I Can't Buy a New Stove for $200

A couple weeks ago my oven started acting up.  It just didn't seem to be heating properly.  I put dinner in the oven one night and walked away.  About an hour later, I got back into the kitchen, figured dinner should be hot and ready to eat - and the oven was cold!  I turned it off and turned it back on, and it seemed to work OK then, but dinner was way behind schedule.  After that, sometimes it would work and sometimes not, but I'm not sure it ever got up to the correct temperature.  Then this week I noticed that the bottom element wasn't heating at all.  I would say you don't realize how much you use your oven until it doesn't work, but that's not true.  I know I use it.  A lot.  It has to be fixed.

So, I started calling about having someone come and check it, and hopefully get it fixed.  It's really hard to get an idea of how much it's going to cost for something like this, but it seems like they're all pretty much the same, so I finally scheduled one to come out and look at it.  We were thinking the element just went out, and we'd have to replace that.  Except that when he got here, he tested the element, and it tested just fine.  So he started testing things only to find out that it's the computer board that has the problem, or at least the part of the board that controls the bake element.  That part he did not have with him or know how much it would cost, or even if it was still available since my stove is about 12 years old, so he had to get back to me on that.

Well, he called back today, and the part is over $150.  Together with the labor to install it, it will cost us at least $200 to get it fixed - in addition to the money we already paid for him to come out yesterday and check it.  My first thought was, "Is it really worth putting the money into fixing a 12 year old stove?"   Or would it be better to put that money toward buying a new stove?  I didn't actually ask the question, but Dave, the owner/repairman said that he would recommend fixing our stove because it's in good shape, and the new ones aren't built to last like this. Jeffrey stopped at an appliance store on the way home from work yesterday, and the lady at the store had told him the exact same thing.  Besides that, even if a new one would probably last as well and as long, we certainly can't buy one for anywhere near $200.

So I talked to Jeffrey and called Dave back and told him to go ahead and order the part, and he'll call me when it comes in to schedule a time to come out and install it.  He said it shouldn't take too long to get it.  And then I'll be able to bake again!