The comparison
Repair it or replace it, with the sum written out
Two tables and one piece of arithmetic. Nothing on this page is an opinion about your kitchen until we have seen it.
What the comparison actually is
People ring asking whether a repair is throwing good money after bad, and the honest answer is that it depends on two numbers and one judgement. The first number is what this particular fault costs to put right. The second is what the same appliance costs to buy again. The judgement is about everything else on the machine that is the same age as the part that just failed.
We can give you both numbers before you spend anything beyond the $80 diagnostic, and both of them are published on this site rather than quoted down the phone. The judgement is what the visit is for.
What does the repair side of it cost?
The diagnostic is $80, flat, and it comes off the bill. After that, the repairs we are actually called out to in Mandarin land between $180 and $1,080, parts and labour together. The firm figure is written down after the diagnosis and before anything is ordered.
| What turned out to be wrong | Usual range |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic visit | $80 flat, credited |
| Igniter or spark module replacement | $200–$510 |
| Control board or touch panel | $430–$1,080 |
| Oven thermostat or temperature sensor | $180–$560 |
| Convection fan or motor | $270–$700 |
| Door hinge, glass or seal | $190–$680 |
| Burner valve or orifice service | $220–$700 |
Ranges, not quotes. Two ovens with the same symptom can part company on the part number, and a retrofit opening can add an hour before a tool comes out of the bag. Nothing is ordered until the figure is in writing. The whole price page sets out how a job is priced.
And what does buying it again cost?
A comparable Wolf range, rangetop or wall oven, appliance only — before delivery, installation, ventilation or cabinetry. National appliance pricing, not Florida labour.
| Instead of repairing | Appliance alone, new |
|---|---|
| Wall oven or built-in oven, the usual repair-or-replace comparison | $5,200–$10,500 |
| Dual-fuel or gas range, 36 inch and up | $8,500–$16,500 |
That column is the appliance on a pallet. In Mandarin it is rarely the whole bill. Many Mandarin kitchens were built before the built-in era, so a 48-inch dual fuel range is usually a retrofit. Cabinet width, floor structure and a dedicated circuit all become part of the job.
The 50 percent rule, run against those two tables
The rule of thumb people arrive with says stop repairing once the repair costs half of a replacement. It is a reasonable rule and it is worth running properly, because run properly it almost never fires on a built-in cooking appliance.
Half of $5,200 — the cheapest comparable appliance in the table above, before delivery, fitting or cabinetry — is $2,600. The dearest single repair in our book, at the very top of its range, is $430–$1,080. It takes 4 separate repairs landing on one appliance at once, each at the top of its band, $3,160 together, before the pile passes that line.
Every row in our book sits under it on its own. That is the arithmetic, and it is why the answer is usually repair. The rule earns its keep somewhere else: on what the appliance is likely to ask for next.
Three answers, and which one you are in
When the repair is clearly worth it
One part has failed on an appliance that is otherwise behaving. The cooktop lights, the cavity holds temperature, the doors sit true, and one identifiable thing has stopped. That is the common case, it is the case the bands above were written from, and there is no version of the comparison where buying a new appliance wins it.
When it is a judgement call
Two or three things are tired at once — a control that has been intermittent for a year, a door that has needed a shove since the spring, a burner that only behaves when it feels like it. Each is repairable and each has its own band. Fixing them one at a time over two years is the expensive way to find out they were all the same age. We will tell you what we can see, including the faults you did not ring about.
When it is not worth it
The part no longer exists. That is the honest end of the road on a built-in appliance and it has nothing to do with the machine's age in years: a control generation goes out of supply and everything that depends on it goes with it. We say so at the diagnosis rather than ordering hopefully, and you pay the $80 to have found out and nothing more.
The other version of this one is damage rather than wear. A cabinet fire, a flood, or a machine that has been apart before and reassembled with what was to hand — those we look at and say plainly whether there is a repair in it.
What you are buying when you choose the repair
Labour is warranted for 90 days and parts for 365 days, and the parts are genuine OEM. The band you land in is written down before a part is ordered, and the $80 comes off it. The price page sets out how a job is priced from the first phone call, the warranty page sets out what the cover does and does not include, and the appliance pages go through what each family actually does when it fails.
More of the questions people ask before they decide are answered on the questions page, and the notes take a handful of faults apart in detail. No page on this site carries a figure that is not in the two tables above.
What people ask once the numbers are in front of them
- How do you decide when a repair stops being worth it?
- Three things, in this order: what the diagnosis says the fault costs, what else on the appliance is visibly near the end of its life, and what replacing it would actually involve in that kitchen. One failed part on a sound appliance is a repair. Three tired ones at once is a conversation.
- Does the replacement figure include fitting it?
- No — it is the appliance alone. A comparable Wolf range, rangetop or wall oven, appliance only — before delivery, installation, ventilation or cabinetry. National appliance pricing, not Florida labour. The opening, the gas run, the duct and the circuit were all built around the old machine, and in Mandarin kitchens that is where the rest of the money goes.
- Is a twenty-year-old one worth repairing?
- Age on its own decides nothing here; parts supply does. If the part still exists and the rest of the appliance is sound, the repair stays far and away the cheaper side of the comparison. When a control generation has gone out of supply we say so rather than order hopefully and charge you for the wait.
- What if I decide to replace it after all?
- Then the $80 is what you paid to find out, and there is nothing further. We do not sell appliances, we take nothing from anyone who does, and we do not quote for installing one. Say so on the phone and we will tell you what to measure before you order.
Owners who had this decision to make
4.6 out of 5 from 75 published reviews
Our hood roared and moved nothing. He went up into the attic, found the duct crushed behind a brace and the roof cap matted shut. He cleared both and explained why a house built this tight needs somewhere to draw replacement air from.
Corinne E.
One zone read every pan as if nothing were on it. He tested the other three, changed the sensing coil under the bad one, and left the whole top working the way it is meant to.
Bertram F.
We use the steam oven more than the range and it had started leaving everything damp and underdone. The temperature probe was reading high. He replaced it and the cooking has been predictable since.
Trevor M.
Ring before you order a new one
Tell us the symptom and the appliance. If what you describe is at the end of the road, you will hear that on the phone rather than after a visit.
A flat $80 covers the visit and the diagnosis, and it comes off the bill if you go ahead with the repair.
You get the price in writing before any part is ordered or any tool comes out of the bag.
Labour is warranted for 90 days and parts for 365 days, and the parts are genuine OEM.
Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 6:00pm. Saturday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Closed Sunday.