When Do You Repair / Replace

[Nyboy]

When big ticket items brake down when do you replace rather then repair ? Do you base on age or repair amount ?

 

[thistlebloom]

When my washer (20 years old, more or less) started needing frequent repairs I decided that the next time something went haywire I would take it out in the woods and shoot it. Some or all of those repairs my husband could have done, but he's past the repair-everything-himself stage, and at close to $60/hour +parts it was getting less cost effective to keep. Not too long ago dh did all of our fixes, house, cars, appliances...but I think he's just tired and we are in a better place now where we can afford a few luxuries, like a repairman now and then.

So that's how I figure it. It's allowed 3 repairs or so, then it's time to call in the Swiss Reaper.

 

[Nyboy]

Your lucky you have some one that knows how to make repairs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Repair costs and frequency. Age isn't that relevant. I want ten years for a car but the one I'm driving is 12 years old. As long as I can depend on it for local driving and the repair frequency and costs aren't bad I'll keep it. A deer committed suicide in front of it a few years back, insurance spent about $5000 on it, but some things still aren't right. It has a lot of hail damage. Doesn't matter, it still runs dependably.

I'm pretty much where Thistle's husband is. I used to repair a lot, now I just don't want to. My eyesight isn't what it used to be even with glasses, it's hard to contort my body to get in certain areas, and my fingers and joints just don't work like they used to. Costs of repairs have gone up. Repairs aren't as simple as they used to be either. Duct tape and wire used to fix a lot of things, parts were usually pretty basic. Now everything is modules.

And there are often traps to catch the do-it-yourselfer. A headlamp burned out on my car so I went by the dealer to get a new one. The salesman asked if I wanted him to replace it for free. Sure, why get my hands messed up. As he put it in he pointed out a fixture that is really easy to break off when you are reaching in there.

I had a control on my stove top go bad so I had a repairman replace it. The control was a one size fits all, it wasn't made just for that model. The only way it fit that model was to break off a piece that was there because other models needed it as a spacer. If I had been installing that myself it would have been extremely frustrating trying to figure it out. The instructions were pretty useless regarding that but the repairman knew what to do.

 

[Nyboy]

I called Sears repair, got a woman who barely spoke english, she said 1 first appointment a week from today. I called a local number ad said family owned, they sending someone today.

 

[majorcatfish]

we are like @thistlebloom on the dishwasher we replaced once and one repair, repair man said it's a flaw in the cheap ge washer. so there is sits waiting for a cabinet to be installed..

the stove have replaced just about everything on it over the last 18 years, the one thing that bugs me is the top over the years it has a slight warp to the middle, so you have to be careful while cooking things beside liquids otherwise it has a tendency to burn...

the fridge we will pull it out twice a year and vacuum out all the dust and animal hair from it for some reason the last time had to bring the air compressor in, it was nasty and a good mop.. the only thing wrong so far was the ice cube selection <crushed or cube> lever, the cube would not work, so put a jumper between the two so now you never know if you are get...but it works...

washer and drier ...
for some reason we went though new of course right after warranty runs out, the repairman to fix them was almost the cost of a rebuilt one, so we now just buy rebuilt ones...

 

[valley ranch]

Nothing has to be replaced if you don't care how it looks

 

[valley ranch]

Na, the cost of adding coolant shouldn't be too high, if that's the problem.

 

[valley ranch]

Ridgerunner:
Repair costs and frequency. Age isn't that relevant. I want ten years for a car but the one I'm driving is 12 years old. As long as I can depend on it for local driving and the repair frequency and costs aren't bad I'll keep it. A deer committed suicide in front of it a few years back, insurance spent about $5000 on it, but some things still aren't right. It has a lot of hail damage. Doesn't matter, it still runs dependably.



A deer got our van a couple years back, I always thought I would be the one that could stop before hitting a deer~but she jumped out from behind a tree and we met while she was in the air. It was like slow mo~and the truck behind us hit her as well.I

 

[Zeedman]

It is kind of a personal feeling, whether to repair, or cut your losses & start over. I generally keep things till they break... so for me, the only place a car or appliance goes from my house, is to the junk yard. I repair things until it looks like the money would be better spent buying something more reliable.

I'm pretty much where Thistle's husband is. I used to repair a lot, now I just don't want to. My eyesight isn't what it used to be even with glasses, it's hard to contort my body to get in certain areas, and my fingers and joints just don't work like they used to. Costs of repairs have gone up. Repairs aren't as simple as they used to be either. Duct tape and wire used to fix a lot of things, parts were usually pretty basic. Now everything is modules.

That's about where I am too. Time was, I fixed just about anything that broke. But automobiles especially were much easier to work on then; now it takes an hour to change a head lamp, I need to jack DW's van up to change the spark plugs (from below), and it takes a pump to fill the transmission fluid (with no dip stick)! Cars today are designed not to be worked on by the owner. Appliances I can usually repair, but if my refrigerator went out, I would thank it for its 30 years of service, and send it on to its next life. It makes me wonder if they still make appliances to last like that, not sure I want to know the answer.