Fix it or buy new?

Buy new

Fixing the washing machine costs $157 a year. A new one costs $90 a year.

• Fixing wins as long as the repair is under $120. You put $280.
• The repair is 37% of the price of a new one.
• That counts a 20% chance of paying $280 and not getting the years.

This is a worked example with illustrative figures, not data about any real person or company. Change any of them in the calculator and the answer changes with them.

How this answer was worked out

Every formula is written out on the formulas page.

What the calculator asks you

• What the repair costs
• Years it should last once fixed
• Chance the repair does not hold
• Upkeep a year if you keep the old one
• Price of a new one
• Years a new one should last
• Upkeep a year for a new one
• What the new one would sell for at the end

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• Is it worth it?The calculator this example comes from
• Before you decideA checklist of what is worth checking first