[Cronos]

The tariffs will be good for the environment. And create scores of new 1 person repair businesses

[HIDEK6]

They’re not Trump’s tariffs, they’re our tariffs.

WWII reconstruction is over.

[PeterPrinciple]

When our phones, washing machines, or jeans show even a remote sign of wear, the path of least resistance is to replace them.

---

darn it................

I mean

darned; darning; darns
Synonyms of darn
transitive verb

1
: to mend with interlacing stitches
2
: to embroider by filling in with long running or interlacing stitches

[US_MilitaryRules]

Sounds great to me! I usually repair all things around my home and shop. Friend once told me “If man built it we can repair it!” So I do.

[PeterPrinciple]

Any repair you do is self employment.

Hire some one to change your oil, (illustration) Cost you $50 of after tax income so you need to earn $66.

No taxes paid on your repairs improvements you do your self. A good way to get ahead financially.

[Red Badger]

When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, there were actual repair shops that did appliances, TVs, Radios etc. Just like “Emmett’s Fix-It Shop” on the Andy Griffith Show....................

[blackdog]

I fix everything I can, which is most everything. If I can't fix it, I repurpose it.

A question on Tariff outrage among uninformed Americans......If PepsiCo, Nestlé, or Sara Lee, want to sell their products in Kroger Stores, they have to pay a fee for the shelf space in order to have consumers access their marketed products inside a Kroger Store.

How is this long, Long, standing practice not the same as Tariffs as Trump wants to impose? How come nobody is coming unraveled over Mattel paying Target for the added costs for Barbie dolls shelf space? Coca Cola is adding those shelf fish space costs onto every bottle or can of soda. Sara Lee is adding those shelf space fees into the cost of every loaf of bread.(Granted, it's mostly chemical bread)

Is my thinking off?

[BBB333]

“It’s better for Apple if you buy a brand-new $900 iPhone than spend $90 on a new battery or give $25 to some small local shop to replace your cracked screen”

---

Author has NO concept of reality. Broken screen is $400.00.

[alloysteel]

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without. Old Yankee philosophy, it has served the nation well in times of scarcity and want.

On the short term, at least, we are headed for some of that.

[dfwgator]

Rewire America Again!

[Maine Mariner]

Sixty years ago a friend of my parents told me “If you know how to fix things, you will never be without work!” He was right then and he is right now. The people who fix things have a market niche. There are still people that repair and recondition typewriters, film cameras, etc.

[stevio]

Amen. Bring back Radio Shack!

[Macoozie]

Cracked the coffee pot-
Similar new machine is $75.
Replacement coffee pot is $35.

It’s all about choices.

[Dr. Sivana]

Counterintuitively, the green movement is a MAJOR factor in "rip out and replace". Taking lead out of solder, and other materials out of circuit boards weakens connections and shortens the lifespan. Making all powered devices, not just cars, use smaller, lighter parts, make them wear out faster, and repairs more expensive. My mother's 1950s wring Maytag ran into the 1980s and was only replaced when the bottom of the porcelain tub wore out. Cars actually need many repairs less often. They are just harder and more expensive. Replacing the fuel pump on a 1966 Dodge Dart took ten minutes and ~$30 (easy as replacing an in-line fuel filter), compared to hours and north of $600 today, but the new ones wear out less frequently and probably work better for the engine. On the other hand, the bodies are less prone to rust. People DO use 1980s cars and especially trucks here in Phoenix as daily drivers. No one was using 1930s cars as daily drivers in the 1970s.

Changing technology creates new issues. I finally threw out an old flip-phone because 2G is GONE. I tossed what was a nice Olympus digital camera, because the one in my iPhone 7 (bought used) is much better, and I already had the phone. If someone bought a large Curtis-Mathiss TV (before they became a K Mart brand) thinking they would hold onto it like a Maytag Washer, the amount of money spent on getting it to run with digital, current Cable/satellite, disc players etc, could well exceed the cost of a bigger, flatter, better LG flat screen.

Good luck finding small, cheap rerplacements for broken feet on a high end computer keyboard from the OEM! I had to go to ebay and get one from someone who 3D printed them (works fine).

The articles point that a mindset change is needed is well-taken, though. Americans have to be willing to shell out more not only for mostly USA made and greater reliability, but also reparability and upgradeability.

[PittsburghAfterDark]

It’s very tough to even want to attempt a repair. How do you justify a $150 diagnostic on a $300 TV? Then actually pay to repair it?

Same thing with a refrigerator. I had to replace the seal on a Samsung refrigerator and the stupid magnet strip cost $150-175 and about that much to have someone put it in. That on a $900 refrigerator. If the compressor went that would have been $300+ for the part and $200 to put it in.

The problem is repairing items is far too expensive vs. replacement.

[Bob434]

[[It used to be the case that people had limited amounts of stuff, and when whatever stuff they did have broke, they fixed it]]

Whatchamean “used to be”? I’m wearing 30 year old clothes, (s9me patched up, some still pretty nice) using 80 yr old+ garden tools and mechanical and carpentry tools, using a 20 year old washing machine that has been repaired numerous times, etc etc etc.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Remember when you used to go get your shoes re-soled? Do they even do that anymore?

[Bon of Babble]

Stuff is made so crappy now that it wears out after five or seven years, especially household appliances.

The generation before mine, my dad’s, fixed everything themselves - because they couldn’t afford to replace expensive appliances.

My dad came off a farm and could fix almost anything and worked on all of our cars saving us a ton of money.

I miss him to this day.

[GingisK]

I have been wondering if it would be wise to design and sell replacement uP boards for appliances. I know for a fact that appliances are simple to control and what they charge for replacement circuit boards is 100X their actual worth. Replacement controls might be a good business, keeping older appliances running.