Should I repair or replace a broken appliance?
Replace it when the repair quote exceeds half the price of a comparable new unit and the appliance is past about two thirds of its expected service life. If only one of those is true, running cost usually settles it. A diagnosis gives you both numbers before you decide.
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Published
Most people facing a broken appliance ask the wrong question first. They ask whether the appliance is worth keeping, which is a judgement call, when they should be asking two arithmetic questions with fairly clear answers.
Test one: the fifty percent rule
Compare the repair quote against the price of a comparable new unit. Not the fanciest replacement you might like, and not the cheapest thing available, but a like-for-like equivalent of what you already own.
If the repair costs more than half of that, replacing generally wins. If it costs less than a third, repairing almost always wins. Between a third and a half is where the second test earns its keep.
The rule works because a repair buys you an appliance with unknown remaining life, while a replacement buys a full service life and a manufacturer warranty. Paying more than half of a new unit for an unknown remainder is a poor trade.
Test two: two thirds of service life
Every appliance has a rough expected service life, and the useful threshold sits at about two thirds of it.
- Refrigerator: 10 to 15 years, so the threshold is roughly year ten
- Freezer: 12 to 16 years, threshold around year eleven
- Washing machine: 10 to 13 years, threshold around year eight
- Dryer: 10 to 13 years, threshold around year eight
- Range or oven: 13 to 15 years, threshold around year nine
- Dishwasher: 9 to 12 years, threshold around year seven
- Over-range microwave: 8 to 11 years, threshold around year six
- Garbage disposal: 8 to 12 years, threshold around year six
Past the threshold, a major component failure means replacing. Before it, repairing is usually sound. These figures are general industry guidance rather than guarantees, and real service life varies considerably with usage, water hardness and ambient temperature.
Which faults count as major
This distinction matters more than the age itself, because it decides whether test two applies at all.
Major faults are the ones where the component is both expensive and central: a compressor or sealed refrigerant circuit, a drum bearing or outer tub, a transmission, a circulation motor, a cracked drum, a corroded tub. A major fault on an appliance past its threshold means replacing.
Everything else is a wear item, and wear items are worth replacing at almost any age because the parts are modest and the labor is contained. Drain pumps, door locks, heating elements, thermal fuses, igniters, temperature sensors, door gaskets, drive belts, shock absorbers, inlet valves, spray arms, fans and relays all fall here. A twelve-year-old washer with a failed drain pump is worth fixing. The same washer with a failed bearing is not.
Where running cost breaks the tie
When the two tests disagree, efficiency usually settles it.
A refrigerator from the mid-2000s can use roughly twice the electricity of a current model of the same size, and refrigerators run continuously, so that difference compounds every year. The same broad pattern applies to dishwashers and washing machines, though less dramatically because they run intermittently.
So a borderline repair on an old refrigerator leans toward replacement more than a borderline repair on an old dryer, because the dryer you replace will not save you much. Check the current efficiency ratings for the category before deciding rather than assuming the saving is large.
What a diagnosis actually buys you
None of this works without knowing the real fault, which is the argument for paying a service call before making a decision.
The same symptom routinely points at either end of the price range. A refrigerator that is not cooling might need an evaporator fan or might need a compressor, and those are different conversations entirely. A dryer with no heat might need a thermal fuse or might need a motor.
Guessing at the expensive answer means people replace appliances that needed a modest part. Guessing at the cheap answer means people pay for a repair on something already finished. A diagnosis costs a service call that is waived if you go ahead with the repair, which makes it the cheapest information in this entire decision.