What had to be fixed on the older one? That would influence my decision.

How long is the warranty on the new one? 1 year?

Using the logic of A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, I'd say take the good deal.

A good deal is definitely money saved.

Chances of your new appliance breaking down AND your warranty actually covering that breakdown are slim.

Take the bird in the hand today, save the money you don't spend and put it away. Do the same for all your major purchases. Self-insuring puts you in a position of strength. I've never in my adult life paid extra for any warranty, and I've been sorry exactly once (and the repair bill was only $150).

I won't buy refurbished again (not due to a refrigerator). Why would a four year old refrigerator need to be rebuilt and the price difference is not that much. A warranty implies how long they expect to not have any problems. Nine months is not a very long guarantee. What is the warranty on the new one?

The older one seemed to be in perfect working condition. There was a small scratch on one if the handles.

The warranty on the new one was one year for everything, five years for sealed parts (?) and ten years for the compressor.

Benjes: I'm going to err on the side of grace and say she was just looking out for us :) She offered while we were still deciding, and said it was ultimately up to us. I'm going to let my husband tell her it was totally his decision to get the used one. #tact

@snookums - I guess I used the word "refurbisher" because it was in my head. I don't think it was actually refurbished, just used.

Sweetsarahbeth,

Have you researched Samsung fridges on the appliance forum? They don't have good reliability ratings. With the reliability in mind, I would accept the help and get a new unit. Repairs on fridges are always astronomical in my experience,. $600 is also a lot of money for a 4yr fridge that is not an Integrated on built in fridge.

Best of luck!

Well, that's neither here nor there, since sarahbeth was going to get a used Samsung or a new Samsung. I also disagree that $600 is lot for a 4-year old fridge with a warranty, however short that warranty is. I would have made the same choice.

They are giving you the longer warranty - and charging more money for it - because the manufacturer is betting it will NOT breakdown and they get to pocket the money.

Companies do NOT lose money on the warranty stuff. People get sucked into buying more and more warranty time because they do not think it through - want their hand held to the point they waste money for having their hand held.

I'll take that bet -- the same way the company did. I' would bet that it will not break down and will skip the longer warranty and pay less.

would want NEW refrigerator....... and would read any/ all reviews I could get my hands on. What is "Nicer" about the 4 y old model??

Herbflavor, it just had some small things that I liked better, like an inside water dispenser and an extra deli drawer.

Online reviews are tricky sometimes because more people are likely to jump online to complain about something going wrong than they are to comment on something that's working just fine. There are poor reviews out there for even the nicest, most expensive things you can buy and there are complaints about even brand new appliances failing after a short period of time. Insisting on brand new everything doesn't insure you against dissatisfaction, but it does mean you're typically paying a lot more for what you purchase and that it decreases in value much more quickly. (In a few years, I could probably resell the fridge I just bought for not much less than I just paid for it.)

Like Ann said, there's a risk involved, but it's one I'm pretty willing to take consulting what the benefits are, including reducing landfill waste by reusing an appliance and supporting a local business.

Plus, there's the personal experience involved: I have nothing but positive things to say about the gentleman who sold me the fridge as he was very polite and willing to work with me on lowering the price $50, extending the warranty by 3 mos and waiving the delivery fee, something that doesn't usually happen at HD.

So, curious why you are asking.

Snookums, just to stir up trouble :)

Really, I guess I was second guessing myself a little bit because my MIL was just so concerned about the warranty, but the more I think about it the more I feel we made the right decision for us, as displayed by my utter defensiveness over my choice :D

For the interested, here is the fridge from HD:

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Samsung-25-5-cu-ft-French-Door-Refrigerator-in-White-RF26HFENDWW/206046798?MERCH=RV--rv_mobileweb_rr-1--NA--206046798--N

And here is the one we bought:

sweetsarahbeth

I'm with you on this one. Why waste money (and landfill ....naw, money LOL)

$400 will pay for a lotta parts. Short of blowing a compressor, not much that can't be fixed. (Unless you have a lot of sulfur in your water and it gets in the air and rots the tubes - had that happen - no repair possible and a 2 year old $2000 frig went be-bye in 1988)

$400 for 3 months of "warranty"? WOW! That is over $4 a day to think that it will die before 1 minute before midnight on the 365th day vs 1 minute before midnight on the 274th day.

