Is your KitchenAid worth repairing? A simple way to decide

Start with the price

My prices are published and they do not change once I have quoted you, so you can do this sum before you contact anyone. A new tilt-head KitchenAid is about $380 to $630 in Canada, and a new bowl-lift is about $400 to $640. The repairs I do most are an oil leak fix at $100 and a full tune-up at $150.

Your old mixer may be the better machine

KitchenAid has changed the inside of its newer stand mixers to hold the price down. From what I see on the bench, the newer generation is less robust than the older one, and when a newer mixer fails, the parts that go are the expensive ones. An older KitchenAid that has been cleaned out, re-greased and given a new worm gear is a sturdier machine than a new one at the same price.

Age matters less than you think

A mixer that is 20 or 30 years old is often still a good machine. The oldest I have repaired was 33. Many older KitchenAid models are heavy and simple, and parts for most of them are still easy to find. To see how old yours is, use the serial number decoder.

Signs it is probably worth fixing

• It leaks oil or grease (see leaking oil)
• It grinds or whines (see grinding noise)
• The motor runs but the beater will not turn (see beater not turning)
• It runs at the wrong speed or will not switch off, which is a speed controller
• The power cord is damaged
• It works, but has never been serviced and is starting to feel rough

Signs it may not be

If your mixer is not worth repairing, I will tell you that before any work starts and only keep the diagnostic fee. I would rather say so than sell you work that does not make sense.

• Damage to the housing or the motor
• Several major faults at the same time
• A quote that gets close to the price of a new mixer

Sentimental mixers

A mixer that was your grandmother's is worth more than its price. If you want it working again, that is a perfectly good reason to repair it.