· Michael Blair
The usual advice is to replace if the repair costs more than half a new machine. That is a reasonable starting point and it ignores the more useful question, which is what actually failed.
Typical lifespans
Refrigerators commonly run ten to fifteen years, washing machines and dishwashers around ten, and ranges longer. A fault at year three is a different proposition from the same fault at year twelve.
Well past the expected life, even a modest repair often buys only a few months before something else goes.
Which part failed
Sealed system faults on a refrigerator — the compressor or a refrigerant leak — are the expensive ones and frequently tip toward replacement. A door seal, a thermostat or a fan motor rarely do.
On a washing machine, bearings and the outer drum are the expensive failure; pumps, valves and control boards are usually worth fixing.
- Sealed system faults on a fridge: usually replace
- Bearings on a washer: often replace
- Pumps, valves, seals, thermostats: usually repair
- Control boards: depends heavily on part price
- Past the expected life, repair buys less time
Get the diagnosis first
A diagnostic call gives you the actual fault and part cost rather than a guess. Most companies apply it against the repair if you go ahead.
Deciding without it means choosing between an unknown repair and a known replacement, which biases toward replacing things that had a cheap fault.
The efficiency argument
It is often overstated for washing machines and dishwashers and is real for a refrigerator over fifteen years old, which uses considerably more electricity than a current one.
For an old refrigerator, the running cost genuinely contributes to the case for replacing.