Planned obsolesence ...

I like to tinker with things, so when I saw an ad on craigslist for a front load washer with "a leak" for $20, I figure, what the hell. If I can make it work, it's a hell of a deal. And if not, well, I'll only be $20 out. The seller even delivered it so after breaking my back dragging the thing in the basement, I ran it and sure enough, it had a leak. The leak was caused by a gaping hole in the plastic tub that holds the drum. That could be glued back, but it was obviously a sign of something else gone bad.

So, I took the whole thing apart and I found the problem. The "spider", the support that holds the stainless steel tub it's all corroded to hell and it broke down. I looked up the issue on the net and it looks like it's a well known issue with a lot of front loading machines, particularly Frigidaire (or Kenmore, which is usually made by Frigidaire). These things have been made like this for years, and they still make them from the same material. So, anywhere between 3 -6 years into using the thing, it will break and during the final spin cycle it will sound like a plane is crashing in your basement (the pictures are not from my washer, as I could not download them from my camera ..., but the damage looks the same, it's just worse. Btw, the pictures are from a 2 year old washer).

What's "funny" is that in the manual they specify that they warrant the inner tube (the one that breaks down) for 25 years. So you say, well, then, they stand behind their product. Uhhh, sure, they warrant the part. Which has to be installed by an authorized Frigidaire technician after the problem is "diagnosed". Since changing the part requires taking the thing apart completely, the diagnosis ($80-$100) + the labor ($300-$400) will likely run you to 75% of the cost of a new one. And of course, it will fail again in 3-6 years. When it fails it may take other parts with it, as now you have a 20 lbs broken metal thing spinning at 1000 rpm. You would have to pay for thouse, as they are not in warranty after 1 or 2 years. I need to buy me some Frigidaire shares ...

So, enjoy your front load washer and the day you have it installed, start a savings account for the next one you'll be buying in a few years. I only paid $20 for mine, and I will try to fix it with some braces and epoxy, and I may get a few years out of it, but I cannot even imagine how pissed I would've been if I had paid full price for this piece of crap.

Here are a few other accounts :

http://applianceblog.com/mainforums/showthread.php?p=41570

http://www.complaints.com/2006/november/18/Problem__Sears_-_Kenmore_Front_Load_Washer__the_inn_3485.htm

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/223/ripoff0223931.htm