From the photo it looks like it was a used appliance dealer. When they say 'refurbished, they generally mean they went through it and checked all the parts for problems and replaced gaskets or whatever little things are done on maintenance.

And $600 for a French door frig with bottom freezer is cheap. They start at $1200 and $1500++ is the norm.

If the manufacturer is giving 10 year warranties on the compressor, this should go for minimum 6 years.

Appliance refurbishers are like auto detailers. Usually nothing was wrong with the appliance, except it was "outdated" or "wrong color" or something similar. So it gets cleaned up, all the maintenance points taken care of (checking compression and wiring, installing new belts, etc.) and resold.

I've bought them for rental properties for years with no problems (seriously USED ones) and bought them a little less used for my own house.

This stove/micro combo for example, had been "used" in commercials and other things as part of a kitchen set in a local studio. Getting it for 30% of the cost of the same model new was a definite bargain.

In my experience, if it works well for the 90 days of the usual guarantee, it's going to work for a long time.

Maybe I missed something.. correct me if I am wrong:

You had $600

The refurb would cost $600 and come with a 9-month warranty.

The NEW unit would cost "you' the same $600 (since you MIL was paying the difference)

The new unit more than likely had at LEAST a 1 yr warranty.. but you could extend that for sure...

So.. you opted for a refurb for $600 instead of a brand new one for the exact same price.. (to you)?

I would have taken the new one.

Russ

Well, there was also the issue of taking the money from my MIL, which I'd rather not do. For reasons. So the question becomes whether we would have paid that extra money ourselves. Extending the warranty through HD costs $100 for 3 years and $150 for 5 years.

Also, paid cash for the one we bought, so no tax. HD one would have wound up being more like 1088 - almost a $500 difference.

Whether you take the money from your MIL or not is an entirely different and personal choice...heh.

The original question was which would be a better deal.. the new one is a better deal. If you have to take her money and wish not to, then that is nothing to do with whether one deal is better or not and a question only you can answer.

I , personally, always opt for the new. 9 months after you pay for the refurb, it could easily cost you the difference.

Russ

I would avoid taking the money from my mil. I would not be okay with circumventing tax by paying cash and would have refused to buy the used one solely on that basis.

First practical question to ask... how much is the average cost of a repair?

Then, how many repairs will you get for that $400 savings. It may never breakdown, but if it did, how far will the saving go toward fixing it (keeping in mind that the new one will also eventually be 4 years old, and it too may need repairs.) Four years is probably 1/2 a repair ahead. So, if you could fix the old one for less than $400, regardless of what breaks, the old one is the better buy.

I say its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. I would not want to take money from my MIL (rest her soul). Appliances don't last as long as they used to, but to get a nice looking 4 yr. old French door fridge for an even $600 is likely not a bad deal. As mentioned if it is running well now and keeps running for 90 days, it will likely keep on doing so for a number of years. Band new doesn't guarantee anything. Having a fridge die whether new or not is a huge PITA.

In all honesty, if you are trying to "nail down" an exact cost, then you will stress over whatever purchase you make and whatever the outcome.

Based on your answers, if I were you, I would buy the $600 fridge and just hope for the best.

This is not trying to be mean, I am simply getting the impression that you want as absolute of a choice as possible and no-one has an answer for that. The day after the 9month warranty is gone, the entire thing could go belly up and cost you another $600.

On the other hand, it could last 20 years without a single repair.

Knowing that the cost of replacing the ice maker thermostat might cost you $237 will not do you any good at all because you have no way to know if they will break or if that will be THE thing that breaks.

So.. go with the $600 fridge.

