OT: Washing machine pump, rattle, doesn't drain

*horrible*

Whirlpool

them

IS that why they get more than $700 for the job?

...or maybe that. ;-)

off-axis

I was talking about real cars.

Yes they have (lost it).

I'm

"LIHEAP"

Agreed. I was referring to old ladies living on social security (see: "LIHEAP").

still.

Absolutely!

Overpriced toy.

Yep! Can you say "Right to Work State"? ;-)

The KIA plant is actually just across the border in GA. I pass by it on the way to Atlanta.

Shoes are a different kettle. There are very few that fit my dogs (12 6-E), so I'm pretty much stuck in the >$100 category. They last a couple of years of constant (ab)use. I really can't find anything other than New Balance that fits.

My shirts last a couple of years, too. I wear nothing but long-sleeve shirts. I don't even own a T-shirt (other than some I was given - they're used as rags).

These are three years old (the dishwasher was replaced after three months). ;-) Narrow stoves/ovens are still made. It does limit your choices, particularly at the upper-end.

Sure. Where do the clothes go into the wringer?

Good god! Another reason to get the hell out of the NE. Why don't you use Perrier?

Our top-loader is the same.

$1100, IIRC. So, you *were* comparing to a $300 top-loader. ;-)

[...]

Maybe at union wages :-)

Believe me, if the bearing would croak in just a few years I'd make such a ruckus there that they'd send a repair team prontissimo. BTDT. There are a few companies where the folks in the quality department get a tremble in their voice when I call ;-)

off-axis

Hey, that was a real car and it lasted a whole 16 years. Netted a consistent 50mpg on regular unleaded. It took automotive engineers over half a century to get back to that level of fuel frugality.

Consumer Reports still seems to rate them quite well. Is there any US brand left that you think is good?

Meantime I did have my own major disappointments. Big old well-known brands in the bathroom or carpet biz, that nowadays don't seem to have the foggiest how quality control is spelled.

[...]

Oh, another welfare program, didn't know that one. Yesterday I read that fairly soon 100 Million folks in the US will be on Medicaid. That floored me.

--
Regards, Joerg

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still.

So is every sports car no matter where it's made. Personally I don't think 30k for that kind of performance is too much. Comparable Asian sports cars are in the same ballpark. That doesn't mean I'd buy one.

"Closed shop" has always been a sick concept. It is a job killer but leftists do not understand that. There are companies that have been shut down precisely for that reason. Sometimes just to pop up under a new name in another state.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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That's a 10h job at car dealer rates. Then again, car dealers aren't often unionized.

Many have tried. The other issue, of course is mold. Maytags are legend for that. Even our top-loader has that issue and has to be cleaned every few weeks.

off-axis

Frugality wasn't and still isn't a design goal.

that

Seems they've all gone down the tubes. The top-loaders led the charge.

Nope. It's all throw-away junk. Tile is the only solution for bathrooms and kitchens.

Obummercare. Check out the number already on food stamps.

still.

Check out what the feds are trying to do to Boeing.

10h automotive repair? That might have been 5-10 years ago. Out here the shop rates are over $100 by now, with specialists such as guys who know electronics being billed north of $130. That's the rates at the place where I go, an independent shop here in town.

Why can't they figure that out? It's simple. Cost is not an excuse because even the super-cheap discount store brand machines in Germany last forever and have no mold problems. The ones that were made in countries like the former Yugoslavia.

I had one of those discount store machines, a front loader. When I married and my wife and I moved together we initially kept both machines. But that made it too cluttered in the basement so we retired mine because hers was a name brand. Mine had at least 20 years under the belt and never any major repairs. Once in a while I had to clean out the drain pump, that was it.

What you do in countries like Germany is you put it out on bulk waste day. If you want to be extra good you tape a large sheet "Works fine" onto it and pretty soon some raggedy old VW bus would show up and they take the machine. So the washer lived on.

off-axis

Maybe not (yet) here but in other areas of the world it certainly is. When you pay $8/gal it does begin to matter whether your car slurps five gallons on the drive to grandma's house or ten.

The engine of my Citroen was designed in 1939. The problem back then wasn't so much the gas prices but the sparse array of stations in rural France (the car was intended for farmers). Then the car became hugely popular with young urbanites because of its styling and versatility, but that wasn't the plan.

that

It was a special kind of toilet we needed. Back discharge, because the way the plumbing is in our house. It took seven (!) attempts until one was delivered that actually worked and wasn't cracked. Major incompetence was evident. They paid through the nose because I insisted on truck delivery to our home.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

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Last time I was in a dealership (perhaps six months ago) it was $65/hr. I changed to a local garage for most stuff since. It's nowhere near that. They charged me $10 to remount four tires (leakers).

Because they *engineer* them. Any darn fool can build a bridge that stands. It takes an engineer to make one that barely stands. ;-)

I've had washers that lasted 20 years, too. Aparently those days are gone.

You can do that here, too. You just change the sign to "For Sale - $50" and it's gone! If you say it's free, then it's automatically worthless and no one will touch it.

maybe

off-axis

I'm serious. It still isn't. The government won't let it.

It matters, but not if the greenies matter more.

Citroen "stylish"? You have *got* to be kidding.

that

Ah, I remember you talking about that. Back-discharge isn't normal for residential units.

[...]

It was this one:

But they also built pretty hot cars, this thing feels like you are sitting in a rocket:

[...]

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still.

(small)

manufacturers.

If they really get forced to open a 787 line in WA I assume they'll file a lawsuit. They should be free to set up assembly lines wherever they please.

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Exactly. If that's your idea of "stylish", I have some ocean-view property in Montana that you should look at.

Looks like something Subaru would make.

well

still.

(small)

manufacturers.

;-)

They've already sunk $2B into the NC line. It's just more of Obummer's payback to the unions. Simply incredible.