wish my luck would change

[boatman37]

So yesterday I went out the front door to check my mailbox. 20 years ago I put a higher end Larson storm door on. We rarely use this doorway so it rarely gets opened. Basically once a day to check the mail. Yesterday I go out and hear the door creak. Come back in and hear it again. Go back out and look and see it sagging slightly. Top hinges are broke. Look closer and the hinges are integrated into the frame so have to replace the frame to fix it. When I went to go back in the next hinge down broke. Went to Lowes today and got a new one. $300 later I get home and get to work. Wife starts cooking. and yells out that the stove isn't working...ugh. This had happened before so I go down and turn the breaker off for a few minutes and then back on. Fixed...lol. Minor setbacks but just frustrating.

Here is the backstory on the stove. Back in 2007 we won a brand new BMW X3. My wife had a 2006 Jeep Commander that we bought new a year earlier and I had just bought a new 2007 Dodge Ram 3 weeks earlier so we took the cash and had the kitchen remodeled. Bought all new Maytag stainless appliances. The slide in electric range started acting up right away. Called Lowes and they sent a guy out and he replaced the circuit board. A few days later still doing it. Called them back and they brought me a new identical model. A few days later same thing. Guy comes out and tells me we have a strange electromagnetic field in our neighborhood and we would not be able to use a Maytag electric range???? So we decide to deal with it since it would start working after shutting the breaker off. So about a year later we bought new Maytag washer and dryer (front loaders). A few months later the washer starts making all kinds of noise then quits. Called Lowes. Guy comes out and reaches in and grabs the drum and shakes it. Says the bearing is bad and he would order the new parts. Says the parts would be delivered to our house and to call him and he would come replace them. A few days later they are there so he shows up and takes the back panel off and says 'oh crap'. Says the belt is broke. No problem I think. Told him to replace it. Says he doesn't have one. Told him I would cal around and go get it so he could get it fixed. He tells me I won't be able to find one. He was right. So he replaces the other parts and says he would order a new belt and come back to replace it. Guy then says he can't fit the old broken parts in his van and asked if I could get rid of them. He replaced the whole drum and mounting hardware. A week goes by and nothing. Call Lowes and they tell me the guy told them it couldn't be fixed and they were sending me a gift card for a new one. What??? So I tell them I'd rather just have a refund check. Get a $900 check in the mail a few days later. Spent $25 on a new belt and still have it...lol. Right after the warranty runs out the dryer quits working. $250 for a new circuit board.

So shortly after the warranty ran out the refrigerator quit working. Called Maytag and complained and asked them to send me the $75 part for all the trouble I had been through with their junk. They refuse so I fix it myself. This was all withing about 3 or 4 years of buying all of these.

Kind of comical but after I fixed everything they have been pretty good other than the stove. It does this about 5 or 6 times a week but works fine once it starts working.

Bottom line is my luck isn't very good (other than winning the BMW). Just be nice to have some good luck once in awhile...lol

[J Anderson]

Aside from the inconvenience of the multiple service calls under warranty and having a stove that trips the circuit breaker that your luck is pretty good. Get check for $900, spend $25 on belt, $250 on circuit board for dryer, you’re still ahead by $650.
Doing a little internet research the average home appliance lasts between 8 years ( microwaves ) and 19 years ( gas ranges).

I would think that a high end storm door would last longer than twenty years. I just replaced an old aluminum storm door that still worked fine after 30 or 40 years for a customer who plans to put her house on the market in the spring and wants to make everything look nice.

[boatman37]

Aside from the inconvenience of the multiple service calls under warranty and having a stove that trips the circuit breaker that your luck is pretty good. Get check for $900, spend $25 on belt, $250 on circuit board for dryer, you’re still ahead by $650.
Doing a little internet research the average home appliance lasts between 8 years ( microwaves ) and 19 years ( gas ranges).

I would think that a high end storm door would last longer than twenty years. I just replaced an old aluminum storm door that still worked fine after 30 or 40 years for a customer who plans to put her house on the market in the spring and wants to make everything look nice.

Yeah in the end the appliances have lasted but all of those problems were in the first 3 years or so of buying them. The door is a Larson Signature series full view $220 for door and $50 for new handle kit). Same one I put on it 20 years ago. 20 years but like I said, it is hardly used. We use the side door or the garage. Now that I mention it we have an Andersen french door on the side that was installed 20 years ago. Had to replace the latch assembly twice and now all of the vinyl cladding on the exterior is all coming off. And to latch it I keep a pry bar on the shelf next to it and have to pry up on the bottom of the door to get it to latch. Really need to have that replaced soon...lol

[chrono00]

So....how did you win the bmw?

[boatman37]

There is a fire department in Chester, WV that sells tickets for a 'Fall Bash'. $100 a ticket. We usually buy 2 a year and that year we won the BMW. They draw every 5 minutes and give away over $600,000 in prizes. I think the last one of the night is $100,000 cash. Alot of them are $500-1000 guns and a few ATVs and about 6 or 7 cars and trucks. My dad won $10,000 either the year before or the year after we won the BMW. We took the cash. The cash value was about $32,000 but they kept I think $9016 for taxes so we got $23,000

[RobLV1]

I can't imagine winning a car, even once in your life, and then complaining about your luck. Talk about spoiled!

