LESLIE: Sherry in Texas is on the line with a question about a rusty washing machine. How can we help?
SHERRY: I am – I moved into a condo about a year ago and it came with a washer and dryer. The washing machine is a Kenmore Elite top-loader and it has a liquid-bleach dispenser in the top area, on the left-hand side. Well, clearly, it looks to me as though when you pour the bleach in, it must be eating from the inside out, because it’s rusted.
TOM: Right.
SHERRY: And I don’t know what to do, if I can do anything about it. So I thought I would give you a call and see what you think.
TOM: How old is this rusty washing machine?
SHERRY: Well, I’m not 100-percent sure. I moved in a year ago. It’s got to be maybe three, four years at least.
TOM: If it’s less than five, it probably should have some number of years left on it. It’s probably worth fixing. The nice thing about Kenmore machines is they’re very, very good with repair parts. So, there’s a good chance you can find repair parts to replace whatever is rusted out.
The downside is, of course, fixing a rusty washing machine is really not a do-it-yourself project unless you’re super handy. So you’re going to have to have an appliance-repair pro do the work for you. But I would say that if it’s a young appliance like that, then it’s probably worth it. If it’s an older appliance or one that’s a pretty economically-inexpensive appliance, then you might just kind of want to live with it as long as you can and then replace it.
Speed Queen is a brand that we’ve been recommending a lot the last few months, because they kind of blew us away with the fact that these machines are tested to 10,400 cycles, which is 25 years of normal use. So if you decide to get a new one, take a look at that brand.
SHERRY: OK, OK. So, best bet is to contact Kenmore and see what they can offer me or help me out with?
TOM: Any repair person will have access to those parts and know how to get those parts, as well.
SHERRY: OK.
TOM: You don’t necessarily have to work through Sears to get this rusty washing machine fixed, OK?
SHERRY: OK. OK. Well, thank you.
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