How long do you expect appliances to last?

[ozliz]

I have a pretty good sense of how often I need to buy new phones and laptops (I keep them longer than many do) but I'm wondering what everyone's expectations are for household appliances? I think I'm going to need both a new food processor and blender soon (both are used regularly so it is worth it to have both) but I'm wondering how often I should be budgeting for this type of thing. I know that in general (although experience has shown not always) more expensive quality lasts longer but it is hard to be sure how long anything is designed to last these days.

It would be great to hear how long you expect/budget to buy various household appliances (white goods, kitchen items etc) and also mention whether you expect that frequency based on buying something higher end so it will last longer or not.

TIA.

 

[havaneselover]

Dishwasher should die first. Ten years is my expectation. Stove and microwave--20+. Fridge maybe 15. Washer/dryer-15+. These are completely off the top of my head.

My parents have high end appliances. One house is about 25 years old. The fridge was replaced about 5 years ago and the glass cooktop was replaced when counters were replaced. The dishwasher and wall oven are original. They have a second home (they're snowbirds) with top of the line appliances that are all 15 years old and going strong.

 

[tvguy]

I have much higher expectations than most.
REFRIGERATOR: We elected to replace our refrigerator when it was 27 years old because it started sounding like it was getting tired. it was a Montgomery Ward made by Frigidaire. It's replacement is now 6 years old, a Kenmore made by LG.

STOVE: Our stove/oven/microwave were all one unit so when the microwave died after 21 years, we had no choice but to replace it even though the oven and stove worked just fine. It was a Litton. The GE replacement is 16 years old, uses commonly interchangeable parts that are inexpensive, I don't anticipate ever having to replace that. I sold my parents house with the original 53 year old Westinghouse stove and oven (they were stand alone units)

MICROWAVE (actually, a MICROHOOD): As i stated above, our Litton died after 21 years. It's replacement died after just 5 years. A circuit board that cost $200 failed, not counting the labor to put the board. It was a GE and a brand new identical GE cost $205. It was removed during a remodel and we now have a Sanyo drawer microwave. It is now 2 years old. The warranty on it is 10 years, so I expect it to last longer than that.

DISHWASHER: I don't remember what brand the original was, but it was contractors grade and died at age 12. The replacement MAYTAG lasted 10 years until it started SLOWLY leaking through a cracked seal and destroyed the kitchen floor by the time the leak was discovered. The replacement BOSCH was super quiet, and was removed during a remodel after 12 years because sooo many plastic pieces had broken off, that the racks didn't want to stay on their tracks, and a number of pieces of the rack had lot their plastic coating and the metal underneath was rusting. The replacement Whirlpool is 2 years old.

WASHING AND DRYER. Just depends on how much you use them. Our first Whirlpools lasted 21 years. Their replacements lasted just 7, but most of their lives, because of our kids and sports clothing, they were being used for 30 to 35 loads a week. They were replaced 3 years ago with LG's with warranties on parts of them for 10 years. I expect them to last at least that long, especially since we normally do 6 loads a week now.

CENTRAL HEAT AND AIR. Well my parents Lennox system was still functioning when I sold their house 3 years ago, and they were 53 years old then. The new owner did a top to bottom remodel and decided not to replace them, so they are humming along at 56 years of age. My Trane system is 25 years old, it replace a contractor grade Rheem that lasted 14 years. I have it serviced twice a year. My service guy says not to expect that kind of life from any of even the best units made these days. Too many delicate electronics on them. He adds, even with the much lower energy use of the new units, it will be cheaper to fix my old unit than replace it.

Don't ask about cars. My family car will be 29 years old in October, and I am about to take my 51 year old car out for a spin.

 

[hsmamato2]

Our Kenmore washer is 28 and still going strong...Kenmore fridge is about 23 and still going strong(I had to be creative and replace a shelf or two inside for storage tho) Our current Whirlpool from Ikea dishwasher and stove are both about 7 years old,and they work(tho they've been glitch from the beginning,I don't love them) a/c units are at least 10 years old and still fine, we are still using an iphone 4s in our house,I have killed 2 rice cookers in the past few years (probably overuse lol) one a high end Zojirushi,one a chep $5 Goodwill find.... (I need a new one!) toaster oven is at least 6 years old and still fine....we replaced our 27 year old dryer last year with a 2ndhand model(would have costed more to fix it than buy one on craigslist) (FWIW,one of our cars is a '95 and DH still drives it) so a long time is my answer. (Though if my Ninja personal blender dies, it will be replaced immediately b/c I love it lol)

 

[DLgal]

I have very low expectations. I am shocked when a small kitchen appliance lasts longer than 5 years. I buy a new toaster oven every 3 years on average, for example.

Large appliances like washers and dryers, refrigerator, etc., I "expect" about 7-10 years out of them. Any more I consider a bonus.

