I've had issues with chest freezers and fridges because I use them in an unintended way. For fridges, I use them for fermenting beer with an external temperature controller. It causes a lot of issues because it cycles the compressor too much. I used to use a chest freezer as my kegerator, but it ran into the same problem because I had to modify it to run at 40 degrees instead of sub-zero temps. And it was coupled with the fact that it was in a roasting hot garage during the summer rather than in an environmentally controlled house.
So I've gone through a few. I now use a convertible fridge/freezer for the kegerator that is DESIGNED to run at fridge temps, and I bought that new instead of from Craigslist, so I expect that to last a while. I still use a fridge in the garage for fermenting, but those are cheap off craigslist until they die.