Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I noticed in the ad for this kitchen combo that the stove has "permacoil" lifetime burners. I don't agree with that. Electric stove burners (and, of course, the oven's heating elements) do eventually burn out in time, depending on how much they are used. Either the ad for this Modern Maid combo unit was overhyped, or else the cooktop elements must have been made of incredibly thick wire that is guaranteed not to burn out for 50 years from the date the appliance is purchased.

I've never seen or heard of any electric stove with heating elements guaranteed to last a lifetime. The only way I can see the cooktop on this thing lasting more than, say, 20 years and still have its original elements when it was finally junked would be if the stove was not used much, "much" meaning only once every few weeks or so. Most stoves in homes with large families, of course, are used much more than that, so the Modern Maid combo's claim that the original burners will last a lifetime is probably, even likely, nothing more than advertising hooey. Some stoves have been kept going for years or decades by replacement of burned-out burners and/or oven elements (even though a 50-year-old stove in, say, avocado would look horribly out of date in a 21st-century kitchen, especially if a modern microwave oven is installed over or near the range), but to expect the original burners and/or baking elements to last anywhere near 50 years...well...

However, as others have mentioned, it is possible to keep these units going for years or decades by replacing old, worn-out components as necessary (as some VK members have done with old combo TV-radio-stereo units after the television develops expensive repair problems). As was mentioned, the dishwasher opening in the MM combo is a standard size, so almost any modern kitchen-size dishwasher will fit in it; as for the stove, as I said, the burners can be replaced when they eventually burn out, so it is conceivable that some of these old appliances will live on for a very long time, even after they are supposed to have been junked. The only drawback is that the styling will be out of date in modern kitchens, as I mentioned.