Most people will opt to buy the less expensive one every few years, either for economic reasons, or because they feel that it is a better deal to replace the $400 fridge every five years than to pay thirty times the price for a high-end/professional unit.

Unless they live to be 170+ (assuming they're 20 when they buy their own fridge) the $400 one every 5 years is definitely a better deal than one that lasts a lifetime and costs 30x as much.

"$10k+"

Do you think that's how much those refrigerators used to cost? They were "$100+".

This isn't a good comparison. No one in the working class and probably even the middle class can afford a 10k+ refrigerator.

Of course there are good quality products, but it's not like normal people can afford them anymore.

This is not what people "opt" to buy. This is all that people can afford to buy.

You don't need to go that far for a fridge. Just buy the most generic, ugly-ass freezer on the top unit without an icemaker or water dispensor. Almost every brand still makes one.

The primary failure modes of the current fridges are primarily related to the extreme lengths we go to in order to install ice makers in the door and freezers on the bottom. You put the freezer in the top with a temp sensor and just gate how much air is allowed to flow down into the fridge with a physical baffle, all you need to go right is a single pressure loop, a shitty compressor, a thermometer, a capacitor you can replace, maybe a PTC thermistor or a relay.

Clothes washers and dryers are an excellent use for your advice, though. You need to get something around the quality of a Speed Queen to get that done. Almost no features, sturdy buttons, and few electronics. But we want front-opening washers that require perfect seals and fancy door locks, with 200 options for every possible situation. Those door locks and gaskets wear down, and those horizontal drums don't stay balanced well.

Dishwashers are a whole different problem. Commercial versions are either specialized for a certain type of dish or are just a human with a dish rag and a sponge.

I have the most generic POS dishwasher. It fails every two years because the wash pump gives out. It has three timer cycles, a heated dry, a wash pump, a drain pump, a turbidity sensor, and a float sensor. Every two years, I pop onto Amazon and buy another $30 circulator pump, I can install it now in about 10 minutes and leave the wrench required to do it under the sink.

What's the cause? it's a 30/10 pump, supposed to run for 30 minutes and cool for 10. The washer runs it for 45/5 twice. I cannot get a direct replacement that can handle those constraints, so it eventually stops working or runs poorly enough to get the dishes clean, and I replace it.

I've considered replacing the brain with an arduino or a pi. Would be kinda cool to really lean into the turbitity sensor and just wash until clean or text me when it's done.

Do they come with a lifetime guarantee too? Because it'd be next to impossible for most working class people to spend that kind of money on a fridge; but even if they could, do they have a guarantee that it's not going to be broken trash in 5/10/20 years like a cheaper fridge?

If you spend 400€ at least you know you can afford to buy a new one when/if it breaks.

This is the debate we had when redoing our kitchen. It hurt me to add $8k to the bill (the difference) just for the fridge, but it really is genuinely a different experience. At least it came with a 6 year manufacturer warranty too.

The drawers glide smoothly on real hinges with a soft close, the shelves are individually lit and glass, what plastic there is is thicker and smoother. Everything is easy to adjust or remove for cleaning. It even has a cartridge that removes ethylene gas and produce stays noticeably much fresher.

And as a bonus, I got to support a union manufacturer in the US (subzero).

You don't even need to spend that much. A $2k fridge will last a very long time, especially if you properly maintain it.

Hell, my $600 appliances are still going strong after 8 years, and the only repairs I've had to make are on the dryer because my wife burnt out the coil by abusing it (dewrinkling one article of clothing by running it on high for 30min). But it was $30 for the coil assembly with replacement sensors included.