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Last week I received a text from my renter that the day before the oven started on fire and is trashed.
Per the renter (and apparently the cop that put the fire out) it is because the coils were bad. I never had problems with the stove while I lived there or heard anything from previous renters.
I replaced the stove/oven with a used one. When I stopped by the house on Friday to take photos of the junked oven and check for other damage, the renter started in about how the door slams shut on the "new" oven and she hopes the glass doesn't break. When I looked at it before buying I did not have any problems with the door, and it didn't slam shut on me.
Sunday I received a picture that the door fell off the "new" oven and it is all in pieces.
I am very skeptical that the door just fell off because of "stripped screws on the handle" and am wondering, how many times do I have to replace this oven?
The condition of a old stove today has nothing to do with whether it will break next week. Stoves do not give warning signs when they are about to fail (usually), they just fail. Something like coils burning out is not a gradual provcess you can see coming, they just fail in an instant - bam - fire.
If you want a used stove, buy one that is rebuilt and certified/warranties if you want to ensure it will last. If someone is selling a stove for $50 there is a reason. Either it is just old and nearing the end of its planned lifespan, or there is something wrong with it (often something you cannot discern except by extended use). We had a gas stove/over that the oven would go out unless all the doors and windows int he kitchen were closed and the heat/ac was off. You could test that stove and it may seem fine when you buy it, but a tenant would be unhappy with it almost right away.
If you need to get a discounted stove try a Sears scratch and dent warehouse (full warranty) or an auction selling off new stoves when a company goes out of business (no warranty). If you want to continue trying to save a little money buying old worn out stoves, you are gambling. Sometimes it will pay off and you will get one that is good for years, sometimes it will only alst a few weeks or months. That is the risk you take.
BTW, some utilities offer a warranty on all appliances for about $5 a month extra. We use this and it was very fortunate we did. It has paid off many times over. Most times it is a waste of money since thing happens or things happen rarely enough that you pay more than the repair costs, but it can buy you some peace of mind.
As you posted - you lived there, you had previous renters. It was probably just worn out. I have not seen a stove with coils in a long time. Replacing it with something you know nothing about? A new stove at a big box store runs you 350 up for something new.
We just had a high end stove replaced because it was defective and the manufacturer deemed it unsafe. Who knows where it may surface. Please consider your renters and your property.
Don't be so cheap! If you wouldn't buy a used stove for yourself why do landlords think that it is "good enough" for rental house? This type of cheapo stunt is what gives landlords a bad reputation.
I'm gonna go the opposite direction of other posters and suggest maybe your tenant is abusing the stove. How does a door just fall off? There's some weird people out there.
A couple of thoughts -
A coil failing in a clean oven is unlikely to start a fire. Simply put, there isn't anything combustible nearby to catch fire, and a circuit breaker should trip or the coil go open circuit. An oven with a buildup of grease, however... The one exception I can think of is baking a turkey. Those things are so pumped full of grease these days (because it is cheap and increases the sale weight) that they are like Molotov cocktails.
Second, yeah, used appliances are often a bad deal. A rental agent bought a used refrigerator for me that didn't have a drain pan. Not happy. She also bought a used water heater that failed within a few months. Again, not happy. Buy new and with a warranty. When a large window AC went out, I did. When it failed, the warranty service saved me from buying another.
Or maybe renter had an accident because renter didn't like it when you replaced the broken one with a used one, and is hoping you'll put in a new one now. Probably the best idea anyway.
Boot the renter and buy a new stove.They both sound like trouble.
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