Dishwasher developed a fault after 5 years - any recourse?

Manxman_in_exile

macman said:

9 years is very realistic, even optimistic, for a budget dishwasher.  
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Eh?  Did you mean to say something else because that doesn't make sense...

macman said:

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What you paid for your fridge-freezer a quarter of a century ago will have been many times more than you would pay now for the same item in real terms.

Ah!  I've just realised the point I was making appears to have gone completely over your head!  I was not suggesting for one minute that because my fridge-freezer has seen 25 years that Marmaduke123 is justified in expecting at least 9 years from a dishwasher.  I'm saying completely the opposite - that anybody expecting 9 years out of a dishwasher is completely bonkers and quite possibly deluded!  Obviously it won't last for nine years(!) and after six years you have no effective legal remedy anyway.  To say 9 years is "just about acceptable" (as Marmaduke123 claims) is crazy and wholly unrealistic.

The point I was trying to make about our 25 year-old fridge (obviously very badly) is that things were much better built then and could be expected to last longer than now - which I think is the same point you are making.  (Ditto our 12 year old TV - I'm amazed at the short life of TVs eveidenced on these boards... )

TheAble

Thanks all for your comments and advice. The dishwasher was a shade under £300 so I guess I haven't done too badly. I think all things considered I'll take the repair on the chin - and hopefully get another 5 years out of it before the next one

Manxman_in_exile

In which case it's cost you about £1.20 per week or less than 20p per day.  Many people would consider that quite reasonable.  

According to Aylesbury_Duck's formula you would have expected about three years of use so you've done quite well out of it on that basis.

Grumpy_chap

Aylesbury_Duck said:

Quite.  I use a "one year for every £100" rule of thumb for washing machines and dishwashers, given our pattern of use.  Get more than that out of them and I'm happy.

That's quite a sensible rule of thumb and also adaptable to most electronic items I suppose.

I always find it odd that people, collectively, are happy to throw massive amounts of money into cars as a depreciating asset and conditioned to think they must be swapped after 3 or 4 years, yet expect to last forever in the case of white goods.

Jumblebumble

Aylesbury_Duck said:

macman said:

9 years is very realistic, even optimistic, for a budget dishwasher.  
What you are forgetting is that white goods prices are now cheaper than they've ever been. Manufacturers have almost all, with few exceptions, engaged in a race to the bottom on pricing, and that can only be done by reducing component and assembly costs to the very minimum, which is why some washing machines have a design life of as little as 500 cycles. So 5 years if you use it weekly, and much less if more regularly than that. That's the only way that the retailer can sell them for a little as £189. Once they've taken their cut, the manufacturer's margin is miniscule-and they've still got to provide a warranty service within that price.
What you paid for your fridge-freezer a quarter of a century ago will have been many times more than you would pay now for the same item in real terms.

Quite.  I use a "one year for every £100" rule of thumb for washing machines and dishwashers, given our pattern of use.  Get more than that out of them and I'm happy.

This is why we choose a Miele washing machine
Cost £725 in Feb 2014 with 5/6 of us using it a lot
One drive belt stretched in that time otherwise faultless and runs as well as the day we bought it
Design Life 20 Years