Repair or replace,
including when we say replace.
A repair company answering this has an obvious conflict, so here is the version worth reading: the machines and the faults where buying a new one is the better spend, said plainly, alongside the ones where replacing something with years left in it would be a waste.
Half the price of a new one
The rule people arrive with is that a repair costing more than half the price of a new machine is not worth doing. It is a reasonable starting point and it goes wrong in two directions. It sends people to replace a built-in that would cost eight thousand and cabinetry work to swap, and it sends them to repair a bargain machine whose next fault is already forming. What matters more than the percentage is which part failed, how old the machine is, and whether the rest of it has years left.
Where the line actually sits
Refrigerator
A sealed-system fault on a freestanding machine past about eight years. The repair approaches the price of a new one and the new one comes with a warranty. On a built-in the answer usually flips the other way — replacement means cabinetry work, so a sealed-system repair on a Sub-Zero is often still the sensible spend.
Washer
A tub bearing on a machine past seven or eight years, unless it is a Miele or a commercial-grade Speed Queen where the rest of the machine has years left. Below that age a bearing is usually still worth doing.
Dryer
Rarely, honestly. A dryer is a motor, a drum, a heater and a duct, and all four are cheap to put right. The case for replacing is a control board on a machine already past twelve years — and even then, check the vent first, because a restricted duct is what killed the last three parts.
Dishwasher
A wash motor on a mainstream machine past eight years. On a Bosch, Miele or panel-ready unit the sum changes — the replacement has to be fitted into an existing cabinet opening and matched to an existing panel, which is not a like-for-like price.
Oven & Range
A control board that is no longer available. That is genuinely the deciding factor on ovens rather than age — the cavity, the elements and the burners outlast the electronics by a decade, and a professional range is worth repairing well past the point where a mainstream one is not.
Freezer
A sealed-system fault on a chest or upright freezer that was inexpensive to begin with. On a built-in column the calculation is the same as a Sub-Zero refrigerator column — replacement means cabinetry, so the repair usually wins.
Microwave
A magnetron on a countertop machine, almost always — the part and the labour exceed a new one. On a built-in or over-range unit fitted into cabinetry the answer is often the opposite, because replacing means matching a size and a trim kit.
Garbage Disposal
When the motor has gone or the body is leaking. These are not built to be rebuilt, and we will say so rather than charge for opening one up.
Brand, and where it is fitted
Some machines are built to be repaired
Miele designs to a twenty-year service life and Sub-Zero built-ins were made to be opened. On those, a repair at fifteen years is often money well spent where the same age on a bargain machine would not be. The percentage rule gives the wrong answer on both.
A built-in is not a like-for-like swap
Replacing a freestanding machine means delivery. Replacing a built-in column, a panel-ready dishwasher or an over-range microwave means matching a size, a trim kit or a custom panel — and sometimes cabinetry work. That is why an expensive repair on a built-in frequently still wins.
And the one nobody mentions
Several manufacturers run long sealed-system warranties — ten years on Samsung and LG compressors, through their own networks. If that is your fault, the answer is neither repair nor replace: it is call the manufacturer. We say so on the phone rather than take the job, because a compressor we fit is a warranty you no longer have.
None of this replaces looking at the machine. What it should do is tell you which conversation you are about to have — and if it is one where replacing is obviously better, you have saved yourself a call.
What each repair actually costs