I can agree with the life span being very short on the new ones. We bought all new appliances when we moved into this house 7 years ago. We've replaced, hot water heater, put new parts on the KitchenAid range, microwave worked on twice, we replacing the ice maker as soon as the part gets here and now the Whirlpool Duet washer is leaking. We bought the Kitchen Aid appliances because we thought they would hold up better. Never again. I don't like the duet because it doesn't clean as well as my top loader I had before. That's just the way it is I guess.