Fix a 9 year old washer or just replace it?

I always lean toward getting a repair bloke out first, even if the machine is pushing ten years. My old Maytag, which I had for twelve years, started having drainage issues—not completly dead, but constantly struggling with the drain pump. I thougt it was time for a new unit, but a local repair guy quoted me about $350 to replace the pump and check the internal hoses. It felt like a lot, but since the machine was otherwise running fine and the base was solid, I decided to bite the bullet. The pump replacement took a couple of hours, and after the work, the machine ran like new. It wasn't a magical fix, but it solved the persistent issue. I figured that if the core components and the tub were still solid, it was cheaper and better for the enviroment to fix it rather than tossing an otherwise decent machine.

If you're facing something major like a circuit board failure, obviously, you need to consider replacing it. But for mechanical stuff—a belt, a pump, some leveling issues—you have to see what the quote is. If the fix is under 30% of the cost of a brand new equivalent model, I say go for the repair. It's about extending its useful life, not just dumping it because it's old.

I'd be replacing it, honestly. I nursed our old washer for about a year with the same sort of behaviour, cutting cycles short and needing me to shuffle the load around so it would balance. Spent maybe $200 on two call-outs over that stretch and it still died in the end with a full nappy load soaking in the tub. That money would have gone nicely toward the new one. The humming-but-not-spinning thing on an older machine usually points to something like a clutch or motor issue, and that's not a cheap fix on a machine pushing a decade. Even if the repair bloke sorts it, you're rolling the dice on the next thing going, and parts for older units get harder to find.

We ended up with a mid-range Bosch front loader about three years back and it's been faultless. Uses way less water than the old top loader too, our tank levels dropped noticeably slower over summer. I thought I'd miss the agitator but the front loader actually gets towels cleaner.

The 'they don't build them like they used to' thing is half true, but a basic machine from a decent brand with simple controls tends to outlast all the fancy wifi ones. Skip the gimmicks, get something plain, and I reckon you'll be fine.

Not sold on that 30 percent rule of thumb, it sounds tidy but it ignores the age of the machine. A $350 fix on a 3 year old washer makes sense, the same fix on a 9 or 10 year old one is dicey because once the pump goes, the bearings and the rest aren't far behind. You end up paying piecemeal for a machine that's allready past its best years. I'd want the repair guy to give an honest read on the whole thing before committing, not just quote the one part.

Before you pay anyone to come out, check the lid switch. Mine did the exact humming-and-refusing thing and a mate lent me his multimeter, two minutes of testing showed the switch was dead. Twenty dollar part, swapped it myself in ten minutes, machine kept going another three years. On a ten year old top loader that's ussually the first suspect for a skipped spin. Might not be your whole problem, but it costs you nothing to have a look before you ring a repair bloke or start shopping.