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Old 02-14-2023, 12:10 PM
 
23,559 posts, read 70,077,656 times
Reputation: 49066

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Quote:
Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda View Post
That's nonsense. You don't think that if a someone, be s/he "older," younger, or somewhere in between, goes to a large nationwide chain store such as Best Buy, Lowe's, or Home Depot looking to buy an appliance, that they won't find a plethora of "mid-range affordable" options available on the showroom floor? Of course they will. They'll find everything from the most basic model to models with the most bells & whistles. It's ludicrous to think that stores are keeping lower-end models a secret from their shoppers.

In fact, this entire thread is nonsensical. Did I wander into the Frugal Living Forum or the Jealous Living Forum?
BS. I go into Lowes and Home Depot regularly and do wander the appliance aisles from time to time. "Mid-range affordable" is a non-sequitur. At midrange, the price is not affordable the way it used to be. The lower cost items have been jacked up in price to the midrange level.

The price creep on appliances and mechanicals has been going on for quite a while. The HVAC that came with my house was affordable, worked well, and (touch wood) still works well. When I had an issue and looked into the price of new ones, one of the techs told me to "look out, the new ones are probably only second to an automobile as the most expensive depreciable item you will ever buy.'

With each buyout of a manufacturer that is struggling there is the added cost of capital for that buyout. That cost ends up reflected in the cost of goods, along with a stockholder requirement for continuing increasing profits. It is simply the way capitalism works at certain times in the lifespan of a business.

Any "new" appliance I get these days will be used. I went that way with automobiles back forty years ago and have never regretted having that extra money from my labor staying out of the hands of those who want me to part with it so they can buy that fifth vacation home.

 
Old 02-14-2023, 12:15 PM
 
3,935 posts, read 2,119,630 times
Reputation: 9996
Quote:
Originally Posted by selhars View Post
I shake my head sometimes.

5K and up....for a refrigerator?
1.5K and up for a dishwasher?
2K -- and up -- for a stove?

Oh, and washers and dryers. 1k each!

I don't usually by THE cheapest thing available. But those prices are out of my range for sure.
But if people can afford it. God, bless them.
People spend thousands on kitchen cabinets that will hold plastic Tupperware sometimes or some snacks and chips.

The appliances you mentioned have to work hard every day. In case of the fridge - 24/7/365.
Get the reliable ones with the features you need.

If you happy with the simpler basic appliances - more power to you for saving your money.

People want what they want. One can still buy $500 fridge
 
Old 02-14-2023, 12:25 PM
 
2,251 posts, read 994,053 times
Reputation: 3219
Quote:
Originally Posted by moguldreamer View Post
Architecture is art. Yeah, a modern large Sub-Zero refrigerator is going to run $10K, and another $10K for the freezer, but a white Whirlpool from the Dent'N'Save just isn't going to look right, architecturally speaking, in higher-end houses, such as here or here or here.









Yeah....I noticed those bright red knobs in two of the photos....Wolf gas ranges....(red knobs = Wolf)
Lots of high end kitchens have them ...almost a must have these days.

A Wolf range can easily cost more than all my kitchen appliances combined....

I purchased my appliances 9 years ago ....a package deal ....for $3000
they are Frigidaire Gallery in smudge proof stainless steel....
they look good and are still functioning....knock on wood...
I worry about that, as appliances don't seem to last as long as in old days....
my parents had a fridge that lasted 30 plus years!
 
Old 02-14-2023, 12:29 PM
 
Location: North Carolina
3,013 posts, read 1,979,747 times
Reputation: 11208
I was shocked at prices for new stove top/oven at Home Depot because we last bought one 3 years ago when selling our home and replaced the stove/oven. Current stove, which I cook every dinner on/in is a bad appliance, 2 front burners do not regulate heat level, choices are nuclear heat or baby heat.

I wish I trusted repair people, had so many that could not fix appliances but billed us anyway.
Quit looking for a new stove because Home Depot is back-ordered to May for the model we like.
Rock and a hard place but have learned to manage nuclear cooking haha.
 
Old 02-14-2023, 12:55 PM
 
11,411 posts, read 7,752,105 times
Reputation: 21922
Quote:
Originally Posted by oceangaia View Post
Exactly. I would break this issue down into two parts - those for whom an expensive appliance is a big deal and a major purchase, and those for whom it is trivial. A person making $50k that buys a $5k fridge sounds like one that has a poor sense of "value" or is trying to show off (which either way is their right) but a person making $500k doesn't need to waste time on it. They can get the fridge they like the best for whatever reason (color, style of handles, etc.) and move on. It isn't going to mean skipping their vacation to Europe or getting the lower trim level of a new car.
Yep. I’d rather have a nice fridge than a new car or expensive jewelry. That, I’m sure, makes no sense to some but it does to me. To each their own. Why some people try and shame others for their choices is beyond me.
 
Old 02-14-2023, 02:00 PM
 
Location: Mr. Roger's Neighborhood
4,087 posts, read 2,532,614 times
Reputation: 12489
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda View Post
That's nonsense. You don't think that if a someone, be s/he "older," younger, or somewhere in between, goes to a large nationwide chain store such as Best Buy, Lowe's, or Home Depot looking to buy an appliance, that they won't find a plethora of "mid-range affordable" options available on the showroom floor? Of course they will. They'll find everything from the most basic model to models with the most bells & whistles. It's ludicrous to think that stores are keeping lower-end models a secret from their shoppers.

