Fix or replace washer and dryer?

[ronandannette]

12 year old LG front loader washer and dryer. Water leak under washer. All hoses dry. Restricted air flow light turned on on the dryer, even after having the ductwork cleaned yesterday. $200 charge to come out and look at them. Never had any repairs before. Repair or replace? Consumer Reports says replace after 8 years. I know I am living on another planet, but I expect lightly used appliances to last longer.

IMO, a 12 year old machine will have been built more durably than anything you will purchase today. Fix it if it can be fixed. And if you've got anything that's 20 years old or more and are happily living without all the modern (and problematic) digital functions, never let it die if you can possibly prevent it.

 

[ronandannette]

Don't be surprised if your Samsung's last even less time. Samsung makes terrible appliances.

My company puts 500+ sets of appliances (customers get to make their own selections) into our new houses ever year. Samsung is the absolute worst, regardless of what Lowe's data says.

 

[barkley]

if you've got anything that's 20 years old or more and are happily living without all the modern (and problematic) digital functions, never let it die if you can possibly prevent it.

I was asked to participate in a survey panel for the appliance brand we purchased a year or so ago. at the end of the surveys you can see what the compiled results for the participants are-hands down, survey after survey one of the primary factors in choosing the particular brand of appliance relates to it having the least number of 'modern and digital functions'. they send a survey and ask about 'how would you like it if your stove/fridge...did this new thing, had this new connectivity?' time and again the masses speak and say NO NO NO (and it appears that while the ones without the bells and whistles are among their most expensive line-people are willing to pay more to get and deal with less).

 

[VandVsmama]

Replace

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Sadly, replacement is probably the sensible choice.

 

[tvguy]

As someone who has had a Samsung dishwasher, a Samsung washer and a Samsung dryer, I stand by my statement. They work long enough that you wouldn’t return them, but they crap out just after they are out of warranty. No repair people around here will even work on them.

Interesting. That was the issue we were having with LG. None of the big appliance repair companies service them. There is one guy who does, and he is a former Sears repair person. We bought the LGs from Sears.

 

[CGB]

We've repaired our washer, dryer, oven and dishwasher ourselves using this website: https://www.repairclinic.com/ It allows you to research your brand & model # and highlights the most common problems. Then, it recommends parts and provides videos to help you replace the parts. I know it doesn't work for all issues, but we've been lucky that it has worked for our problems.

 

[brockash]

I know my husband would try to fix it first. We’ve replaced the heating element on the dryer 3 times. It’s 22 yo. That was an easy and cheap fix though. Something more complicated or more costly, I would replace.
He also fixed the fridge recently. That was also a cheap part to replace. Fridge is 21yo. We did research a new fridge in case that new part wasn’t the culprit. The part was a starter relay for the compressor.

My dh will always try and almost always succeeds fixing before replacing. He just replaced our dryers motor, belt, and something else and now it works fine. It's 9 years old. There's no way I could fix that kind of stuff though. The dryer he fixed for about $225 in parts.

 

[tvguy]

Guess I will have to book mark this thread and get back to you'all if it fails, or lasts past the 12 years the LG lasted. So hopefully I won't be making this a zombie thread until after September 2037.