Is buying second hand false economy?

helencal80

Hi all,


Sorry if this is in the wrong place, if it is hopefully someone will move it for me.


I currently have a washing machine on HP. I will be using student finance money to buy a new one in January and therefore drop a weekly payment.


My question is this:


When buying electrical goods, is buying new a waste of money? Or is buying second hand a false economy?


With a brand new machine I would get a year's warranty, with second hand I may get no warranty at all or a much shorter warranty. Second hand may be more likely to break down than new, but who knows!


I would be grateful of any advice, before I spend my hard 'applied for' cash! Thank you.

whitewing

We bought our washing machine second hand for £150 nearly six years ago. Thought it had died twice but it recovered. We have definitely had our money's worth.


Car is probably third or fourth hand.


That said, we do buy some things new - fridge, dishwasher. We set a budget of what we can afford then buy the best we can for the money. If you are a bit patient there are some very good deals. Can't think of anything that we have bought new that we have paid full price for, but you have to have the money to act fast.


Buying new is a pleasure as we had so little new for years and years.

its_maths_not_magic

I don't know if you've heard of freecycle, but it may be possible to get one for free from there. You can join a local group and post a wanted ad there (all for free). We managed to get two second hand but working washing machines. One cost us £8 to get fixed, but then died about a year later. The second one was a professional quality one that didn't work, but would have cost us about £150 to fix (and worth £900 working). We had to move before we had the chance to fix it, but freecycle might be another option for you.

Oh, and in answer to your question, its really the luck of the draw. Sometimes you get a second hand machine and it dies quickly on you, other times it lasts for years. Im not much of a risk taker - and I have NO mechanical skills, so if it were me, I'd see if I could get one for free and then try to save for a new one.

[Deleted User]

we bought ours 5 years ago from a guy who sold second hand reconditioned machines with a 6 month gaurantee for £80 and for that he delivered installed and removed the old one,and yes its still working today,many electrical goods will go wrong in the first few months if they are going to do so,thats why extended warranties can be a waste of money

helencal80

Thanks for the advice. I will get freegling, and check but I'm sure there's a place in town that refurbs and sells them. Thank you all.

[Deleted User]

you can also sometimes pick up really good bargains in gumtree,as an example we gave away an almost new dining table and chairs on gumtree this summer,and its local usually

MrsGSR

I bought a washing machine for £15 off my brothers work colleague in 1999 when I first moved out. Lasted two years when we acquired a new one but think it would have kept going!

~Beanie~

I also will vote for 2nd hand. I bought a nearly new machine off a friend's brother 12 years ago for £50 and have never needed to have it mended and am still using it (although have probably jinxed it now lol).

iancrt

helencal80 wrote: »

I currently have a washing machine on HP. I will be using student finance money to buy a new one in January and therefore drop a weekly payment.

Has this machine actually broken? If you are planing to just return it end the payments have you looked into doing this? (could be stupid charges) Have you lookd at just paying the HP off instead of buying a replacement?

The last 5 or so years have seen significant improvements in washers for efficiency - they use less electricity and less water. No point getting rid of a weekly payment just to pay more a week on these as well as the outlay on a new (to you) machine.

PasturesNew

I bought second hand a year ago for £100, plus £20 delivery. It still had the original stickers on and was quite newish. My last cheap washing machine lasted me over 15 years before I sold it, fully working still, when I moved and didn't want anything in storage. In all that time it never broke once.