Re:EU brings in 'right to repair' rules for appliances
by NeedMoreTea on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @07:13AM
(#21124094)
Expensive models are made on the same production line, usually owned by the same group multinational that makes the cheap and mid-range brands. The factory, knowledge and workers who made the premium one when it was independent are now gone. It's exactly as you say. Even the vanishingly few properly independent premium brands have come markedly downmarket quality wise, by using the same techniques.
In the 80s and 90s the distinction and spread across the market was real. The buyouts and takeovers hadn't consolidated into just a few mega groups. The expensive fridge or washing machine was built, and lasted very differently.
Now we have Samsung et al building £1,500 premium fridge freezers and £800 washing machines that are just as unrepairable as the cheap crap.
It goes far wider than just appliances though.
Re:EU brings in 'right to repair' rules for appliances
by adamlett on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @08:00AM
(#21124339)
Between anecdotal evidence from your mechanic(s) as recounted by you and this article[1] which contains actual hard numbers, I find the latter to be the most convincing. Which is not to say I doubt that what you recount has been yours or your mechanics' experience, but simply to say that there are all kinds of reasons why those experiences might not signify the true state of affairs.
If I were you, I would rely less on my mechanic to recommend me a product, and more on something like Consumer Report, which has a much more methodical and rigorous approach to assessing and comparing the quality of the products they test.
[1] https://blog.yaleappliance.com/most-reliable-front-load-wash...
Re:EU brings in 'right to repair' rules for appliances
by anticensor on Tuesday October 01, 2019 @04:14PM
(#21130056)
Washing machines have an extra cheap line too (the bottom model of a make), which is tooled even cheaper than standard line (whereas regular stock uses 10k RPM four-pole induction or 1500 RPM four-pole synchronous motors, 600 RPM spin model of the same brand uses 3600 RPM six-pole asynchronous motors). Dishwashers have no such extra-cheap lines.
When I was born, my parents had a hoover twin-tub. It was still working 20 years later when I left home.
The first washing machine I bought lasted twelve years (the control panel had to be replaced once). I think I eventually replaced it because I had moved house, and it didn't fir in the new kitchen. Nowadays it doesn't seem to be possible to buy dishwashers and washing machines that last longer than 4 years. I threw out my "old" dishwasher after just one year; it had broken down 5 times since I bought it brand-new, each time for the same reason: failed heater. Each time I had to wait several weeks for the mechanic to show (manufacturer's warranty, contracted out to a service company). Each time, I asked the mechanic if he could recommend a make/model that would be more reliable. And each time I was told that I might as well buy a cheap one, they all break down as quickly as one another.
These mechanics are seeing what I am seeing: machines that break down much sooner than they used to 15 years ago. Well, that's a market failure; it's what government regulation was invented for.