The Porch, y'all. pull up a seat and kick back.

[Drew4UTk]

i just bought one last week... a Bosch Ascenta... so far so good- it is almost silent- like, really really quiet.  wife says it takes care of the dishes too...

on an aside- she bought new dishes... apparently, dishes need to match cabinets, which should match the counters and then the floors and we'd be remiss to forget appliances!!! ... so... cabinets were painted, appliances installed, i spent all Sunday knocking out ceramic tile it took me a month and a half to install working on after work and weekends ten or so years ago, granite counters this week and floors next..... all because of.... wait for it....... dishes.

If your wife buys new dishes, make sure they match your kitchen.  for the love of God, less than $200 worth of dishes on sale from TJMaxx just cost me over $10k......

[CharleyHorse46]

I remember my parents owned cars and appliances and lawn equipment that lasted forever.   Or maybe I was just a little kid and six years seemed like forever.

All I know is nothing seems to last forever anymore.  It seems like I've bought a new weedeater every year I've been married.

My wife and I put all new appliances in our home when we bought it in 2005.  We've had the stove/oven repaired once, the refrigerator repaired three or four times, we've replaced the microwave twice and dishwasher four times.

After replacing it with new models three times, I looked on Craigslist for the fourth replacement.  I figure why spend $300 or more for a new one when I can get one for $50 that will probably last just as long.

Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that life ain't fair and it's going to suck in some ways.

[CharleyHorse46]

Just recently my wife broke one of the little roller wheels so I jimmy-rigged it, but we've been satisfied.

Nice.  That's what I'm talking about.

[Drew4UTk]

"engineered to fail" ain't no accident, though... it's robbery.  Yeah, I recall gramma having a 'fridge with one of things atop it looking like a tub of some sort... thing wouldn't die.  same with her clothes washer- swap a belt ever-so-often and it would still be around (except by the time she passed people were color coordinating freakin' wash rooms, and it had no place).  If there weren't so much jacked up shit going on in the world politically and such, "engineered to fail" and "planned obsolescence" would be my #1 gripe... TV's lasting for three years... major appliances for 7... cars getting far greater mileage but critical plastic parts failing @ 5~7 years.... seriously, a plastic intake manifold?

i worked on a particular family of sensors the military uses... they are made in Europe... we received some from across the pond once that didn't pass through the company office in the US, and I fielded them... when one crapped out I pulled the data and noticed several applications aboard them that didn't exist on the ones we got from stateside... the applications were diagnostics- which meant i cold now do what we were paying people $800 each for JUST TO DIAGNOSE... then, I stumbled upon a script that had the devices failing at timed intervals- which correlated to intervals I'd been tracking in my service database... the reason for failing? so I would have to send it to them to collect environmental data... and they'd flip a switch to restore function.. which cost us $800 in 'diagnostics', and another $1k in service fees for performing the 'fix'.... all to make more money.  and we paid it... even though i made them aware. 

[longhorn320]

We have a stainless steel Bosch and have been very happy with it

[utee94]

"engineered to fail" ain't no accident, though... it's robbery.  Yeah, I recall gramma having a 'fridge with one of things atop it looking like a tub of some sort... thing wouldn't die.  same with her clothes washer- swap a belt ever-so-often and it would still be around (except by the time she passed people were color coordinating freakin' wash rooms, and it had no place).  If there weren't so much jacked up shit going on in the world politically and such, "engineered to fail" and "planned obsolescence" would be my #1 gripe... TV's lasting for three years... major appliances for 7... cars getting far greater mileage but critical plastic parts failing @ 5~7 years.... seriously, a plastic intake manifold?

i worked on a particular family of sensors the military uses... they are made in Europe... we received some from across the pond once that didn't pass through the company office in the US, and I fielded them... when one crapped out I pulled the data and noticed several applications aboard them that didn't exist on the ones we got from stateside... the applications were diagnostics- which meant i cold now do what we were paying people $800 each for JUST TO DIAGNOSE... then, I stumbled upon a script that had the devices failing at timed intervals- which correlated to intervals I'd been tracking in my service database... the reason for failing? so I would have to send it to them to collect environmental data... and they'd flip a switch to restore function.. which cost us $800 in 'diagnostics', and another $1k in service fees for performing the 'fix'.... all to make more money.  and we paid it... even though i made them aware.

I'm completely with you on the first paragraph.
I'm shocked on the second paragraph.  That seems to be near-criminal.  Not all that different from Volkswagen tweaking their sensor levels in their system's firmware to lie about emissions data.

[Drew4UTk]

i was told under no uncertain terms to STFU and 'foghetabouit'- else i could find somewhere else to work.  and friend, that's just the tip of the iceberg.  i almost got fired once for 'talking the gov't' into buying an item that cost $175k and would meet the mandates for next 7 years instead of the counter item that cost over $4M and would need to be replaced in three years as it didn't meet the security mandates expected 3 years out... why? because the contractor (my company) would miss the middle man surcharge of 30% profit built in........ and here i thought i was doing a good thing. i could describe many more situations like that too.  it's stupefying...  

