Is it worth repairing an appliance? Run the numbers first

Diagnose first, decide second

This is the sequencing error that costs people the most money, and it happens in both directions.

People replace working machines because a symptom sounded terminal, and people approve expensive repairs because a quote arrived before a test did. A refrigerator that will not cool can be a $15 relay or a several-hundred-dollar compressor job, and the symptom is identical.

How long each appliance should last

Lifespan is the variable the rule quietly depends on, because it decides how much life a repair is buying back.

A machine at the halfway point of its expected life is buying years. One well past it is buying months, and the same repair cost means something different in each case. Manufacturers, retailers and trade bodies all publish typical ranges, and they are ranges rather than guarantees.

Repair history is the better signal, and almost nobody weighs it. A machine on its third unrelated fault in two years is telling you where it is in its life more accurately than its serial number does.

Part-level economics: the number that decides it

The gap between the cheapest and dearest repair on the same appliance is the whole reason this page exists.

• Refrigerator start relay: roughly $10 to $15, owner-reported, fits with a nut driver.
• Dryer thermal fuse: a low-cost safety part, though the vent behind it is the real fix.
• Washer door seal: roughly $230 to $300 fitted.
• Washer drain pump: roughly $300 to $400 fitted.
• Sealed system or compressor: several hundred dollars, and where the rule usually bites.

Read that list against a new machine price and the decision mostly makes itself. What it cannot do is tell you which row you are in, which is why the diagnosis comes first.

How diagnostic fees actually work

Ask three things before the visit: what the fee is, whether it is credited, and whether there is a callback charge if the same fault returns.

When the rule gives the wrong answer

Any rule of thumb has edges, and being honest about them is more useful than defending the rule.

A cheap part on an old machine is still worth doing, because proportion rather than age is what the rule measures. A discontinued part can make a trivial repair impossible regardless of the maths. And built-in or integrated units carry costs beyond the appliance itself, because replacement means cabinetry, fitting and sometimes a different size entirely.

Energy use and the replacement argument

Efficiency is the argument used to push replacement, and it is sometimes right.

Genuinely old refrigerators and washers do use noticeably more energy than current models, and over years that adds up. What the argument does not support is replacing a repairable five-year-old machine, where the saving is small and the embodied cost of a new unit is not.

Ask for the specific comparison rather than the general claim. A retailer who cannot name the annual consumption of both machines is making a sales point, not an efficiency one.

The three failures that almost always mean replace

Some faults settle the question before the arithmetic starts.

• A sealed system or compressor failure on a refrigerator past the middle of its life.
• A washer gearbox or transmission leaking oil rather than water.
• A cracked tub in a dishwasher or washing machine, which is structural rather than mechanical.

The three that almost always mean repair

And some settle it the other way just as firmly.

• A refrigerator start relay at roughly $10 to $15, at any age.
• A dryer thermal fuse once the vent behind it has been cleared properly.
• Any hose, filter, seal or gasket, which are wear items rather than failures.