Yesterday morning our washing machine started making this awful clanking noise part way into the wash cycle (no, it wasn't just out of balance). DH has been very handy figuring out what's wrong with our washer and dryer the past several years and getting the parts and fixing himself. He had me pick up some parts ($50) yesterday on my way home from work. Didn't fix the problem.......
So, now he's thinking it's the "transmission", which from what I can see online is about a $200 part. So, now we have to decide do we want to sink another $200 into this old washing machine or just buy a new one? I can't remember how long we've had this machine now, but I'm guessing a good 10 years. We don't need one of those fancy front loading expensive machines. Just another top load machine is fine and from pricing a decent one it would cost around $500.
I'm leaning toward just buying a new one, but I will talk with DH today and see what he thinks. I just did a google search to see if I could figure out how old this machine is from the model/serial number. Looks like 2001 - which sounds about right. I think we had to replace our first machine around the time I went back to work. Not sure I want to put another $200 into something that old, but then again with the new part it might last another 5 years or more. What to do, what to do?
New machine. Even the basic washing machines are more energy efficient than that vintage. We purchased a high efficiency top-loader in December 2011 and absolutely love it. It was like $620 at Home Depot, sort of the middle range in the line of HE/energy star appliances.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on that one; buy a good one that will last you another decade. Machines like that were not meant to last forever, and though I am not sure how long washing machines are meant to last, you would end up having to replace every individual piece eventually in order to keep them running. Also; while you may not want all the belts and whistles, newer machines are made to work better, more efficiently (which means water, electricity and time savers). You said that he "thinks" is the transmission... any way you could have a mechanic friend or handyman friend check to make "sure" it is the transmission?
ReplyDeleteAppliances are made with so much plastic now that they don't last nearly as long as they use to.
ReplyDeleteYahoo Finance says 11-12 year for a washing machine, so I'd go with getting a new one.
Getting a professional to diagnose the problem will run you at least the cost of a service charge/visit and that could be $50-$100 depending on your area of the country....and that's before buying any parts and actually fixing it. ;-)
The one good thing about an HE washer is you will see a reduction in water use. If you are on a well, this won't give you any savings but if you are on a metered system, it's worth it if you can find an about as cheap as a reg. washer.
I would buy the new one. If your machine is older than 10 years, it's only a matter of time before something else goes wrong. I think it's a good investment.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely get a new washer... things just aren't "built to last" anymore unfortunately. Back in the day, machines would last 20,30, years or more! Now, they build them so cheaply and since everything seems to be computerized now, it just goes on the "brink" and that seems to be the end of it!
ReplyDeleteI would buy a new one. The new ones (even non HE ones) use less energy than the old ones. Cheers and thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteI just fixed mine on Monday, it cost 300.00 it was the motor and coupling. The guy said its rare for that to go bad, just my luck. A new one is 1000.00 as its a stack. I decided to just buy a new motor.
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