I had a portable dishwasher that my first husband gave me for Christmas in 1972. It went with me to several different houses and apartments-- always worked great. (It's the kind you roll over to the faucet and hook up.) Finally in 2003-- 31 YEARS LATER-- it got to the point where it was falling apart, and I had to get a new one. The guy at the appliance store where I bought my new portable said, "Don't expect this one to last as long as the first one. They REALLY don't make them like that any more."
Same with a Friedrich's window air conditioner that was in this house when we moved here. It was ANCIENT-- maybe from the 50's-- and worked fine. Mostly it was QUIET. Finally we did have to replace it-- we chose a brand new Friedrich's and it didn't cool as well, PLUS it was so loud that when the compressor kicked on, you had to turn up the volume on the TV.
If you can keep the older stuff working, lots of times those appliances are made of sturdier materials. Wouldn't you agree, Lou?