 

[davper]

I go by the manufacturers warranty for expectation of life. After all, they are only willing to warranty it for so long. If they expected it to last, they would warranty it for longer. I buy items based on the warranty. If blender A is $20 with a 1 year warranty and blendar B is $35 with a 2 year warranty. I am buying Blendar B because it is cheaper per year.

So many items today are made to be disposable. There used to be repair shops in every neighborhood when I was a kid. That is because everything, back then was made to last with some maintenance.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

The older your existing appliances are, the more likely they're going to last a good while longer. Newer appliances aren't built to last IMO. We replaced our dishwasher, refrigerator and oven/stove 7 years ago when we updated our kitchen. Our dishwasher had to be replaced 2 years ago and our refrigerator needs to be replaced now (leaking water and repair will cost more than replacement). The only thing still going strong is our oven/stove. I wish we hadn't replaced our appliances 7 years ago because they were working just fine, we simply chose to update them when we updated the kitchen. In fact, our old refrigerator is still working in my MIL's garage!

 

[disney world dreamer]

old appliances i expect years and years out of.

new ones about 5 if they're used regularly.

for example we have had our microwave since i think 1978 and it literally just died 6 days ago!
we've had our blender for at least that long and its still going strong although we only use it a couple times a month.
we also have a fridge and oven from at least the 50's that still works just fine.

meanwhile we have a toaster from 4 years ago that doesn't work well and hasn't for a while.

 

[nerdydisneygirl90]

My expectations have lowered as newer models of appliances have been made, the older ones seem to have lasted longer than the ones they make now.

The washer we have is from the early 90s and still going strong; our stove came with the house, we moved in in 1999 so idk how old it really is. Now with newer things we've gone through 3 microwaves in 10 years and 2 toasters. (My grandma's car lasted from 1998-2015, only reason she got rid of it was because the air conditioner broke and that's way too expensive too fix.)

 

[tvguy]

I think the other issue manufacturers consider when designing the life of appliances is there seem to be an awful lot of people who redecorate every few years and throw out perfectly good appliances because the color is out of style now. Although, anymore good luck finding any color other than stainless steel. When we ordered our microwave 2 years ago, Sharp offered Stainless, While and Bisque. But they had discontinued white and bisque and just hadn't updated their website yet. Some smart folks snapped up all the white and bisque microwaves and were selling them for $200 profit on E-Bay.
One thing I don't see anymore that was HUGE in the 1960's is repainting appliances. Seems like everyone would buy whatever color was on sale, then pay something like $25 to have it painted to match their color scheme.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I have a pretty good sense of how often I need to buy new phones and laptops (I keep them longer than many do) but I'm wondering what everyone's expectations are for household appliances? I think I'm going to need both a new food processor and blender soon (both are used regularly so it is worth it to have both) but I'm wondering how often I should be budgeting for this type of thing. I know that in general (although experience has shown not always) more expensive quality lasts longer but it is hard to be sure how long anything is designed to last these days.

It would be great to hear how long you expect/budget to buy various household appliances (white goods, kitchen items etc) and also mention whether you expect that frequency based on buying something higher end so it will last longer or not.

TIA.

(for lower $$ end items)
For a microwave/toaster oven, I'd expect about 5 years.
Washer/dryer/fridge/stove/dishwasher 15 years with minimal maintenance
Blender/toaster/beaters 3-4 years if used daily.

The more expensive, the longer they should last.

 

[North of Mouse]

We have 'very' high expectations of how long our appliances last. We have been in our home for 15 years and all appliances are going strong (heat pumps also). We did upgrade our fridge to a 2 dr 2 drawer Samsung - not because the other one died (is used in the garage now), but because we wanted a new one.

We have only had 3 sets of washer/dryers, 3 freezers, and 4 fridges in all our married lives (49 yrs.) Only two were replaced because they died.

Also, unlike what some have stated, these were not upper end, high $$ appliances (with exception of latest fridge). They were middle of the road, different brands - mostly Kenmore & GE, and all gave excellent service. We gave our last washer to a friend who is still using it after 15 years!! I wanted a front load, and it was a top load.

 

[BruinEd03]

My expectations have lowered as newer models of appliances have been made, the older ones seem to have lasted longer than the ones they make now.

That's because the old appliances used to cost a lot more (when adjusted for inflation). By making them cheap, more people have access to the appliance.

 

[aprilchem]

We renovated our kitchen about the same time we got married, 15 years ago. We bought high-end appliances and small appliances & have not had to replace anything yet.

 

[ronandannette]

Dishwasher should die first. Ten years is my expectation. Stove and microwave--20+. Fridge maybe 15. Washer/dryer-15+. These are completely off the top of my head.

My parents have high end appliances. One house is about 25 years old. The fridge was replaced about 5 years ago and the glass cooktop was replaced when counters were replaced. The dishwasher and wall oven are original. They have a second home (they're snowbirds) with top of the line appliances that are all 15 years old and going strong.

