I had to buy a new washing machine a few years back, because one of the bearings broke. This is not a particular expensive part - I would probably be able to so

I had to buy a new washing machine a few years back, because one of the bearings broke. This is not a particular expensive part - I would probably be able to source parts for approximately 50$ Unfortunately, the manufacturer had glued everything together, so I wouldn't be able to replace the broken part, but had to replace the entire drum, which raised the price to 600$ I decided to pay for a new washing machine instead, which cost me 800$, because other parts of the machine might be close to breaking as well, which would require additional expensive repairs due to everything being glued The machine was five years old at that point and the one before died after five years as well, so all in all the maintenance cost for a washing machine is approximately 120$ per year (2*600/10) If I had been able to extend the life of the machine by just 1 year with new bearings, that would still be a financial win, since 50$<120$ The cost of repairs are high because manufacturers prevent people from replacing the "cheap" parts of the appliances. If I have to pay 200$ more upfront, but I can double the lifetime of the appliance, that's a big saving for me Not to mention, that governments could create tax incentives, like making repairs deductable or lowering taxes on spare parts, which will make the financial incentive even stronger Edit: I apparently can't math - my current "maintenance" price is not 120$, but 160$ per year, as the cost of replacement is 800$, so the calculation should be 2*800/10