But these products - dishwashers, ovens, clothes washers - are all fragile today due to their electronics. Touch pads, microcontrollers, ribbon cables, tons of small plastic components. None of these things are made to last 50 years and none of them will be available as replacement parts in the long term.
I've had many over the past 20 years and almost all have failed do to "the board" going "bad", according to the repair techs. Company policy is always to replace the board, and it always is 60% of the cost of a new one, and will take 3 weeks to get, so you end up just buying a new one because you can get it installed in a day or so. And hey, new features, too.
Local independent shops won't fix a blown capacitor or whatever the electronics issue is - they order the parts online. I repaired my oven once - the touchpad keys stopped responding, and I seriously doubt that in 10, 20, or 50 years that particular part will be available.
The fact is that simple devices are more reliable, and could be built again, to last, but people seem to buy for features. We like sensors in our dryers, for instance, and the new ones are more efficient and better in many ways. Just not built to last or be repairable.
I've had many over the past 20 years and almost all have failed do to "the board" going "bad", according to the repair techs. Company policy is always to replace the board, and it always is 60% of the cost of a new one, and will take 3 weeks to get, so you end up just buying a new one because you can get it installed in a day or so. And hey, new features, too.
Local independent shops won't fix a blown capacitor or whatever the electronics issue is - they order the parts online. I repaired my oven once - the touchpad keys stopped responding, and I seriously doubt that in 10, 20, or 50 years that particular part will be available.
The fact is that simple devices are more reliable, and could be built again, to last, but people seem to buy for features. We like sensors in our dryers, for instance, and the new ones are more efficient and better in many ways. Just not built to last or be repairable.