In my mind, the brand new one with an extended warranty is the best choice by far, but that is how I am made, and might not be how you think.

Russ

Russ, I guess it all comes down to your level of risk aversion. I like to live on the wild side. And it's kind of just a discussion question at this point, since I started the thread having already purchased the used fridge :) I only added in the bit about my MIL offering us the money as an indication of how much she wanted us to have a warranty.

Crl_ that's a good and fair point.

I live on the wild side too! I have 2 kids and a wife.. lol

I have a used fridge in the garage that costs me about 237 dollars every 3-5 years when the freezer starts to freeze up.. To me.. not a bad price for a garage fridge.. the kitchen one.. I keep that puppy on a warranty because it is too darn expensive to break :P

Russ

Russ, my main fridge 'froze up' this past summer. I called a few repair places and, believe it or not, found a fairly honest guy (or just too busy too need the work lol.) Over the phone, he told me to empty the freezer, unplug it for about 6 hours, and leave the doors open.

Six hours later, the vents were clear of ice, and I plugged it back in, voila, worked. A week later and it happened again. I repeated his suggestion and realized I was over-stocking the freezer. I asked him about buying a separate freezer and he gave me great advice. I bought a chest freezer. The problem cleared up. Now I don't over pack the regular freezer and the problem hasn't returned. He could have easily came over and charged me, but instead, gave me info to diagnose the problem myself. Guess who'll get all of my appliance work from here on out.

rgreen - yea, I have done that before, but there is a thermostat that controls when the fridge freezes and defrosts etc, automatically. That tends to go out once in a while on these older models.

Easy repair for like 50 bucks.. but I prefer to let them do it :P

Russ

We have bought several gently used appliances from stores that clean-up, refurbish or repair if needed, and offer 90 day warranties. We have several rentals. We have saved thousands by doing this. IIRC, the oldest one is a range and it's about 20 years old that we spent about $100 to purchase. We have spent $0 on repairs for it although we did have to replace a burner element (electric coil-type). No big deal. I'm trying to remember how much we spent for the oldest fridge, a SxS. I'm thinking it was about $150-175 and it must be 10-12 years old. Again, no repairs. It has an ice-maker but no water. Which is fine because we have amazing tasting water here.

I definitely think it's worth the risk but a lot of that would depend on the reputation of the used appliance store. The one we use has been in business for years and has an excellent reputation.

Those old mechanical appliances last forever. It's the electronic ones that are problematic.

Hey, so my contractor was telling me about Sears warranty program where you can put a full warranty on just about anything for like $50, even if it's already broken! She said she's had amazing experiences with it..

Has anybody else ever done this or had any experience with it?

yep.. I had it on a stove and they ended up having to replace the stove. Now, it was their fault.. heh.. but...

I had a stove that the main board went out on it a month after I got the warranty. The only thing that did not work was the self-clean aspect. They came out to replace the board and put the wrong one in. They were gone like 30 minutes and I called back telling them it was the wrong board and the stove was not working. They had already "lost the board" they had taken out.

I tried to tell them to put the old board back in until the new board could be ordered. They kept ordering new boards, that would arrive at my house then a tech would come out and install it, and I kept calling and telling them they had ordered the wrong board.

After about 4 weeks of this, I started to get annoyed and told them to get me a whole new stove, which they refused to do. So, I drove up to the closest store with my 3 month old daughter and told them I had no way to sterilize the bottles since I had no stove any longer and that they could explain to the news media when I drive down and show them my newborn baby...blah blah blah.

I had a new stove 2 days later and they never came to pick up the old stove.

WELL worth getting, even through all that.

Russ

I think extended warranties you pay for are a total scam. Salespeople must get nice incentives to upsell those things because they sure put on the pressure for them. Most recently is was Sears that wouldn't take no the first time.

I've been a homeowner for 15 years, three homes, no warranties purchased on anything, never regretted it. I do research the heck out of everything we buy, though, so maybe that helps.

Benjes: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/retail/sears_maint_con.html

I think you're right :)