Rant: Repairing a dryer from 1999 vs one from 2023

I had a Whirlpool from 1999 come in last week and a newer Samsung from 2023 the same day. The old one had a bad belt, took me 15 minutes to swap it and everything was accessible from the front. The Samsung needed me to basically disassemble the whole front panel and disconnect three ribbon cables just to check the drum rollers. I don't get why manufacturers keep burying simple parts behind extra layers of plastic when nobody asked for that. Has anyone else noticed newer machines taking way longer for basic stuff than the old workhorses?

2 comments

2 Comments

hall.ruby21d ago

Totally agree. That part about "extra layers of plastic" really hits home. I had a 2002 Maytag washer where I could swap a lid switch in 10 minutes with a screwdriver. Last year I tried to fix the drain pump on a 2021 LG and had to take off the top, the back panel, and fight with a ton of plastic clips that broke when I touched them. Nothing about it was better.

sethc1221d ago

Had a similar issue with a 2018 Frigidaire where I spent an hour just getting the top off to access the belt. Ended up watching a youtube vid where some guy showed you could pop the front off with a putty knife in like 2 minutes, saved my ass.