For $3k you get a top-end LG or Samsung, not an ‘Accord’. What 65" costs $7k? These would be the Ferrari-equivalents.
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My washer dryer are about 30 and 20 years old respectively (they came with the house), and they are the most basic models imaginable with mechanical controls. The washer is starting to act up every now and then. I think it might be reaching the end of it’s life. I’m contemplating getting a new HE washer and dryer, but the new ones all seem to have electronic controls and have pretty hit/miss reputations. I heard about speed queen and their stuff seams appealing to me, I’ve never heard first hand experiences from people that actually have them. They definitely aren’t cheap, but I’d rather spend more and have a product that lasts another 30 years than spend half as much but have to replace the units every 10 years or so.
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I haven’t bought one, but for some reason the woman who writes a syndicated ‘couponing’ column talked about all the problems they had with a new HE washer, and how she quickly got a commercial washer instead, problems solved.
That chart seems to perfectly explain a common opinion that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer… relatively speaking.
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Our 1968 Kenmore dryer lasted 46 years and be only replaced it because the cabinet was rusting out. It had a moisture sensor and still worked quite well. My 2004 PT Cruiser had the turn signals quit working. I fixed it with a $3 flasher. My granddaughters 2006 stopped working and it was controlled by a $700 body control module. Not everything new is better. Blue collar wages have not come close to keeping up with inflation.
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I have a real problem with today’s “throw away” society. I have two lawnmowers, one purchased in 1988 and the other in 1992. Both have cast aluminium decks. The older mower is a Toro with a Tecumseh engine. Tecumseh no longer makes engines, so I do whatever I can to preserve this mower. The newer mower is a Homelite-Jacobsen. Most parts are no longer available. The handle broke, so I had to repair it with a piece of PVC electrical conduit. Blades are no longer available for this mower. We have a Maytag washing machine that was made in 1992. The machine started vibrating badly several years ago and making a lot of noise. Mrs. Triedaq hates to go shopping, so I called a repair shop, gave them the model of the machine and described the problem. The serviceman showed up and diagnosed the problem as a bad shaft bearing. He quoted me a price of $275 to repair the machine. I asked how long the machine would be in the shop. He replied, “I’ll fix it right here in your house. It will take about two hours”. I had the machine repaired and have had almost 4 years of service and it is still going strong.
One of our vehicles is a 2003 Toyota 4Runner. It runs flawlessly and my wife keeps it looking like it just came out of the showroom. I dread the day when I am told that parts are no longer available.
I just read where a multi-billion dollar incentive plan is being proposed to encourage people to replace gasoline powered cars with electric cars. I agree with reducing sir pollution, but it seems to me that it makes more sense for electric cars to be phased in gradually as consumers replace their old vehicles, just as I will replace my old mowers when they aren’t repairable with a battery mower.
I have a Speed Queen dryer and like it. My mom got sick of replacing fancy Samsungs every 3 years so ended up with a Speed Queen washer when the last one broke. She definitely sees it as a downgrade from a nice HE front loader but has never had a problem with it.
Speed Queen makes HE front loaders as well but they all have the electronic control panels now. They do have a 10 year warranty though so that is a plus. I am seriously considering this as I would miss my HE front loader. I could hear it beeping as I was typing this.
It does seem stupid to have to replace a car over a $1000 body module or a dryer for a $400 main control panel. I think I only paid $600 10 years ago for it. I did have a $40 module fail about 2 years ago and I changed that myself. I wasn’t sure about fixing it back when it failed but feel it was money worth spending at this point. I don’t see the rest of it lasting 8-10 more years to make it worth that kind of money. The sad part is that all the parts that do the heavy lifting in the dryer that failed as well as well as this washer are fine. The motors, pumps, heating elements, etc. are all good but the electronics are not. It isn’t just a simply switch or relay to swap out like it would be on my Speed Queen.
I was once talking to a cop about this. He was talking about all the electronics/communications equipment in police cars these days. One of the police cars got hit by lightning or touched a power line and that was it. The car was done for. Nothing would work and it wouldn’t even attempt to run. Apparently just about every electronic module in this car was trash from the incident and the car was considered a total loss. Of course all the mechanical stuff was probably fine.
I always kinda like the cars from the early 2000s for a combination of technology and simplicity. It seemed like power and efficiency really came up during this time but the cars are still not a big deal to repair. We will omit Chrysler from this generalization.
Remember that many of the “doorbuster” deals on Black Friday are for goods that wouldn’t sell on sale during a normal day. Some are made extra cheap just for these sales but a lot are leftovers or outdated models. Stay home with family if you don’t like contributing to our disposable society as a lot of this stuff is junk.
Lawn equipment is another item that has cheap grades at big box stores. It may be the same name brand but is not the same model. Spend the money and buy it at a tool or farm and lawn store. I have some battery lawn equipment and am very happy so far. Battery tools have really come a long way.
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True, I suppose I should have been more specific in my example. The truck in question travels many highway miles but the maintenance routine would have blown up any 80’s gasoline engine I am familiar with. I too have seen Chevy delivery vans run 300,000 miles, but how many oil changes, tune-ups, intake gaskets, water pumps, and other repairs were involved in those miles? When I say this truck had nothing more than oil changes and a set of spark plugs, I mean just that.
I doubt this 2015 Silverado has had more than a dozen oil changes in its life. One “tune-up” of plugs and wires. And the engine is still running.
