Comment by iam-TJ
This is often due to the total costs being externalised (pushed off to others) and therefore not reflecting the true cost of the replacement nor the costs of (safe) disposal of the old unit.
Externalised costs such as emissions from manufacturing of new raw materials (metals, plastics, gases, etc.), transportation, disposal, and more.
Obviously it depends on what exactly fails. I've kept 'white goods' going for over 20 years despite:
1) known defect where Hotpoint Fridge/Freezer evaporator thermistor fails due to freeze/defrost thermal cycle. Replaced more than 10 times; cost of new thermistor is pennies; time to replace (after initial explore) 10 minutes.
2) Freezer control PCB misreading thermistor; replace PCB: UK£35.
3) LG Washing machine bearing failures; replaced about 6 times; time to replace (after initial explore): 45 minutes.
Society as a whole in many countries is losing (or has already lost) the ability to be self-reliant and that lack makes people and communities generally more fragile.
Self-reliance is one of the drivers of hackers and tinkerers.
I often develop feelings for the products I use (I know...). When I look at dishwasher I reminisce how many moments I had whilst standing next to it tirelessly working through my dirty dishes. I'll give it a tap. Sometimes I talk to it when loading like "Hey there, I got you some new stuff. Don't worry I'll feed you salt at the end of the week. Now I'll do your favourite program". Then once it finishes I say like "Oh what a great work you did there!" and so on. Then when it broke (the motor seized) I just wouldn't have heart to simply dispose of it. I sourced the motor and called in repair guy who installed it. It did cost me in total as much as I would pay for a new dishwasher, but I would never get the sense of feeling that I saved a friend.