What if everything was as reliable as...

[Velma's Dad]

... a Dualit toaster!

Well, after 29 years I just had to do the second-ever strip-down of our 1989 Dualit 4-slice, after our eldest tried to ram in 2-inch thick crumpets and it blew the 13A circuit breaker in the cellar. I did have it apart once before, about ten years ago, to change two of the elements.



But in these throw-away days, what bit of kit in your life has given you the most reliable service? Okay if you have a T4, then that's obvious. But what else??

 

[GrannyJen]

Only 5 years old but given the sort of use, my Quest mini oven. It's been dropped, flooded, severely bent, almost run over falling out of the side door when I was repositioning on a campsite, had slight "overcooking" emergencies to deal with, 3 legs missing, and I am quite confident that my 4 cheese ravioli with a garlic baguette will be done perfectly tonight.

 

[Velma's Dad]

To be fair I've never taken our Dualit in the Cali, but I'm quite tempted, for those mornings on hook-up!

 

[larrylamb]

Snap, 20 years for our Dualit and still on original elements.
Also 20 years is our trusty Miele washer, still doing the business and with zero replacement parts, amazing.

This thread will now be the kiss of death for both of them I fear

 

[larrylamb]

Ours is “Grape Yellow”

 

[Sad]

I have, and regularly wear, a jumper from Matalan I bought 22 years ago?

 

[jqp]

I was tempted to say my T25 Westy - served me well for 32 years but now sadly up for sale.
But, on reflection, it has to be the Thetford PortaPotti: used for tent camping before we got the Westy. Now well over 40. New bellows/pump but otherwise original. I guess you will be pleased to hear it's not for sale - amazingly it fits nicely in the Cali between the driver's seat and the bed.
I confess I am very reluctant to bin anything that is repairable. I may even have some shirts older than the potti.

 

[westfalia]

Silver 2 slot one by us. 10yrs old, never missed a beat.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Silver 2 slot one by us. 10yrs old, never missed a beat.

Is that a toaster, or were you responding to @jqb about Portapottis?

 

[westfalia]

Is that a toaster, or were you responding to @jqb about Portapottis?

Ha Ha. Dualit.

 

[Hotel California]

My wife ....17y ownership now no parts beeing replaced so far up till now

We have a toaster by NOVA and still working good after 19y , my wife bought it before we where even together....
But maybe it has made less toast than yours ....you Brits and toasts

 

[jts46]

1965 Electrolux cyclinder vacuum cleaner, replaced motor once

 

[Borris]

A cast Iron wall mounted, manually operated, coffee bean grinder is just about the only thing to have lasted. We have had it since 1972 when it cost £2 from Argos. Everything else has gone west, thrashed, trashed or smashed.

We once had another contender. A wonderful vintage Hotpoint Empress top loading washer with a built in powered mangle. We bought it second hand after it had already done a lifetimes work. It was built like a brick built s#!t house with immaculate cream enamel about half an inch thick. In fact it was so well made that Harland and Woolf could have built it. Yes I know, they went out with the Arc but Mrs B has a thing about washing everything that doesn't move.....manually. I can still remember the "discussion" when I suggested buying one of those new fangled automatic washing machine things.
Anyway it met its demise when yours truely failed to secure it properly in our trailer when moving to a new address. It's last spin cycle was down the road at about 40mph bouncing on each corner like it had just left a Lancaster. When it came to rest it had changed to a curious spherical shape and I was given a jolly good talking too by a vexed Mrs B. We then had to buy a new automatic washing machine.

 

[rpevans99]

My yard brush - three new heads and two new handles in 20 years - going strong

 

[mccp]

Dualit toaster, 30+ years, just replaced the elements for the second time. To be fair, there are users in our family who abuse the toaster by jamming cutlery into it to extract their extra thick slices of bread, so we might have made it thus fa4 without changing any elements.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Dualit toaster, 30+ years, just replaced the elements for the second time. To be fair, there are users in our family who abuse the toaster by jamming cutlery into it to extract their extra thick slices of bread, so we might have made it thus fa4 without changing any elements.

Wooden toaster tongs are kinder to the toaster. We've had a pair for years, and sometimes family members actually use them rather than a fork.

 

[MattBW]

Interesting my newish Dualit hasnt impressed quite so much. it seems a bit hit and miss on the temp and on some days it won't go low enough to not burn the bread others it pops out half done. Seems like all modern white goods, build quality not what it was?

 

[westfalia]

Interesting my newish Dualit hasnt impressed quite so much. it seems a bit hit and miss on the temp and on some days it won't go low enough to not burn the bread others it pops out half done. Seems like all modern white goods, build quality not what it was?

You have to pop it up yourself on the ´real deal dualits´

 

[ArunAlec]

Interesting my newish Dualit hasnt impressed quite so much. it seems a bit hit and miss on the temp and on some days it won't go low enough to not burn the bread others it pops out half done. Seems like all modern white goods, build quality not what it was?

Seems true of many products! I'm a fan of Panasonic Bread Makers and have worn out a few over the years. Not down to any faults but just wear and tear.
But the latest model appears to e a backward step, lots of bad reviews.
There seems to be a general trend to continually update products until they bare no relationship to the original. Guess it's how designers justify their existence.

 

[burnercan]

I give you:

The Green Goblin



1974 and in that time has had a brake lever, a throttle cable, a back tire, a spark plug and even the odd oil change.. Not used daily, but two kicks and it'll take you where ever you want, whenever you want on what ever old gas happens to be in the tank. Not fast maybe, but with a big grin

 

[sidepod]

Apart from my beloved Snap On chest and contents, the one thing that springs to mind is the set of Le Crueset pans. In 30 years I’ve changed one handle and that was only because a certain mong left it on the stove!

Not a Dualit fan. Ours just burned everything. Seemed to have a mind of its own.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Apart from my beloved Snap On chest and contents,

I guess my most durable gear has actually been various tools that my Dad passed on to me. They've outlived most of the stuff I ever bought for myself. The spanners etc are all Imperial sizes, but I do still use them on my old Triumph.

 

[sidepod]

old Triumph.

My second car (first one fell over) was a Toledo! Still in therapy today.

 

[burnercan]

(first one fell over)

Robin??

 

[Velma's Dad]

My second car (first one fell over) was a Toledo! Still in therapy today.

I had a Herald, Spitfire and Dolomite Sprint. Nine of them particularly reliable. But at least the Herald and Spit had the merit of being a doddle to hoik the engine/gearbox out of, as the whole bonnet/front wings hinged forwards.

I rolled the Spitfire into a muddy field but after jacking the screen pillars up again and bashing out some dents she was good to go.

I now have a 1962 TR4.