Home warranty issue

[Groo]

When first buying a house, it makes sense. Usually money is tight after a move into a new house, and apliance usage will likely change, sometimes enough to put something marginal over the edge prematurely.
Any other time, probably not.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Most of the time such as is the case with your microwave it is just better for you to replace it, and as far as the fact that 1 serviceman couldn't get it down , he didn't want to or he could have, there seems to be a lot of that in the service industry these days.

I wouldn't want to try to get that microwave down with less than 3 people. You have to remove 3 very long machine screws from the top (1 persons duties), then lift up at the rear to remove it from the rear support and slide it forward (2 people needed to do safely without danger of dropping it on to the ceramic topped range below). They should have sent at least 2 techs to get this down. As it was, my neighbor and his wife came over and helped me get it down. Not hard for 3 people, possible for two if a strong person but still a danger of it slipping from the hands and falling on the range top which would totally destroy that.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't know what those home warrantee policies cost but so far I've replaced the microwave, refrigerator and hot water heater. That's around $1200 in the 36 years I've been here. I do all the work myself. Designed the house for easy access to all appliances.

It is obvious that you haven't priced refrigerators lately. A refrigerator like the one I have was on sale ($200 off) at Lowes last week for $2565. My front loading washers and dryers are over $1000 each, my Kenmore Pro double oven was over $2500. It doesn't take much break down now to cost you much more than the price of a home warranty.

 

[Gary Fowler]

They sometimes work out, but the extended warranty on my TV would have cost half the price of the TV.
My fridge lasted 20 yrs before it went, and was probably $400 new. Wonder what 20 yrs of warranty would have cost.

I doubt you will get 20 years or even 10 from your new Chinese made fridge. I was just discussing this with the repair tech about how my sister has a counter top microwave that she has had for about 30-40 years (bought when they first became popular) and it still works. That was his comment, they don't make them like they used to when made in the USA. He said the average age of appliances he repairs is 3-7 year depending on the appliance with microwaves being 3 and fridges being 7. My Fridge is now 8 years old and has had to have a repair on the water dispenser valve a couple years ago. My old fridge that was bought in 1990 and sets in my shop still works well with never a problem so far. I always had good luck with Kenmore appliances which is why when I built my new home, it is all Kenmore appliances. I don't think they make them like they used to though.

 

[Oaktree]

My Fridge is now 8 years old and has had to have a repair on the water dispenser valve a couple years ago.

ISTR 30+ years ago reading in Consumer Reports that icemakers, water dispensers and other such frills tended to be trouble spots back then too. Never saw the need for either myself.

Do refrigerators come from China? Seems like a rather heavy/bulky item to ship that far. Mexico, maybe.

 

[Gary Fowler]

ISTR 30+ years ago reading in Consumer Reports that icemakers, water dispensers and other such frills tended to be trouble spots back then too. Never saw the need for either myself.

Do refrigerators come from China? Seems like a rather heavy/bulky item to ship that far. Mexico, maybe.

As for water dispensers, I couldn't do without my in the door water filter/dispenser. I drink gallons of water daily and don't really like it right out of the tap even though the water tastes fine, I prefer it a bit cool but not with ice cubes. In todays world, I don't consider water/ice dispensers in the fridge door to be a frill. They also save a lot of energy from not opening the door to get water or ice.

All of our appliances come for either China or Mexico. They can stack a lot of fridges in a container and thousands of seacans can go on a big container ship so freight is really not an issue, likely cheaper than trucking them from Mexico.

All of our CUTs come from China, Korea or India or Japan and they are about as bulky as one can get.
We in the USA are going to be in a world of hurt if they quit selling us stuff even for a short time (think trade war!!!)