The arithmetic, not a verdict
Repair or replace
Two numbers decide this, and both of them are printed further down the page. Nobody should have to take a repair shop's word for which way it goes.
The rule people arrive with
The half-of-replacement rule — if the repair comes to more than half of buying the appliance again, buy the appliance again — is a rule of thumb, and it was written for equipment that stands on a floor and can be wheeled out of the room.
A built-in is not that. It is trimmed into an opening cut for it, often behind a panel hung to match the run of the kitchen. Replacing one is the appliance, plus delivery, plus installation, plus whatever the millwork needs when the new cutout does not match the old one. The rule still applies. The number on the replacement side of it is simply much larger than people expect, which is why the ratio so rarely lands anywhere near half.
What the two sides actually are
On the repair side, our band for the part that failed. On the replacement side, a comparable thermador wall oven, rangetop or column, appliance only — before delivery, installation or cabinetry. national appliance pricing, not florida labour. Both tables are below, and the second one is deliberately the appliance only: on the day you replace a column or a wall oven, the invoice is longer than that.
Both sides of the comparison
What does each side cost?
Flat $80 to diagnose, credited to the repair. The first table is what the finished repair has been costing, parts and labor together. The second is what the same appliance costs to buy again, appliance only.
| What failed | Cost, fitted |
|---|---|
| The diagnostic visit | $80, credited |
| Igniter, spark module or surface element | $200–$500 |
| Oven thermostat or temperature sensor | $170–$570 |
| Bake or broil element | $200–$530 |
| Convection fan or motor | $250–$660 |
| Control board or touch panel | $410–$1,010 |
| Door hinge, glass or seal | $180–$700 |
| Refrigeration column sealed system | $910–$2,270 |
| Replacing it instead | Appliance only |
|---|---|
| Wall oven, the usual repair-or-replace comparison | $4,200–$9,500 |
| Professional rangetop or range | $5,500–$14,500 |
A band, not a quote. Which part failed, whether the appliance has to come out of its cabinet to reach it, and whether the sealed system is opened all move the figure inside it, so the firm number is written down once the fault has a name. Written estimate before any part is ordered or fitted. The whole price book is on the pricing page.
Which one you get is a diagnosis
Three answers
What moves the answer, and what does not
- What failed, rather than how old it is. Age is a proxy. The question that decides the outcome is whether the expensive part of the machine has already been opened.
- Whether the installation was ever right. A condenser boxed in during a later remodel, or an opening cut short, will fail the next part the way it failed this one. Replacing the appliance without correcting that buys the same problem again at $4,200–$14,500.
- Whether the opening will carry a current unit. In the Riverside, Avondale, Ortega and Old Mandarin retrofit belt the cutout is frequently a few millimetres short of anything made now, and that is cabinetry work stacked on top of the appliance.
- Not a brochure lifespan. We do not publish an average we have not measured. What the trade generally observes is that built-in equipment outlasts freestanding equipment, and that history beats age as a predictor of the next failure.
The whole price book is on the pricing page, the cover on the warranty page, and the order a diagnosis runs in on how it works. What we repair is listed under what we fix.
Asked before the estimate is signed
When is repairing clearly the right call?
When one named component has failed and the cabinet has no history behind it. Every band in our book except the sealed system runs $170–$1,010 fitted, against $4,200–$14,500 to buy the appliance again before delivery, installation or cabinetry. That is not a close comparison, and it is nowhere near half.
When is it genuinely a judgement call?
When the sealed system is the fault. $910–$2,270 fitted against a replacement at $4,200–$14,500 still favours the repair on paper, but a cabinet that has already had that repair once is a different bet. The reasoning goes in the written estimate rather than into the sale.
When do you say not to repair it?
When the estimate closes on replacement and the cabinet has a history: a sealed system opened before, boards changed more than once, an opening that never let the condenser breathe. You paid the $80 diagnostic for an answer, and sometimes the answer is stop. It is written down either way.
Does the $80 diagnostic count toward either decision?
It is credited to the repair if you approve one. If the honest answer is replace, it has bought you a named fault and a figure to carry to whoever sells you the next appliance. Written estimate before any part is ordered or fitted. Nothing is ordered before you have seen a number.
Written estimate before any part is ordered or fitted. If it says the appliance is not worth the work, that is what it says, and the $80 you paid has bought a named fault you can carry to whoever sells you the next one.
After the decision
What owners said once the choice was made
★★★★★
The oven was reading well below what it was set to and every roast suffered for it. He probed a full cycle, changed the sensor and probed again. The difference that first evening was obvious to everyone at the table.
Lachlan P.
★★★☆☆
The column needed a sealed-system repair and the wait for parts was long. The work itself was careful and it holds temperature now, but I would have liked more contact from the office while we were waiting.
Ambrose T.
★★★★★
The door had stopped sealing at one corner and steam was creeping out onto the cabinetry. He adjusted the hinge tension, fitted a new gasket, and the cabinet edge has stayed dry ever since.
Sylvester W.
Get the fault named before you decide. Call (904) 395-4339 Request a visit
