REPAIR OR REPLACE?

In modern society, it’s very important to understand that when it comes to saving time and energy, appliances are almost everything. They do everything from clean our clothing to keeping our clothing fresh. This is very important to understand because too often, we tend to take them for granted. Because of how important they are, when an appliance malfunctions, it can be a very devastating or frustrating occurrence. Even if nothing of significance is harmed, they can still be a major inconvenience. It’s important to understand that when an appliance does break, you then have a very important decision to make. Do you invest the time, money, and energy to have someone come into your home and repair your appliance, or do you have to simply buy an entirely new appliance? On the surface, it can be a confounding quandary, but the more you analyze a situation like that, you can very quickly make the best assessment that fits your particular situation or lifestyle.

The Age Versus Reliability Question

One of the first variables to keep in mind when it comes to a broken appliance is the age and reliability of a particular product. Let’s say, for example, you have a product you purchased over 20 years ago. If it was a fridge, it could be the best fridge in the world. Over these two decades, it’s done its job effectively, but one day, it stops working. When you compare modern fridges to those from 20 years ago, the first thing to understand is that there is going to a major change in terms of what technology fridges are able to provide. Now a fridge from 1997 is not going to have the same ability to freshen, provide filtered water, or have modern compartments like a fridge in 2017. Because of that, you’ll also have to understand that modern appliance repairmen may not even be able to fix a fridge that old, especially if it’s a part that is broken and needs to be replaced. But given how reliable it’s been for over 20 years, someone that is fine with the product might very well keep it. However, based on the age and scarcity of the damaged part, this is a situation where you should opt to upgrade and buy a new fridge. With this scenario in mind, it’s important to understand that you should always upgrade to a new product if your appliance is more than a decade old. The logic behind this is not only the means of convenience, but also, simply for the fact that appliance technology 10 years apart simply cannot compete, and given the difficulty and cost of a repair, you might as well simply upgrade.

Replacing or Repairing a More Recent Appliance

It’s very important to understand that the aforementioned scenario is one where the decision to upgrade is far more obvious. However, when it comes to a product that is much more recent, it’s very important to understand that the answer is a little more complicated. If it’s a product you’ve purchased within a year and it’s already experiencing issues, it might be a good idea to go with a first-time repair. While some might be tempted to replace a product that recent, it’s important to realize that if it’s that quick of a product failure, you should have insurance or warranty that will cover that initial repair.

But if there is another critical failure after that first-time, then it might be highly advisable to simply replace the appliance. So just to recap, if it’s a very old appliance, just replace it. But if it’s a more recent appliance, you should get it repaired.