product/manufacturer if you keep having to call someone out a couple of times a year to keep it going, especially if it’s less than 5-6 years old.
Have had some appliances fail beyond warrant period.
The oven in my mother in law’s flat has bust a couple of times, and both washer driers I supply in my rental flats have needed repairing too, as well as one of the ovens. The total cost over the years to pay for these extended warranties has been less than replacing just a single item, so it’s been worth it in my case.
As you say, different experiences.
We bought large American type fridge freezer. We haggled to try to get the price down - we were paying cash. The sales people were not moving but instead they offered a discount on the extended warranty. Insistently so. We declined. Twenty years later…and still going strong…
