# washer repair



## sobeit (Nov 11, 2007)

Last weekend my washer got loud, sounded like I was washing shoes. It is only 7 years old, front loader and I paid about 700 bucks for it. 

I found out most mom and pop repair shops will not work on front loaders. The one that would I would not let touch my toaster. So I called Sears Home Repair for a quote. They came out yesterday and would you believe the quote was over 1500 bucks!!!!! When I got over the shock and lifted my jaw off the floor, the decision was easy - aint no way!!!

They said the bearings were messed up there was metal shavings in the seal around the door so I would have to replace the front tub, rear tub and basket. Does this make sense to anyone here? I did open the back and everything I see, including the belt still looks brand new.

Does it sound like I was getting scammed by Sears for unnecessary parts?


----------



## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

At seven years of age, it sound about right that something like a bearing would fail.

However at a quote of $1500, that is a huge scam, since you can buy two brand new front loader washer and dryer for less than that.


----------



## Gadsden (Mar 10, 2012)

BTDT...2 years ago...Sears Oasis top loader. Had the extended warranty for 5 years. One month after it expired the tub started to leak and in the process ruined the motor (boy, motors don't look anything like they used to)

Cost me $125 to be told this good news and it was going to cost another $700 for repairs.

I proceeded to buy the least expensive washing machine I could find. The deal came with free removal of the old one.

If/when it goes...I will be out $212.00


----------



## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Like it or not, in the US, unionized labor has increased the labor portion of repair costs to the point that it usually makes more sense to replace most items rather than repair them. The exception being very expensive items such as vehicles and houses.

However, even high-ticket items are sometimes "throwaway" if you can't repair them yourself. My sister and her husband once had a turbocharger explode in their diesel pickup. Said pickup was only six months past the warranty. The estimate for repairs was $22,000 so they had the pickup towed to Dad's place while they were thinking of what they were going to do. A guy across the street asked Dad if he could buy it so my sister sold it for a couple thousand. The neighbor is a diesel mechanic and worked on the vehicle himself. For $7000 and six months work he got himself a nice four-year-old Ford 250 Super Duty. He still drives it to this day, ten years later.

Back to washers, top-loaders are fairly easy to repair (at least the older ones that I've worked on) but front-loaders have more parts and tighter tolerances. You could try to repair the item yourself. However, with a front-loader you are going to run into several hundred dollars for parts and shipping. For a random Whirlpool front-loader that I just looked up, the parts to repair a damaged drum assembly could run up to $480 for a unit that sells for $650 new.


----------

