Should You Hang Onto Your Old Appliance Or Buy New

Sometimes we are torn whether to fix our favorite aged appliance that has never seen a repair person or buy new. Here are a few questions to ask yourself if you find yourself in this position.

Has your appliance been very reliable in the past?

If you have been lucky enough to have an appliance for over a decade before needing a repair, it may be wise to put some money into it to to keep it going. Many times the repair is inexpensive but remember, at some point, replacement parts for your appliance may become no longer available. Hopefully after a repair you won't have to worry for at least another decade. Consideration of the repairs cost should be taken into account. Generally, any repair that costs more than half the price of a new product is best avoided. For those costly repairs, the added savings of buying an energy efficient appliance will make more sense. It is wise to ask retailers, local utility companies and local governments about any recycling and energy efficient product rebates they may offer.

What is the overlooked cost of replacing an older appliance?

The true cost of replacing your appliance needs to be considered when comparing repair cost vs. replacement cost. Replacing your older appliance usually requires fees for installation, delivery and removal and disposal of your old appliances. So before you rush into junking your current appliance, ask yourself how much will it cost to remove the existing appliance, install the new appliance, and dispose of the old appliance. Paying over a hundred dollars to have an appliance installed is not unusual.

Are new appliances made of the same quality as my current appliance?

The quality of lower-end appliances today has degraded when compared to similarly priced machines 15 years ago. This is the result of manufacturers' loss of control of the quality of parts ordered from around the world. It seems as though they would like us to replace our appliances every few years. You can still buy high-quality appliances but the more bells and whistles they come with, the more there is that can go wrong. High-end appliances can cost a lot of money to fix because they use leading-edge technology such as smart circuit boards. Also. spending top dollar on an appliance no longer means more reliability; you are just as likely to require an appliance repair on an expensive top of the line model as you would a less expensive model. When it comes to major cooking appliances, Consumer Reports Magazine readers rated high-end brands such as Viking, Thermador, Dacor, and Jenn-Air as the least reliable.

So, although there are a lot of nice looking appliances out there with fancy extras such as a steam feature on a clothes washer. Your reliable old trusty washer may do you well if you just give it a second chance at life.

Autor: Andrew Mandel Andrew Mandel
Level: Basic
Appliance repair technician in the Twin Cities Area...

Andrew Mandel
St Paul Appliance Rescue

Added: April 29, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/