[utee94]

In high school I purchased and drove a 1986 Chrysler Laser XT Turbo that I absolutely loved.  It was black with black leather interior, a tint so dark it'd get you arrested these days, and it was sporty and quick enough.  Chryslers at the time had plenty of quality issues, but my Laser ran beautifully and never had any problems.

Except for one.

You see, the radiator was made of metal edging bonded to a plastic core.  And after just a couple of years, sure enough, that plastic core started cracking away from the metal edges.  

But not to worry, for at the tender young age of seventeen, I had already discovered the magic and majesty of JB Weld.  That crappy radiator would spring a leak, and I'd weld it right back up.  A couple months later, another leak, and more JB Weld to the rescue.  Over the next four years, I'd repaired it so many times I have no doubt that radiator was made up of far more JB Weld than original plastic.  But I'd kept it running, and that's what matters.

Screw you, Chrysler Corp and your planned obsolescence.  I defy you.

[Drew4UTk]

i bought a 89 cutlass supreme w/20k miles on it in 91, while a young Marine... i looked at one that had 60k miles on it and was a lot cheaper. the lady owning that one sat beside me on the test drive, and when i got it to highway speeds it started shuddering and miss firing... she looked at me and said "nobody can tell me what's wrong with it"... I obviously passed on the car. 

a couple years passed with my driving that hunk of junk, and i crossed 60k miles on I95 just south of DC heading back to base at Quantico- as SOON as i passed 60k miles it started coughing and sputtering just like her's was doing... and nobody could determine why.. .i'm not an idiot when it comes to cars- and it baffled me until the day i traded out of it.  i've owned one gm vehicle since- a 93 silverado i drove until 327k miles with only expected issues for a truck that age- my father put another 5 on it over the next 10 years, using it only when he needed a truck- it ran fine when he did the 'cash for clunkers' thing... you'd never coerce me into owning a gm with a build date post 95 and OBDII- there are land mines galore programmed into them.  same with dodge and ford too, though, just not to the extent.  it's NOT that they've 'forgotten how to make things', it's that they've learned 'if you build it too good, we won't get paid next year'. 

[MikeDeTiger]

My grandma had a Kitchen Aid dishwasher for 47 years.  It just bit the dust last Christmas, with never a faulty day once in my lifetime.  My uncle and I put a new one in for her...it's noiseless, so that's nice, but I count the days until she tells me it's croaked.  

Washers and dryers are the worst.  Those things could easily last generations, but they don't.  

I think I've mentioned this here years ago....a friend of mine from Austin who is a mechanical engineer told me once that the capability exists to make cars that last 35-40 years with only minimal routine maintenance (no major breakdowns), for about the same cost as what they're making now, but that there's not a manufacturer in the world who will touch such a build, for obvious reasons.  

It is one of the more infuriating things about our society.  

[Thumper]

I ride a Suzuki DR650 motorcycle.  It is a 2000 model which is kind of irrelevant since it hasn't changed since 1996 and the 2018 models are the same.  It is dirt simple, carbureted, air/oil cooled, no electronics except the ignition. It is the most common bike for people who ride "Round the World" since it doesn't break and used parts are plentiful almost everywhere.
I don't know how much longer new ones will be made, it was discontinued in Europe some years ago because of emissions.  Still, the old thumpers will be around look after new ones are no longer made.

[RockChalk7598]

Sounds like I really need to get a KitchenAid. Wow!

I currently have a Samsung unit in stainless steel that came with the house I bought two years ago. This model is about a decade old, I believe, and when we moved in it was great because it was better than any DW I've ever had--quiet, cleaned well, and has a "sanitize" function. About 6 months ago, we started getting a blinking error code a few minutes into the cycle. "Over water level" error, the manual said. I could restart the washer on "quick" cycle and it was fine. I got in there and took the spinner arm off, cleaned some stuff out of it, and put it back together. Also, we had some slow drain issues in the sink so snaked that out too. All was good again. For a while. Now I'm seeing the error again, and more frequently. I've been researching online about this model. It's pretty much a 1 or 2-star rating anywhere you look. GREAT!

So, long story short--NOT A FAN of Samsung dishwashers right now.

I'll cosign on KitchenAid--I have a friend who owns one - can't recall what model but she got it 2 years ago and she loves it. No issues, dishes sparkly clean every time. Been eyeballing it every time I see it now, so that may be the way to go.

[CharleyHorse46]

Blinking error codes.

The first hooked index finger of the grim reaper, beckoning your appliance to just give up, step aside and make room for more capitalism.

[847badgerfan]

KitchenAid ain't what it once was fellers.

I went there about 10 years ago, and then about 8 years ago a bought a Bosch. I'm not looking back.

The former is fine for stand mixers and food processors. Not so much for large stuff anymore.