Electrolux Appliances - Buyer Beware

[DIYTheArtofWood]

Good afternoon. I recently posted a video on my YouTube channel warning people away from Electrolux brand appliances. Click the video link below to see why. Spoiler alert, if you're shopping for new appliances, don't make the mistake I made, go with a different brand.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

I think it's pot luck with all appliaances, though I guess some start off as rubbish. "They don't make stuff like they used to."
Our best at the moment is this Binatone Musictime clock radio.

I've just given the switches and rotaray controls a spray of Servisol switch cleaner. I do it every ten years or so, if it sounds a bit scratchy. We've had it, in daily use, since 1986.

We've a Hotpoint tumble dryer, we've had it for about five years, it wasn't that expensive but it's on four or more hours a day, every day. It's brilliant.
It had to be adjusted under the recall a couple of years ago as some were catching fire. That's because the lint catcher isn't as good as the previous model, but it's fine if you take it out and clean it after every use, a 10 second job. But many people can't be assed to do it. The engineer said he'd been to some, which were packed solid with lint. No wonder they catch fire.

We've a Bosch top of the range i-Dos Serie 8 washing machine we bought 2 years ago. It had to be replaced under guarantee. Same with our Bosch vario speed dishwasher and our expensive all singin' an' dancin' 7ft Meile fridge/freezer, all have had to be replaced under guarantee.

 

[DIYTheArtofWood]

I think it's pot luck with all appliaances, though I guess some start off as rubbish. "They don't make stuff like they used to."
Our best at the moment is this Binatone Musictime clock radio.

I've just given the switches and rotaray controls a spray of Servisol switch cleaner. I do it every ten years or so, if it sounds a bit scratchy. We've had it, in daily use, since 1986.

View attachment 1813

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We've a Hotpoint tumble dryer, we've had it for about five years, it wasn't that expensive but it's on four or more hours a day, every day. It's brilliant.
It had to be adjusted under the recall a couple of years ago as some were catching fire. That's because the lint catcher isn't as good as the previous model, but it's fine if you take it out and clean it after every use, a 10 second job. But many people can't be assed to do it. The engineer said he'd been to some, which were packed solid with lint. No wonder they catch fire.

We've a Bosch top of the range i-Dos Serie 8 washing machine we bought 2 years ago. It had to be replaced under guarantee. Same with our Bosch vario speed dishwasher and our expensive all singin' an' dancin' 7ft Meile fridge/freezer, all have had to be replaced under guarantee.

Heck yeah! If you have anything that actually works, an old tool, home appliance, old tv, hang on to it until it literally falls apart.

 

[Silentrunning]

The sad part of this situation is that we should be making the best appliances ever. If you look at today’s cars compared to 30 years ago, you can see how manufacturing quality has improved. With statistical process control there is no reason for shoddy workmanship. I really am at a loss as to why appliances today are of such low quality.

 

[DIYTheArtofWood]

The sad part of this situation is that we should be making the best appliances ever. If you look at today’s cars compared to 30 years ago, you can see how manufacturing quality has improved. With statistical process control there is no reason for shoddy workmanship. I really am at a loss as to why appliances today are of such low quality.

You are 100% right there. Cheaply made junk is the new standard evidently. Maybe we all need to start DIY building our own home appliances.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

My 2005 Honda CRV I've had from new, but with only 55,000 miles now, has never seen the inside of our garage and there's not a speck of rust on it.
Conversely, in the early 1980s, I had a nealy new 2lt Alfa Romeo Guilietta and it started to rust away after three years.

 

[Silentrunning]

This thread has really gotten me to thinking. Why are the appliances made today such junk? They are basically the same as they were back in 1969. With the exception of now having digital controls, they are the same. The doors on most refrigerators show rust within a few years. Stove burners can malfunction right out of the box. Clothes dryers use the same crappy felt bearing as 50 years ago only now it is thinner and almost impossible to replace. I have a new refrigerator that has no access for cleaning the coils.

It seems that household appliances have been left behind in the world of technology.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

Our firrst fridge/freezer forty odd years ago was a Hotpoint Ice diamond. It was built exactly like that, a fridge stacked on top of a freezer, with two separate compressors. So if one went down you still had the other. This stupid Meile has all sorts of settings, including, holiday, party and even one for Jewish owners, where on the Sabbath it doesn't show any lights,

They were best when the just had a rotary control for temperature and a fast freeze button, though that wasn't really necessary, you could just bang it up higher, but you had to remember to turn it down after an hour. That's all they need.

