Fix it or replace it? Divide by the years, not the price
Fix It or Not, AI-assisted writing ยท
Overview
Fix it or replace it? Most people compare the repair quote with the price of a new one. The number that decides is a different one: how many more years the repair buys. Divide each option by the years it gives you, and the answer usually stops being close [1].
Price per year, not price
A repair and a new machine are both purchases of time. The repair buys a few years for a small sum; the new machine buys many years for a large one. Accountants compare assets this way and call it the equivalent annual cost [2]. For a household, it is simply: what does each option cost per year of use?
For the washing machine, €180 for 3 years is €60 a year, and €550 for 10 years is €55 a year [1]. The cheap-looking repair is the slightly dearer way to wash clothes. Change the 3 to 4 and it flips: €45 a year, and the repair wins [1].
The flip point
Every case has one repair quote at which the two options cost the same per year. Below it, fix; above it, replace. It is the years the repair buys times what the new one costs per year [1]. For the washing machine that is 3 × €55 = €165. The €180 quote is just over it.
That is why the years matter more than the haggling. Knocking €20 off the quote moves the cost per year by about €7. A repair that buys two years instead of three moves it by €30 [1].
What about the 50% rule?
You will often hear: never spend more than half the price of a new one on a repair. It is a fair alarm bell and a poor judge. On the washing machine it says fix (€180 is a third of €550), yet fixing costs more per year. Turn it round: a €350 repair to a €550 dryer that then runs eight more years breaks the rule and still wins, at €44 a year against €55 [1]. The rule compares two prices and ignores two lifetimes.
Running costs change the answer
A new appliance can also be cheaper to run. Subtract those yearly savings from its cost per year before comparing. A €400 repair that keeps a fridge going for six years costs €67 a year. A €1,000 fridge that lasts twelve costs €83 a year, but if it saves €30 a year in electricity it really costs €53, and replacing wins [1].
| Case | Fix, per year | Replace, per year | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washer: €180 repair, 3 years; €550 new, 10 years | €60 | €55 | Replace, narrowly [1] |
| Same washer, repair buys 4 years | €45 | €55 | Fix [1] |
| Dryer: €350 repair, 8 years; €550 new, 10 years | €44 | €55 | Fix [1] |
| Fridge: €400 repair, 6 years; €1,000 new, 12 years, saves €30 a year | €67 | €53 | Replace [1] |
The formulas are fix per year = repair ÷ years bought, and replace per year = new price ÷ new life − yearly savings. Left out on purpose: interest on cash kept, resale value, and the chance the repair fails early. That last one is the big one, so shorten "years bought" if the repairer hesitates.
Check yourself
A €90 repair to a €300 vacuum buys one year; a new one lasts six. Fix or replace? Replace: fixing costs €90 a year and replacing €50 [1].
Why does halving "years bought" matter more than getting €20 off the quote? Because the years sit underneath the division: going from four years to two doubles the cost per year, while €20 off a €180 quote changes it by about a tenth [1].
The appliances are illustrations with round numbers, not quotes. This bench sheet for fixitornot.com was written with AI and checked by hand; every figure in it was computed, and the box above recomputes the ones that depend on your numbers.