A new survey has found that certain appliances and brands are more likely to break, but the question is, is it better to repair or replace them when they break down?
Repairman Anthony Attanasio tells clients that when an appliance breaks down, don't rush out to buy a new one because a simple repair may do.
But it's not always easy to know when to repair something. Consumer Reports National Research Center surveyed more than 27,000 subscribers who had repair problems, including appliances, to find out if you should repair it or replace it.
"While most of the products we asked about don't break too easily, when things do go wrong, they can go horribly wrong," said Dan Diclerico of Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports found with three-to-four-year-old appliances, one of the most repair-prone is a side-by-side refrigerator with an icemaker. One in three needed repairs.
Front-loading washing machines are also more likely than top-loaders to break down. One in four needed repairs.
And Consumer Reports finds you can't go by brand alone, either.
GE has made very reliable cooking appliances, but its refrigerators with icemakers are prone to breaking down. LG has made reliable plasma TV's and clothes dryers, but not side-by-side refrigerators.
"If you're trying to safeguard against your appliances breaking down, an extended warranty may sound like a good solution. But in our experiences, they have generally not been worth it," said Diclerico.
So when should you repair, and when should you replace?
"It depends on the product and how old it is. But here's a rule of thumb: if the repair will cost more than half the price of a new product, it's time to replace it," added Diclerico.
Here's a closer look at the repair rate for major appliances:
Side by side refrigerators with icemakers have a 36 per cent repair rate. Compare that to fridges with no icemaker, which break down 15 per cent of the time. Dryers have a 12 per cent repair rate. When it comes to washing machines, the front loading ones break down more often with a repair rate of 25 per cent, while the top loading models break down twenty per cent of the time.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lynda Steele