In fact, this entire thread is nonsensical. Did I wander into the Frugal Living Forum or the Jealous Living Forum?
Agreed. I remember going with my mother to purchase a new range after her thirty-something-year-old range finally gave up the ghost on Christmas Day, 2021. She had no problem finding the basic ceramic top range that she wanted to have at either the independent appliance store where she'd bought her (basic) dryer and (also basic) refrigerator or at her local Lowe's where she ended up purchasing her new range. In neither store were the basic ranges hidden away in favor of higher end models, but I wonder if product placement and items that are kept in stock vary according to region as where mom lives isn't exactly a place that abounds with high-end housing stock.

That being said, sometimes you do get what you pay for. Several years ago, I bought a Speed Queen washer (mechanical controls, white--pretty basic, but SQ is known for long-term reliability and doing the job that it's supposed to do well). At the time, it cost just under eight hundred dollars; the same washer today costs well over a grand. I would have bought the dryer, too, but I ended up finding a second-hand nearly new SQ dryer for a couple hundred dollars, which was an excellent deal. To me, it was worth spending the money for a machine that should last me decades so long as it's well-cared for.

I don't begrudge people buying spend-y appliances, but I sometimes wonder at the "whys" of certain features. *shrugs*

Last edited by Formerly Known As Twenty; 02-14-2023 at 02:19 PM..
 
Old 02-14-2023, 03:28 PM
 
23,177 posts, read 12,106,547 times
Reputation: 29347
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea View Post
BS. I go into Lowes and Home Depot regularly and do wander the appliance aisles from time to time. "Mid-range affordable" is a non-sequitur. At midrange, the price is not affordable the way it used to be. The lower cost items have been jacked up in price to the midrange level.

The price creep on appliances and mechanicals has been going on for quite a while. T
The price creep on EVERYTHING has been going on for quite a while. You sound like an older person who has set in their mind what things are "supposed to cost" based on what you remember them costing.
 
Old 02-14-2023, 03:33 PM
 
10,597 posts, read 12,040,198 times
Reputation: 16753
Quote:
Originally Posted by MadManofBethesda View Post
.....

In fact, this entire thread is nonsensical. Did I wander into the Frugal Living Forum or the Jealous Living Forum?
Speaking only for myself....jealous? Uh, not hardly.

I find it interesting that you'd think the comments about not spending 5K on a refrigerator or 2.5K on a stove -- which you've read on, heaven forbid, a frugality thread -- are motivated by jealousy....and not just because people who are frugal might tend to think that kind of spending is excessive.
 
Old 02-14-2023, 04:05 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,139 posts, read 56,841,082 times
Reputation: 18420
Quote:
Originally Posted by moguldreamer View Post
One of the features of most Sub-Zero refrigerator/freezer combination units is they have 2 separate compressors - one for the refrigerator, and one for the freezer. Most other brands of refrigerator/freezer units only have a single compressor.

What's the advantage of separate compressors? I suppose it might be that if the fridge compressor fails, you don't lose the food in the freezer and vice-versa. But it does provide two points separate potential points of failure rather than one.

And replacing a Sub-Zero compressor might be 4x the price of replacing the compressor in, say, a GE Monogram unit. (Ask me how I know).
Not saying it's necessarily worth the additional expense and complication, but most single compressor refrigerator-freezers will keep good temperature control in one or the other chamber, but not both, if your house is unusually cool or warm inside. My old GE from the 80s will let the freezer compartment warm up if the house is cool, say down in the 50s because for example I was out on vacation, but the spring weather was warm enough that I was not worried about freezing any pipes and at that time didn't have any pets in the house...a Sub-Zero would probably keep both chambers at setpoint until you got into some really unusual indoor temperatures.

But, yeah, I prefer simple old US built refrigerators that are low on bells and whistles, but long on reliability. I bought the above-mentioned GE from my favorite used appliance guy for $200 + tax in 2007. It has not missed a beat yet.
 
Old 02-14-2023, 04:07 PM
 
Location: Kansas City North
6,801 posts, read 11,448,371 times
Reputation: 17024
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lodestar 77 View Post
Please (to the manufactures/marketers). A "sound package"??? I never heard of such a thing until I started looking online at dishwashers. I NEVER had a problem with the noise where one could not hear the TV or a visitor when my dishwasher was running. When did this become an issue? So now this is a new, trendy thing for today's buyers. Trendy equals pricier.......

I also saw that on all the different sites for dishwasher information. the numbers used to buy the quietest to the loudest varied among them all. Since the term used in noise level is dB (for decimals, I am guessing) I didn't know 44 to 54, or 30 something loudness anyway. I purchased without hearing what decimal my dishwasher was and it is fine........
My current and previous house have open floor plans. A builder grade dishwasher is going to be too loud to comfortably watch TV. I ended up replacing it in my previous house with an ultra quiet 39db Kenmore and chose another 39db for our current home, which we had built.

Now what I did find amusing was an acquaintance of mine remodeled her kitchen and put in some Wulf (sp?) lookalike range in. Much more expensive than any conventional style. Problem is, she never cooks and eats out 7 days a week.

Not all new appliances are junk, or maybe I’m just lucky. I have a front load LG laundry pair now 14 years old. One washer repair - new door gasket. No repairs on the dryer.
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