They don't make things like they used to. I work for a high-volume homebuilder and appliances are included in our contracts. For example, of 300+ fridges a year we put in houses (any make and model and some quite high-end all the way from Samsung and Whirlpool to Miele and Sub-Zero); 2-5% will need replacement during the first year, which is the standard warranty period. The odds of having any major appliance lasting more than 5 years is only about 75% and less than 50/50 for 8 years. One of the issues with them now is that even cheap ones have so many electronic and computerized features, all of which are built into "modules". It's not really possible to fix small, individual issues any more, nor will the units continue to operate if minor features malfunction.

 

[havaneselover]

They don't make things like they used to. I work for a high-volume homebuilder and appliances are included in our contracts. For example, of 300+ fridges a year we put in houses (any make and model and some quite high-end all the way from Samsung and Whirlpool to Miele and Sub-Zero); 2-5% will need replacement during the first year, which is the standard warranty period. The odds of having any major appliance lasting more than 5 years is only about 75% and less than 50/50 for 8 years. One of the issues with them now is that even cheap ones have so many electronic and computerized features, all of which are built into "modules". It's not really possible to fix small, individual issues any more, nor will the units continue to operate if minor features malfunction.

Yikes! I'll consider myself lucky. Stove, microwave, and dishwasher are 9 years old with no issues. Fridge is 5 years old and washer/dryer are seven years old. Never called for repair on any of these (having great luck with LG).

 

[Judique]

Yikes! I'll consider myself lucky. Stove, microwave, and dishwasher are 9 years old with no issues. Fridge is 5 years old and washer/dryer are seven years old. Never called for repair on any of these (having great luck with LG).

Lucky here also! I have some not so high end Whirlpool appliances. Fridge is 10 years old and the ice maker has gone on the fritz, not for the first time. We fixed it with the hairdryer trick last time but that doesn't seem to work this time around. I'm not fixing it as I am shopping for a new model. Other appliances are all 8 years old.

My plan is to replace all of them in 2 years just prior to my retirement. Will probably go middle of the road cost. I do want the black stainless that doesn't show finger prints. (Don't love stainless but what choice do I have?)

May do another kitchen remodel as well. I don't like the sink I have which is a deep bowl double sink which I thought I wanted at the last remodel. Would prefer a divided sink with a larger section but not sure if they make what I think I need. I'll have to go sink shopping.

 

[leebee]

We have lived in this house for 12 years and it was a student rental for 5 years before that, so I am pretty sure the fridge, dish washer, and stove/oven have to be at least 20 years old, if not older! We have a second fridge that we bought in 1999, and I think our washer and dryer were purchased in 1995. All are white, which I like way better than black or stainless. DH has fixed the washer a couple of times (replaced feed dogs when it stopped agitating, and something else) and recently the dishwasher stopped draining but it's working now (we did NOTHING except bailed as much standing water as possible, added vinegar or bleach to water that was left, and let it be for about a month... started it up and voila! it works again!). My current dilemma? We know we will probably sell this house within the next 10 years, and it'll sell better with newer appliances. My house is 112 years old and it's NEVER going to look like an HGTV remodel, but appliances made in this century would help with resale! I can't decide whether to purchase now, so we get some use out of newer appliances, or do it just before listing the house. We won't be buying top of the line, regardless of when, but it would be nice to have some newer appliances that are more affordable to run, and are quieter; my dishwasher sound like there's a jet plane in the kitchen! It concerns me, however, that they won't last long enough to be of value on a resale. Quandry!!

 

[amcnj]

When we replaced our 25+ year old washer and dryer(which were still working by the way) a few years ago, the installer made a comment about them being "oldies", so I asked if we can expect that life with the new ones and he said "no, about 8 years").

 

[ronandannette]

...My current dilemma? We know we will probably sell this house within the next 10 years, and it'll sell better with newer appliances. My house is 112 years old and it's NEVER going to look like an HGTV remodel, but appliances made in this century would help with resale! I can't decide whether to purchase now, so we get some use out of newer appliances, or do it just before listing the house. We won't be buying top of the line, regardless of when, but it would be nice to have some newer appliances that are more affordable to run, and are quieter; my dishwasher sound like there's a jet plane in the kitchen! It concerns me, however, that they won't last long enough to be of value on a resale. Quandry!!

The previous owners of the home we now live in replaced all the appliances before they marketed the place. It was purely for aesthetics so they put in the absolute bottom-of-the-line stainless steel models of everything. I hate them all - they make me angry literally every day (but I'm too cheap to replace them since they're virtually new ). If you're doing fine with what you presently have and they still have some life in them, consider offering an "appliance credit" to the buyers when you're ready to sell rather than buy something low-end just for looks.