<p>Fellow CCers, I feel it is time to start a rant thread on how everything used to be so reliable in the good old days!</p>
<p>My examples. Washer #1 was sold with the house #1 and, according to the buyer, is still going strong… Washer #2 croaked after 7 years! Repairfolks at Sears told me, “Gosh, it LASTED 7 years, what do you want?!” Praying for washer #3.</p>
<p>Van #1 did not need new brakes until well past 90K miles on the odometer (traded it in for Van #2). Van #2 (same brand, 3 yrs old, 45K miles) will need brake work soon…</p>
<p>Corolla #1 needed new tires and battery only after its odometer had clocked 70K miles, Corolla #2 had those replaced at 30K…</p>
<p>Fridge #1 (sold with the house #1) is still OK, fridge #2 started to make funny noises a few days ago.</p>
<p>Thank God I still have Husband #1 - the way things are going, I think I’m going to keep him no matter what!</p>
<p>It’s called value engineering. The positive spin on that is that things aren’t expensively overbuilt. The negative spin is that they engineer the value right out of stuff.</p>
<p>Mother has a Whirlpool Gold washing machine-20+ years old with (knock on wood) never a repairman called. We purchased a Whirlpool Gold machine in
'04 and have had to call a repairman man once a year every year since(over $500 in repairs!).</p>
<p>Our Dodge Caravan has needed new brakes like clockwork every 30,000 miles. It’s the one thing that has been annoying about a car that is now 8 years old and counting.</p>
<p>How many parts are made elsewhere, China, these days…I bought three little light things from a good firm, online, and NOT ONE of them worked, allmade in China</p>
<p>Same here with the Caravan- we put on better break pads, like for a cab or truck, still needed to breaks, my H thought it was ME, heh, gonna show him that post</p>
<p>BB, you must have a short memory. Cars and tires are far more reliable than they used to be. Most can be driven 100k plus miles with little more than scheduled repairs. Our fridge,washer and drier are all 20+ years old and going strong.</p>
<p>The one instance I would agree with you is telephones. Those old Ma Bell numbers were indestructable.</p>
<p>I think in your examples there’s a mix of reality, perception, and results of compromises.</p>
<p>Brakes - Asbestos brake linings are no longer allowed for environmental and health reasons. The result is shorter lasting linings and brake rotors that wear much faster but not so much asbestos floating around in the air.</p>
<p>Tires - Due to the demands of drivers, especially those wanting better handling, there’s a large variation in the types of tires available from sticky road-hugging but quick-wearing tires to long lasting tires that won’t stick to the road quite as well. They’re selling some of the small cars based on ‘performance’ now where they used to sell them on ‘economy’. One of the greatest factors in a car’s handling is the tires. Make sure you buy what you want. </p>
<p>Appliances - Pay for quality - not bells and whistles. One can still buy a major appliance for the same price today that they might have paid 20 years ago but obviously that’s likely to be a lower quality appliance. The problem is that a high price doesn’t ensure quality either. </p>
<p>I drive an old car daily (a 1966 Mustang) and it’s reliable but my 1998 Dodge with about 145K miles has been reliable as well yet it’s components are far more complex than those in the Mustang.</p>
<p>Remember old cars that had trouble with cold starts, needed the carbureter rebuilt every now and then, needed the points adjusted, needed the spark plugs replaced every 12K miles as opposed to some cars that go 100K miles between plug changes?</p>
<p>Remember old TVs that would frequently have vacuum tubes go out and a TV service person had to fix those and other issues? Now it’s rare for a TV to have an issue and usually when it does it’s very old and time to replace anyway and modern TVs have far more features than the old ones.</p>
<p>We also have a number of ‘throw-away’ items that are just so cheap now that it’s not worth trying to fix them. Of course when we go out to buy a new one we don’t want to spend much money so we’re not going to get a bullet-proof model. Those old Ma Bell phones were very rugged but can you remember what you used to pay for them - you couldn’t even buy them - you had to rent them ad-infinitum and actually paid for the phone many times over.</p>
<p>Our cars are much more reliable than the cars I grew up with. My dad was very mechanical, but he was in the garage all the time, “tuning up” the carbeurator (remember those), fixing odds and ends that always went wrong with the cars… and I still occasionally had to call him when the car did something funky while I was driving.</p>
<p>Now we have a 12 year old Explorer that has only had routine maintenence (oil change, brakes, etc) and a couple of thermostat problems in 120k miles. And 2 Camrys that will probably outlive us. Plus our new cars have air bags, anti-roll, anti-lock breaks… and my favorite feature, heated seats. </p>
<p>I drove my '99 Plymoth Voyager for 158,000 miles.
I still have my original clothes drier, purchased in 1986. In 1997 the heat unit was replaced and it’s still going strong. It has a larger capacity than todays “Large capacity” driers. The guy who serviced my washer six months ago told me that my drier was of a much better quality than anything I could buy today.
My DH is still going strong after 21 years. He’s a keeper!</p>
<p>My old washer/dryer came with the house, we lived there 10 years and left it for the next owners. The new dryer broke about two days after the five year extended warranty. </p>
<p>The new stove also broke. Some %^*& computer part that ran the timer. It cost around $500 to replace and would have cost hundreds more to replace the broiler which also went. </p>
<p>My Ford van was nothing but trouble. Little things mostly, but annoying. (Like doors that wouldn’t lock.) It got smooshed when someone rearended me and I am now happily driving a Toyota again.</p>
<p>My Chevy Suburban has almost 160,000 miles on it with only scheduled maintenance (oil changes, etc.) and I am not the best at sticking to the schedule. I haven’t even replaced the brake pads yet, but will need to soon.</p>
<p>My first washer and dryer were hand me downs of the avacado green variety. They were about 25 years old when we left them, still working fine, at our old house. We are on our third set in the past 14 years.</p>
<p>Most of the things in our house ; heat pump, roof, dishwasher, washer and dryer, are all over 20 years old. We know everything is going to start going one by one. Our cars are varied ages with the oldest being 15 years old, and my husbands motorcyle topping them all at 32 but we get to call that a classic! My husband is a Mr. fix it though and he’s good at keeping everything running. I’m definately keeping him!</p>