Disgusting Filthy Appliances

[Rich Riddle]

I pondered placing used appliances in the rental property we purchased. No matter what price point we considered, every single used kitchen appliance we looked at on Craigslist was utterly filthy. People said things like, "yeah it needs a cleaning," "it's a bit dirty," "I figured the new owner would need to learn how to clean it properly," etc. My comment to all of them was, "how can you live this filthy and think it's appropriate to sell this filth to others?" Some seamed surprised others didn't live that way. :eek:

[Dan Hintz]

Scratch and dent is the only way to go for rentals... Bray and Scarff is one of the local S&D places we've used in the past. It's odd they even call some of the items S&D. For example, the dishwasher we picked up for the last house was a S&D, but there wasn't a mark on it... the door skin was scratched when it was originally unloaded from the truck, but they replaced the skin before it was sold. Got a fat discount and received, for all intents and purposes, a new machine.

[Curt Harms]

Sears Outlet can be like that. No idea where anybody sees a scratch or dent.

[Yonak Hawkins]

You've got to treat your renters right if you want them long term. Next weekend I'll be building a storage shed for one of my renters. She's been with me 7 years and says she has no reason to leave.

[Brad Adams]

It's not the good renters you have to worry about. 75% of the apartments we work in are trashed. A lot of tenants don't care about the place since they don't own it.

[Jim Becker]

Rich.."scratch and dent" is your friend. New appliances with warranties and much lower prices.

[Jason Roehl]

It's not the good renters you have to worry about. 75% of the apartments we work in are trashed. A lot of tenants don't care about the place since they don't own it.

Since I started working at the county courthouse this year, I see an endless parade of people for whom personal hygiene is a foreign concept, and I would guess, by extension, that cleaning of their residence is treated similarly.

Prior to this job, I was a painting contractor for nearly 20 years. Every year, we would have 2-3 weeks of "apartment rush"--painting many apartments before the August onslaught of sheepskin-seekers. There is not much that can surprise me anymore with regards to how people live. I've pretty much seen it all. Heck, I've seen slums in 3rd-world countries that were cleaner...

[Chuck Wintle]

Renters do not really care about rental appliances..its human nature i suppose.

[Brian Elfert]

Personally, I try to treat everything like I own it even if it is a rental. I know plenty of people who do things to rentals that they would never do to their own stuff.

My buddy says he would never buy a former rental car as he thinks they all get abused just because he abuses rental cars. I think most rental cars don't get abused. A lot of them get driven by a business person to a hotel at the beginning of the week and then back to the airport at the end of the week. I've had good luck buying former rentals and so have my parents.

[Jason Roehl]

Personally, I try to treat everything like I own it even if it is a rental. I know plenty of people who do things to rentals that they would never do to their own stuff.

My buddy says he would never buy a former rental car as he thinks they all get abused just because he abuses rental cars. I think most rental cars don't get abused. A lot of them get driven by a business person to a hotel at the beginning of the week and then back to the airport at the end of the week. I've had good luck buying former rentals and so have my parents.


Most rental car companies clean and service their cars religiously, too. It would be pretty hard to drive a rental car hard enough to do damage to a modern driveline without attracting the attention of the local law enforcement.

[Brian Elfert]

If you saw what my friend did to rentals you might think otherwise. He'll drive across dry lake beds at full throttle and hit these little bumps at 80 MPH or faster which can't be good for the car. He has taken rentals on dirt back roads and bottomed them out on the roads. At least he buys the damage waiver.

[Bruce Page]

Speaking of buying used appliances, I was straight out of the Army and bought a very clean, used refrigerator to install into a duplex in SoCal I was renting. Unknown to me was the cockroach infestation inside the fridge :eek:. It ended up costing me more than a new refrigerator and several days of grief to clean up the mess.

I never bought used again.

[John Stankus]

If you saw what my friend did to rentals you might think otherwise. He'll drive across dry lake beds at full throttle and hit these little bumps at 80 MPH or faster which can't be good for the car. He has taken rentals on dirt back roads and bottomed them out on the roads. At least he buys the damage waiver.

One of the equipment techs I used to work with used to say "The only real off-road vehicle....a rental car" :)

[Moses Yoder]

I also try to stay clean. I am doing laundry right now and later on will shower and shave and put on some deodorant and cologne. I wipe down the kitchen whenever I use it. I have no idea why I do that, other than peer pressure; if you are not clean you are regarded as stupid or undesirable. I have no idea why that is, other than years of cultural influence. My clothes cover and insulate just as well when they are dirty. I grew up next to a chicken farm, I have never met a person that smelled that bad. Appliances work just as well dirty as clean so long as radiators and cooling fins are kept clear. What is the reason for being clean? What is the source of the objection to filth?

[Jason Roehl]

...I have never met a person that smelled that bad...

You really should hang out with me at the county courthouse for a while. Seriously. The bailiffs manning the security checkpoint at the entrance keep Lysol on hand. A couple weeks ago I could taste the Lysol on the 3rd floor after a particular individual came through. My shop door is right by the security station, and there have been a couple times I waited to leave the shop so that I didn't open the door and let the smell come in. Keep in mind that in the course of my job, I have to deal with snaking plugged drains that have backed up into a mop sink several inches. That smell is nothing compared to the eau de filth some people wear into the courthouse.