[boatman37]

I can't imagine winning a car, even once in your life, and then complaining about your luck. Talk about spoiled!

lol. Yeah but that is about the only thing I have ever won. But the post was more about recent issues. Storm door broke one day then stove quit again the next while I'm fixing the door. And the stove doesn't trip the breaker. It just goes blank and nothing happens. I have to turn the breaker off and wait then turn it back on to get it to work again. The whole Maytag story was more of a backstory on my experience with Maytag. 6 pieces of Maytag equipment (stove, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, washer and dryer) broke multiple times in the first few years. Stove twice (well about 5 times a week but 2 major breaks), fridge twice, washer 3 times and dryer twice. After I have replaced just about everything in them there isn't much Maytag left to them...lol

[Ryster]

Between the BMW and the bowling ball raffles you have won, you have won more than I have EVER won in my entire life of buying raffle tickets and entering contests/sweepstakes. To win as much as you have beats a lot of odds and sounds like some pretty good luck to me.

Stop buying Maytag, and that will solve your appliance problem.

[chrono00]

Yea sounds pretty lucky to me too. Although if I won a bmw....I’d pro take the cash too. Go buy a cheaper used Prius or something good on gas (if I even needed at the time) and go on vacation, or most likely do either what you did and spend most of to upgrade the house, or invest it in say another rental property

[RobLV1]

I won a case of Lifesavers in the Cub Scouts when I was a kid!

[Ryster]

I would probably keep the BMW, and sell my current paid-off vehicle to pay the taxes on the BMW. Then I would have a new, paid-off car with a warranty and be all set for another 5-8 years.

Having to pay sales taxes and state and federal income taxes on prizes like this is really a bummer.

One of my co-workers ended up on The Price is Right, and won the showcase showdown. They won $60,000 in prizes including a new car. They ended up with a $25,000 tax bill just from that win on the show. I recall some article years ago discussing that many contestants who win prizes (other than cash) on game shows do not even take them once they see the tax implications. The article also said that as soon as the contestant wins big, they are immediately ushered off stage and shown an estimated tax bill based on the prizes they just won. It is at that point that many contestants simply refuse the prizes and walk away empty handed.

A family friend's newlywed daughter went out to Hollywood for her honeymoon in the hopes of getting on the Price is Right. Her mother made the comment that she hoped they got on the show and won big because they could really use some "free stuff". Then the mom found out about the tax implications and called her daughter to warn her that if they won anything they would need to pay taxes on it. It kind of took the sails out of their excitement.

[boatman37]

lol. yeah the tax bill on the BMW was $9016. I don't remember exactly what i was left with but it was a little over $23,000. Not complaining cause $23k is still great. My son had a 2006 BMW 325xi and it was a great car. AWD and went anywhere. I wish i had bought it off him when he traded it.

lol @Rob on the lifesavers.

I forgot about the bowling balls. so i won 3 things in my life...lol. but yeah i will never buy Maytag again. My mother just said she was going to go buy a new dryer and i told her to avoid Maytag. Same with Ford. I have had bad luck and the attitude i got from them was horrible. last one i bought was 1998 and i will never buy another ever. things go bad but if you don't stand behind them or have poor customer service then i'll go elsewhere.

oh an di think my wireless router is going bad now...lol. and i sliced my hand putting the new storm door on...lol. yeah i have more than my share of bad luck

[Ryster]

I have had a couple of bad Fords as well. One was in the shop for 17 straight days, and after calling in a field engineer it was determined the truck was incorrectly assembled at the factory...entire section of welds missing on the frame. There was a section of the frame that was free floating and slamming against itself when going over bumps. They welded and refinished everything and that fixed that. Then a few months later the braking system went bad and had to be fixed twice in a matter of weeks, and then started going bad again. Instead of continually going to the service department, I traded it on another new Ford. Had that for maybe a year before having constant check engine lights and other issues. Twice was enough for me. Other family members have had great service with Fords, so who knows. Meanwhile, people talk about how bad GM and Chrysler products have been for them and I have had great service from GM and Chrysler vehicles.

Getting decent service and support with anything these days is difficult. It is hard enough to get a correct order from a take-out restaurant, let alone competent service on a car or quality service on something at the house. Kind of a shame really.

[boatman37]

My issues were a 1990 F150 needed a new engine at 45,000 miles. It was actually bad when I bought it with 20,000 miles but I limped through. Went through a quart of oil every 800 miles and got 8 MPG. It was the 5.0. They rebuilt it but it wasn't much better and the rear end was going bad due to incorrect lash settings from the factory but they refused to replace the gears. Then had a 1992 F150 that wasn't bad. Then a 1991 F150 that wasn't bad. Then a 1994 F250 that I bought with 25,000 miles on it. 4wd quit working a couple weeks later, battery would go dead after 2 days and nobody could figure it out after 3 shop visits, 2 new batteries and a check of electrical system. Then I took it to Nags Head from Pittsburgh and went through 6 quarts of oil going down and back. It had the 460. Then we bought a brand new 1996 Ford Windstar mini-van that blew a head gasket at 60,000 miles. Ford had recalled up to 1995 but not the 1996. I called them and their words were 'that is your problem'. So that was it for me and Ford. I have never had a GM or Chrysler that had as much trouble as any of them. The worst issue I can think of is the floor shifter in my wifes 2006 Jeep Commander quit shifting. Turns out a wire rubbed on something and shorted. They fixed it under warranty. That is the worst problem I have had on anything other than Ford.