The question every operator eventually faces is whether to fix a piece of equipment or cut losses and buy new. The industry rule of thumb is simple: if a repair costs more than about half the price of a comparable new unit, and the equipment is already past roughly 70 percent of its expected life, replacement is usually the smarter money. Under that threshold, repair almost always wins.

Expected life varies a lot by category. Ice machines and reach-ins tend to run 8 to 10 years, fryers around 10, dish machines and ranges closer to 13, and a well-maintained walk-in compressor can go 14 or more. A five-year-old range with a bad igniter is an easy repair. A twelve-year-old ice machine that needs a new evaporator and condenser is often a replacement in disguise.

Because we are a referral service and not a repair shop, we have no reason to steer you either way. The tech we match you with diagnoses the actual failure, and our free repair-or-replace tool runs the same math you would run yourself, so you walk into the decision with real numbers instead of a sales pitch.

If the repair tops about 50 percent of a new unit and the equipment is past roughly 70 percent of its life, lean replace. Otherwise, repair. Age and the specific failure decide it, not a salesperson.

Weighing a fix against a new unit? Run the free repair-or-replace tool. Line down right now? The emergency triage tells you how to buy time, then a vetted tech takes it from there.