My grandpa fixed his toaster 4 times in the 70s, my $45 one died after 9 weeks

Jessica Perez · 2026-10-11T16:40:03.88846+00:00

I was cleaning out my grandpa's garage in Toledo last weekend and found his old Sunbeam toaster with a repair tag on the cord from 1976, and he'd soldered the same heating element back together 4 separate times. Meanwhile my $45 toaster from Target lasted 9 weeks before one side quit heating and the store told me to just buy a new one. I stood there holding both of them and it really hit me how fast stuff is built to die now. He kept a little tin of screws and a soldering iron just for kitchen stuff, and I don't even own a screwdriver small enough to open mine. I get that a toaster shouldn't cost $200, but 9 weeks? Where do you all draw the line between fixing something and letting it go?

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My grandpa fixed his toaster 4 times in the 70s, my $45 one died after 9 weeks | Bought It, Broke It - nhfree.com