Fridge just died... repair or replace?

[gmoney]

My old Frigidaire has apparently given up the ghost... it was a slow death over the past few months, which makes me think it might just be a slow freon leak. Didn't seem very efficient, but today it's just kind of stopped.

I bought it with the house and suspect it's probably 15 years old or so... any clue if it's cheaper to keep 'er, or am I a fool to plow money into fixing a 15 year old fridge?

I'm guessing a service call is going to be at least $50, plus probably $50 if they do a coolant recharge, and a compressor would probably be $250, I'd guess.

Looks like a new one is going to start around $800, probably $1200 for a good one.

Any suggestions?

[trotsky]

1. Buy a new one.

You will save bigtime on energy costs - new models are incredibly efficient compared to ones just 5-10 years old.

[JVS]

2. first thing is first, eat up!

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Replace

[AIJ Alom]

4. Check the fan in the back.

It may have accumulated a good deal of dirt and residue. Shut off the power. Get a screw driver and open up the back at the bottom where the fan is most likely located. Using gloves, remove the dirt accumulation on the fan. Plug it back in and it should work. My parents thought the same thing was wrong with their fridge (freon leak) until I performed the above procedure. BE CAREFUL if you are going to attempt this.

[sendero]

5. Good idea...

.... and clean the "coils" on the back of the fridge while you are at it.

But if these measures don't revive the beast, get a new one. Newer ones will use much less energy, and at 15 years you got fair life out of that one. :)

[whirlygigspin]

6. get a new one

you will save more in the long run by energy efficiency.

[Jokinomx]

7. Replace ...but, don't buy an Electrolux product... they are moving

to Mexico... laying off over 2500 jobs in my hometown. Our population is only 8000, so it will have a very serious impact on our local economy.

Good Luck..

:dem:

[Columbia]

8. Replace with an energy efficient model, recycle the old one

You'll probably save money in the long run with energy costs.

[Hokie]

9. Man I thought Fridge Perry had died!

I was startled at the post. I thought that William "the Refrigerator" Perry himself had died.

Seriously, look at the EER ratios of the new ones. They will be more efficient than one that is 15 years old. If your cost of electricity is high you may want to replace it

[bratcatinok]

10. Fiance is an appliance repairman

Here's what he said after he read your post.

Time to get a new one. It could be a relatively easy repair such as you suggested or it could be more. He also points out once you start having repairs like you think you need, other parts will start to fail and it will cost more in the long run to fix.

You don't necessarily have to spend 1200.00 for a good one. I bought the biggest Whirlpool side by side offered with removable glass shelving, humidity control, ice/water in door with filtered water and lots of other goodies on it. It was on sale for 879.00 but because of fiance's connection to the industry, we got it for 500.00.

Check out all of the ads in the Sunday paper for sales going on and take advantage of them. You might also watch for sales of floor models because those usually are last years model but you can get an excellent deal on them with the same warranty as a current year model.

[gmoney]

16. Tried that...

the coils didn't seem too dirty, and the fan didn't seem visible from the front or back, and I futzed around with the settings a bit, and it's showing some signs of life. We'll see if there's ice by morning...

But even if it works, I think I'm on borrowed time, and maybe upgrading to a more energy efficient model.

I just hope none of the torsos have gone bad... I mean, frozen foods.

[skygazer]

11. Probably replace

Keeping the coils and fans clean is a must that people often don't know about. You can keep a frig going for a lot longer with just some simple preventative care.

But you're probably better off replacing this one for a good energy efficient model.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. Saw one at best buy for under $700...

Side by side...it was great.
Duckie

[gmoney]

13. Thanks all...

Thanks for the advice!

I guess I'll get some prices from the paper and the big box websites, then I'll go try to beat up on my locally owned appliance store to see if they want to get in the ballpark on the price.

Boy, do I hate home ownership.

[Renew Deal]

20. Is there a Best Buy near you?

They have a large selection.

[izzie]

14. New ones are said to run better. Do they fix them or can you do it?

At the end of 25 years of service my Maytag Washer started to leak oil and I called the company to have it repaired and they just thought it was so funny. It did make it another 3 or 4 years and guess by then the oil had finally leaked out. I must say I got my money out of it.

[MrSandman]

15. Replace...

It has outlived its designed service life.

I do hate planned obsolecence.

[bratcatinok]

21. The problem isn't necessarily planned obsolence.

The problem is repair people who are nothing more than parts replacers. If replacing one particular part doesn't work then they replace the next most likely suspect. Too many of them don't understand what makes each part work in conjunction with the next part and how to test it out.

As an example, the original poster mentioned the compressor. Most repair people nowadays would simply replace the compressor instead of fixing the one that's broken. Supposedly the idea behind this is it saves time and the repair people can make more calls.

I had been dating fiance for about a month when my hairdryer went kaput. I mentioned to him I was going to need to get another one. He asked me if I wanted him to take a look at it to see if he could fix it. Since hairdryers normally cost around 16.00-20.00, I thought 'no big deal, if he wants to play with it, let him'. He took the whole thing apart and fixed it (much to my surprise). That was 2 1/2 years ago and I'm still using that hairdryer today.

As I mentioned above, we bought a new refrigerator last year because he took the time to investigate what was wrong with ours and realized too many parts were on the verge of going out. It was cheaper to buy new than for him to fix all of them.

He can do the same thing with any appliance as he did with my hairdryer. Even though he works for a guy who owns the local appliance store, when customers call in they ask for him. They know he'll fix it if it can be fixed and he's fast.

[fairfaxvadem]

17. Got my new one for $550

My 16 year old fridge bit it. Plus it had the wire racks which basically froze everything.

Got a Kenmore, 18.2 cf w/ice maker for $550 including delivery and removal of old one.

Careful how big of one you buy. If there are more than two in the house then the bigger side by sides are great.

But if it's just you or one other, those bigger fridges have to be kept pretty full for them to operate efficiently. My brother in law wanted me to get a 20+ cf fridge...Too damn big for one person. I could never keep it full enough to make it worthwhile operationally.

[Renew Deal]

18. Get a new one.

There are a lot of good units out now. You can get pretty nuch everything you would want as long as it fits. Get a good one. It will make you happy.

[AngryAmish]

19. Man, I knew his heart would give out

Too heavy. However, the 85 Bears is the best team of all time.

[justgamma]

22. Don't buy Maytag! 1600 jobs lost to Mexico. n/t