Why Repairing New Appliances Can Be More Expensive Than Repairing Old Appliances

Old appliances are often far more reliable than new ones, and it’s almost always worth having them repaired rather than replacing them with newer models. Yes, it may seem counterintuitive and even wasteful, but new appliance manufacturers don’t seem to care very much. This affects you, the consumer, since you may be under the impression that newer appliances should be more reliable, not less reliable!

Why is this even a thing? There are a few reasons, which we will cover below:

They Don’t Build Them Like They Used To

It’s often true what your nan may have told you as a child: “they don’t build them like they used to.” To some degree, older appliances were often built with sturdier materials and used replaceable parts which meant repairing them was relatively straightforward.

Obviously, this isn’t always the case and is simply a ‘rule of thumb’ moreso than a hard and fast rule. Very old refrigerators, for example, often contained ammonia or sulphur dioxide which can be harmful if leaked. Chances are, you don’t own one of these ancient iceboxes in your home. As Indiana Jones would say, “that belongs in a museum!”

Nevertheless, older appliances lacked the bells and whistles of today’s modern smart appliances and therefore they lack the features and functionality that often make our lives easier. Older isn’t always better, but in terms of basic functionality and dependability, they tended to be built to last.

Newer Appliances Often Have Proprietary Components

Many brand new appliances from major manufacturers have gotten into a really nasty habit that’s turned out to be quite profitable for them. Instead of using replaceable parts which could make repairing the appliance easy and straightforward, they’ve instead carefully implemented patents on many proprietary parts that have been essentially invented decades ago. Why reinvent the wheel, which is practically what they’re doing?

The short answer is that it’s profitable for them. Keurig and Nespresso don’t get rich from selling their fancy coffee machines, but instead make a huge profit from having capsules that only fit their specific model.

The problem here lies with the consumers, who often have little choice but to turn to the manufacturer for a replacement part for their new appliance. Under warranty? Shouldn’t be a problem, but it’s still a headache. Out of warranty? Sourcing specific proprietary parts can be a lot more frustration and come at considerable cost.

Older Appliances Are Often Easier to Repair

It just seems so counterintuitive that manufacturers would gradually make appliances harder and harder to repair when perfectly good replaceable parts used to be the norm. But when considering the financial aspect, it all makes sense.

Major appliance manufacturers don’t want you sell you a refrigerator that will last for 20 years, even though they could feasibly make one. They want you to buy a new one every few years, because that’s big dollars for them. That’s also why they have purposefully muddied the waters by swapping out universal (more or less) parts for their own, patented parts and components.

If you’ve got an old appliance, it may be worth holding onto for as long as you can. Appliance repair technicians have the ability to repair old and new appliances alike, but the cost of repairing an older appliance is (for them and for you) going to end up costing a lot less than having to source a specific proprietary part for a newer model.

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