I am on my third iron in 18 months. The problem is me! My ironing board is set up in the dining room, on the way to the bathroom. I have bumped it twice and knocked the iron off of it twice. My husband glues the pieces back together, they work, but they leak like crazy. I have an aversion to working with a malfunctioning electric appliance and water, so I replace the broken iron with the cheapest one I can find.
My latest iron does have the safety feature where it turns off after 8 minutes of non-use. I like that because I have been known to forget to turn the iron off. It's a little bit of a pain to wait for it to warm up, but it's worth it to me to feel a little bit safer.