My parents bought a new refrigerator in 1972 (a gold colored Kenmore). Over the years after my father died, I tried to get my mother a new one, but she refused to let me because her’s “worked just fine.” She still had it when she died in 2012. It still worked just fine. I wish I had held onto it, but I didn’t have anywhere to put it at the time, so we sold it with her house.
Meanwhile, every refrigerator I have purchased since the late 1990s has died after a few years. A circuit board will go out and it costs more to fix than to replace.
It wouldn’t be so bad if we didn’t lose hundreds of dollars worth of frozen food every time one craps out.
We now have a small freezer as an emergency back-up..........