This company is horrendous about maintenance. They bought a new 2017 Ram Promaster, it got its first oil change at 80,000 miles. At about 100,000 miles it had some noisy lifters. I recommended they live with the lifter noise until the engine gives up.
Anyway, my point should have been that a modern day engine will provide longer service with more power, better fuel economy, and less maintenance than engines of 20-30 years ago.
Yup. I remember what we paid for our top of the line Samsung 11 or 12 years ago and what a similar TV costs today. In fact, when we first got it my folks were visiting and Dad was just astonished that someone would pay $1800 for a TV.
I remembered the big Zenith console TV we had when I was a kid and asked Dad about it. He recalled it was the biggest and best they had at the time. He bought it in 1967 and paid $600 for it.
Hmm, $600 in 1967 vs. $1800 in 2008. Who spends a lot of money on TVs?
I certainly don’t need one but apparently my wife does. She loves it.
Then the solution is to seek out white-collar employment.
I have repaired enough computers and had to use salvaged parts of the internet, and can’t help but feel cuircuitboard failures after ten years and no replacement parts available will be worse than rust.
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I can’t argue with real progress @asemaster but far too much of what is sold to the public as progress is gimmicks, pizzazz, outrageous useless performance figures and just plain gluttonous excess. And while the current models may last many thousands of miles with relatively minimal maintenance what about the cost of module failures or worse obsolete/unavailable modules? BTW, a friends 2017 Toyota SUV is in the shop with a non warranty repair estimate of $3,500 for a wiring harness damaged by mice. It amazes me that the mice have such high standards for nesting and munching since they apparently passed by 5 older, somewhat less popular vehicles to home in on the new smell and shine.In all my years as a mechanic I recall 3 vehicles with meaningful rodent damage and none had bills exceeding $200.
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I don’t know about that…
I’ve (and my wife, too) worked most of those forty years (retired now) and wages were great, life was good, and it’s getting even better. Opportunities abound.
My kids have been on their own for several years and are doing fine. I guess it depends on the decisions one makes and whether to complain about a poor situation or actually do something to change trajectories. I always assumed full responsibility for any conditions I found myself in, good or bad. Why would anybody wait around for 40 years? 
The right to pursue happiness in this country leaves the “pursue” part up to working individuals and the choices they make.
I guess, whatever floats your boat… 
CSA
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I guess whether you think the cost of living is going up rapidly or not depends on what sorts of things you purchase. In my case the big ticket items taking up the majority of my personal budget are local and state taxes, food, utilities, gasoline, and medical care. Those have all seen some big price hikes in the last 5 years.
You must not have been charging enough! 
Seriously though, I’ve been party to rodent damage that went well over $2000. Customer with a 3 year old Equinox was having rodent issues at her condo. They got to her car, in addition to chewing up some wiring, they also ate holes in CV boots on 3 of the 4 axles, ate through the grease boots on the lower control arms and tie rods. Never seen rodents eat grease, that was a first.
Since the damage happened in her garage or carport, I advised her to contact her homeowners insurance. They considered it vandalism and paid for repairs, minus the deductible. Perhaps your friend could do the same.
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The day to day expenses have not been a big hit to me, but seeing a refrigerator for 3100 at menards, or washer and dryer low price $560 each kills me. Then the 83k GMC pickup truck, Got insurance so 79k for a new hip not my problem. Trying to buy a lake house, 350k and I am a bottom feeder.
Also where you are. I mean a Toyota Corolla has the same sticker price in California as in Iowa, right? But rent for a 2 bd apartment in those places will vary widely.
And I would also say that housing costs have risen far more rapidly than car prices. Back in 1992 I remember renting a 2 bd apartment in a Seattle suburb for $425/month. I just looked online and that same unit is now renting for $1495/month.
In 1994 my girlfriend (now wife) bought her first brand new car, a Corolla, for somewhere around $12,000. Are new Corollas now selling for $42,000?
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I took pride in maintaining and repairing my cars and electronic equipment when I was a lot younger. I replaced fuel pumps, carburetors, water pumps, distributor points and condenser, spark plugs and generators, alternators and batteries. I could keep my television and high fidelity system working. These were the vacuum tube days of hand wired chassis. The last water pump I had to have replaced was on the 2011 Toyota Sienna that I used to own and it was a $975 job. My days of repairing anything are over.
I remember the Sears Coldspot® refrigerator my parents bought in 1939. The compressor was on the top of the refrigerator and the motor and compressor were separate. Once a month, my dad would lift the top cover off the refrigerator and oil.the motor. When the motor burned out 9 years later, the motor was taken off the refrigerator and taken to a shop where the armature was rewound. My parents were worried when they finally bought a new refrigerator because it had a hermetically sealed motor and compressor unit. If something went wrong, the whole unit had to be replaced at a considerable expense or more likely, the refrigerator was junked. A person who really wanted a long lasting refrigerator bought a Servel® gas refrigerator. The only thing that wore out on these refrigerators was the easily replaced door gasket.
I really can’t complain, however, about today’s equipment. My cars don’t require new points and spark plugs every 10,000 miles. My refrigerator is going strong and has had no repairs in its 24 years of service and I don’t have to oil the motor once a month. I don’t have to replace a bad vacuum tube on my television as I did every six months or so.
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I agree, it’s a crime. That bottle of 21 year old Bushmills Whiskey has gone from $125 to $235 literally overnight. I need to find a new liquor store.
[quote=“kurtwm1, post:39, topic:151441”]. I need to find a new liquor store.
[/quote]
Or a different boot legger.
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