When Do You Repair / Replace

What is a long lasting brand ? I bought all Maytag because as a kid I remembered the commercials about the Maytag repairman being lonely. Maytag USED to be a good brand not so much any more.
 
We are a Maytag family. Maytag is not the Maytag of old since White bought them out. Went to cheap Chinese parts.
 
I don't know what is a good brand anymore, so many have been bought out. Many different brands are owned by the same company and made in the same factories. Robots have taken over so much of the manufacturing process that I think quality control has suffered tremendously. You can try checking with Consumer Guide and such to read their reviews. I don't have much faith in the online reviews people give. I read them but realize many of them can be "managed".

I'm an engineer and am often embarrassed by what passes for design in a lot of these things, either the way it is put together or the materials used. I don't think engineers are making a lot of these decisions any way, I sure hope not. I think it's accountants and people with a business degree.

@seedcorn I've worked overseas, not in China but other places. That cheap labor can be pretty high quality. But they are going to build things the way they are taught with the materials they are given. And a lot of those places are corrupt. If they can take a shortcut they will. I've seen that in the US too. I'm a firm believer in that you get what you inspect. You have to have someone with integrity watching them all the time, in the US or overseas. I took great care in choosing my inspectors and when I found one I could trust he never lacked for a paycheck. He stayed busy. Long before I retired there was a trend to require people to self-inspect. it was cheaper to pay the companies to provide their own inspectors instead of setting up ours in their factories and fabrication yards.

I agree with you on the cheap parts, it's not just China either. A lot of countries make these things. I've been disgusted with some stuff designed and made in the USA too. Management of these companies approve the design and accept the parts delivered. The reason is simple. There are not enough of us willing to pay the price for something designed correctly and using the right materials. Cheap makes a profit, quality doesn't.

There is another part of the puzzle too. Stuff used to be made for what it was supposed to do. They were simple. A clothes drier used to have a time setting and a heat setting. Pretty simple. Now they have all kinds of settings and sensors. There are a lot more things that can go wrong. Why? Because people want all these bells and whistles. They won't buy a clothes drier with just a heat setting, a timer, and a start button.
 
Yes @Nyboy , Kenmore is Sears brand, but I should qualify that by saying I was told that several years ago, the last time the repair guy was here for repairs. Might not be the same anymore.

@Ridgerunner , I'm not sure people want all those amenities, but when you can't just buy something basic what are you going to do?
Personally I like simple, no frills stuff. You just have a real hard time finding it.

We were in the market for a full size truck for me to drive. The girly truck won't pull a horse trailer, ( bless it's little heart) and dh prefers that I be on the road in something a little bigger anyway. Originally we thought we'd get an older beater truck for firewood and hauling, but the ones we saw were too beat and overpriced.

So I found a great deal on one that is only 13 years old, :p but impeccably maintained.
It has all the stuff I would never be in the market for, but the truck was a gem and affordable so we bought it.
Now I'm afraid I'm going to be the spoiled princess who can't function without bun warmers. :rolleyes:
 
Because the more crap they have on them the harder it is for the average person to repair and they can make $$ on replacement parts? I don't know.
Maybe I'm just way below average in my preferences.
 
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