Repair it or replace it?
The honest version, including the times we tell people not to give us the job.
The most useful rule of thumb is the 50 per cent rule: if a repair costs more than half the price of a comparable new appliance, replacement is usually the better decision. Our side of that sum never moves — a £90 call-out covering the visit, the diagnosis and the labour, with the part quoted for your approval on top — so the question is simply whether £90 plus that part comes to more than half the cost of a replacement. On a machine that would cost £400 to replace, a drain pump or a heating element is easy arithmetic. A main control board on the same machine is not, particularly if the appliance already has years of hard use behind it. The rule is not gospel, though, and it works best when you weigh it against how old the appliance is and how well the rest of it has held up. Age thresholds give you the second half of the picture. As a general guide, washing machines and dishwashers have a typical working life of around 8 to 11 years, tumble dryers around 10 to 13, fridges and freezers around 12 to 15, and built-in ovens frequently 15 or more because they contain fewer moving parts and no pump. A five year old dishwasher with a failed heating element is worth repairing without much hesitation. A twelve year old one with the same fault, where the door seal is perishing and the spray arm is scaled solid, is telling you something about the year ahead rather than just about today. In a very hard water area like Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, where supply commonly measures 280 to 320 mg/l, machines that have never been descaled tend to reach that tipping point earlier than the averages suggest. Parts availability is the factor most people never consider until it bites. Under UK ecodesign rules introduced in 2021, manufacturers of washing machines, washer dryers, dishwashers and refrigeration appliances must make key spare parts available for a set period after a model stops being sold, typically seven to ten years depending on the part and the product. That is genuinely good news for repairability, but it also means that once a machine is well past that window, a single unavailable component can end its life regardless of how sound everything else is. This is one of the first things a good engineer should check before quoting, because there is no sense diagnosing a fault that cannot be fixed. There is an environmental argument too, and it is not just sentiment. Producing a new appliance carries a substantial embodied carbon cost, and the UK generates a very large volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment every year, all of which has to be handled under the WEEE regulations. Keeping a serviceable machine running for another three or four years is almost always the lower impact choice. That said, replacement genuinely is right in some cases: a cracked outer drum or a failed sealed refrigeration system, a control board costing more than the machine is worth, an appliance so old that spares have dried up, or a very inefficient old unit running daily where a modern replacement will pay back part of its cost in energy. Our job is to give you the part price, an honest read on the remaining life and enough information to make that call yourself.
The 50% rule
If a repair costs more than half the price of an equivalent new appliance, replacement is usually the better call — unless the machine is a premium model with plenty of life left, or the fault is a one-off rather than the first of several.
Lifespan and replacement cost by appliance
Replacement prices are what these appliances sell for new. Repair cost is the call-out for that appliance plus the part — and the part is quoted for your approval before it is fitted, because what it costs depends entirely on the brand and the component.
| Appliance | Typical working life | New from |
|---|---|---|
| Washing Machines | 8–11 years | £249+ |
| Tumble Dryers | 8–12 years | £229+ |
| Washer Dryers | 6–9 years | £379+ |
| Dishwashers | 8–10 years | £279+ |
| Ovens | 10–15 years | £299+ |
| Cookers | 8–13 years | £279+ |
| Hobs | 10–14 years | £189+ |
| Range Cookers | 12–20 years | £899+ |
| Fridges | 10–14 years | £199+ |
| Freezers | 12–16 years | £189+ |
| Fridge Freezers | 10–14 years | £329+ |
| American Fridge Freezers | 10–15 years | £799+ |
| Microwaves | 7–10 years | £129+ |
| Extractor Hoods | 10–15 years | £149+ |
| Wine Coolers | 8–12 years | £249+ |
When we tell people to replace
- Drum bearings on a budget washing machine over seven years old — the strip-down cost outweighs the machine.
- A failed sealed system or compressor on a cheap fridge freezer.
- A cracked oven cavity or a burnt-out wiring loom on a cooker past its tenth year.
- Anything where the parts are genuinely obsolete and no pattern equivalent exists.
When we tell people to repair
- Almost any fault on a premium brand under eight years old — the build quality justifies it.
- Pumps, elements, thermostats, seals, hinges, PCBs and fan motors on anything reasonably modern.
- Integrated appliances, where replacement means matching the aperture and often the decor door too.
Pick your own slot in the diary — appliance, address and a time that suits you, in about a minute.
Book online (opens in a new tab)or
07849 033758Same-day slots when we have one. Call-out from £90, labour included.
from £90 call-out — that covers the visit, the diagnosis and the labour. Parts are the only extra, quoted for your approval before we fit anything. No hourly rates. 6 months guarantee on parts and labour.
When is an appliance not worth repairing?
As a rule of thumb, when the repair costs more than half the price of an equivalent new machine, or when the appliance is already past its typical lifespan and a second major component is likely to follow. A £180 bearing job on a nine-year-old £250 washing machine rarely makes sense; the same job on a four-year-old Miele almost always does.
How long should a washing machine last?
Eight to eleven years for a mid-range machine used four or five times a week, and longer for premium brands. In hard-water areas like Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, expect the lower end unless the machine is descaled regularly.
Are manufacturers legally required to supply spare parts?
For many appliance categories, yes. UK ecodesign rules require manufacturers to make key spare parts available for a set number of years after a model leaves the market, which is why repairing a recent machine is more realistic than it used to be.
Is repairing better for the environment than replacing?
Almost always. The bulk of an appliance's lifetime carbon cost is in manufacturing it, not running it, so keeping a working machine going another three years beats recycling it and buying new — unless the old one is drastically less efficient.
Want a second opinion before you buy?
We'll tell you straight, even when it costs us the sale.