Had to pick between a used motor from a junkyard or a new one off the shelf, I chose wrong

Last Tuesday I was fixing this old Maytag dryer for a lady in Beaverton, the motor was shot and she wanted it cheap. So I had two options, drive 40 minutes to the salvage yard for a $35 used motor with no warranty, or order a new one for $180 and make her wait three days. I figured I'd save her money and grabbed the junkyard one, figured how bad could it be, right? Well it ran fine for about an hour on the bench, then the shaft started grinding like a bag of rocks. Took it back, the yard guy gave me another used one, same brand, and that one threw a thermal fuse within ten minutes. I ended up eating the gas cost and finally ordering the new one anyway, plus she tipped me $20 for the hassle. Anyone else ever try to cut corners on parts and just make the job take twice as long?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.margaret27d ago

Figured how bad could it be, right? That's the battle cry of every person who's ever replaced a part twice before finally buying the right one. Sounds like that dryer just wanted the $180 and wasn't going to accept anything less, even if it cost you a day and a tank of gas. Lesson learned, she got a working dryer out of it, and you got a story to tell at the station.

ivan_perez26d agoMost Upvoted

And I read somewhere that most appliance repair guys will tell you the same thing, the expensive part is usually the right one the first time and cheaper parts are just a gamble. So really, that dryer did you a favor, just a slow, frustrating one.