Deaconblue
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- Apr 23, 2011
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Appliances are complete fucking shit now.
I've bought top of the line Electrolux, and the cheapest Whirlpool I can find. In the past 10 years in two homes, I've gone through 5 clothes washing machines, 2 driers, 7 dishwashers, 3 microwaves and 4 refrigerators.
My strategy at this point: buy the cheapest thing on the shelf that suits your needs, then just fucking price in the longest warranty you can buy (typically 5 years).
If someone magically appeared before me right now and said, "I will sell you an appliance that has a 10 year shelf life" I would pay $2,000+ for it just to eliminate the fucking hassle.
Appliance reliability is one area Consumer Reports and similar services provide useful information. They get data from thousands of customers on brand reliability.
Dishwashers were massively redesigned some years ago to greatly reduce noise. The noise reduction was effective. However, there were side effects that impacted reliability and also removed some useful features.
Another trend that has had an impact on reliability is the use of electronics in the operations. Instead of a $50 electro mechanical timer that put the appliance through its cycles, there is a $500 computer that can talk to your favorite internet service. Not sure I need that.
Many appliance brands are now part of the same corporate entity. In some cases this means the same equipment inside slightly different sheet metal with a different logo and price. Do your research when spending that kind of money. Unless you are Jay Leno.