 

[DIYTheArtofWood]

This thread has really gotten me to thinking. Why are the appliances made today such junk? They are basically the same as they were back in 1969. With the exception of now having digital controls, they are the same. The doors on most refrigerators show rust within a few years. Stove burners can malfunction right out of the box. Clothes dryers use the same crappy felt bearing as 50 years ago only now it is thinner and almost impossible to replace. I have a new refrigerator that has no access for cleaning the coils.

It seems that household appliances have been left behind in the world of technology.

Yet we have so called “Smart refrigerators now” have you seen these? They are absurdly expensive because they glued an iPad to the door, yet the actual parts that matter, the mechanical and electrical components that make it run, are still junk, at least based on reviews I’ve read. I can’t speak from experience on that one, not exactly willing to spend $5,000 for a refrigerator. One thing I didn’t mention in the video I made is in line with what you mentioned about burners being broken out of the box. When I bought this washer/dryer set the appliance store I bought from had to come out Day 1 and replace the dryer. It was broken right out of the box, I wasn’t even able to dry one load of clothes, and it’s been downhill ever since with these things.

 

[DIYTheArtofWood]

My 2005 Honda CRV I've had from new, but with only 55,000 miles now, has never seen the inside of our garage and there's not a speck of rust on it.
Conversely, in the early 1980s, I had a nealy new 2lt Alfa Romeo Guilietta and it started to rust away after three years.

Automotive manufacturing is a whole other deal. Some of those older cars weren’t manufactured well, but they were easy to work on. Now they’re manufactured to a higher standard, but they’re so fancy now, with so many high tech components, it’s becoming more and more difficult to repair them yourself. Kind of a lose - lose situation.

 

[Doghouse Riley]

Automotive manufacturing is a whole other deal. Some of those older cars weren’t manufactured well, but they were easy to work on. Now they’re manufactured to a higher standard, but they’re so fancy now, with so many high tech components, it’s becoming more and more difficult to repair them yourself. Kind of a lose - lose situation.

The thing with cars now is that they don't want you to work on your car. You often need specialised tools.

The last car I worked on was the Alfa, which was conventionally aspitated, it needed a head valve replacing. That was easy enough to do with a set off sockets a torque wrench, a packet of shims and some grinding paste.
I've still got the rubber tube somewhere I used to use to balance the two Webber carburettors.
I've a golfing pal with a car repair servicing business who looks after mine.

 

[Silentrunning]

Automotive manufacturing is a whole other deal. Some of those older cars weren’t manufactured well, but they were easy to work on. Now they’re manufactured to a higher standard, but they’re so fancy now, with so many high tech components, it’s becoming more and more difficult to repair them yourself. Kind of a lose - lose situation.

Sorry but I think your criticism is off base. Today most cars can go 100k miles with no problem. The fact that you can’t repair them is irrelevant if you don’t have to repair them. I would much rather drive a car than work on one. Besides the reliability of today’s cars the safety factor makes them worth their weight in gold. I really don’t want some shade tree mechanic working on his antilock brakes or lane sensor.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I agree Doug regarding modern cars being ultra reliable; the only problem of course is if their electronics misbehave then they can be a nightmare. Our Skoda Yeti is the best car we've owned it just coming up to its first MOT next month when it reaches three years old; just jump in and drive in fact it virtually drives itself once cruise control is engaged then it's just a case of pointing it in the right direction.

Compared to older Alfa Romeo's Doghouse if yours lasted three years before rusting you did well; the old Alfa Suds used to be scrap by the time they reached that age as did most Italian cars? Religious fridge/freezers; what next?

Who really is to blame for poor quality white goods; us the consumer not wanting to pay anything forcing the manufacturers to cut costs to the bare minimum; just before I retired in 2000 I was sent on an intensive Kaizen training course; this involved taking everything right back to basics the bottom line why manufacture a Rolls Royce when a Mini will do the same job?

Bron and I buy white goods like washing machines with minimum settings/controls so there's less to go wrong; our BEKO washing machine is as basic as they come but still has programs we never use; at £200 new when it breaks and I can't fix it cheaply it gets dumped which is looking after our planet? How many guys these days actually do anything useful around home; there's so much money around why get dirty hands just get someone in and don't interrupt the latest soccer game on TV.

Time I got my hands dirty.

Kind regards, Colin.