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307 points MBCook | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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bunderbunder ◴[] No.42151125[source]
I'd love to see some sort of multiple regression or ANOVA on this, instead of singling out a single variable. Is car brand really the best independent predictor? Or is it specific design decisions you tend to see in certain brands?

(Like, say, maximizing driver distraction by consolidating a bunch of essential controls and information displays into a touchscreen display that's really difficult to operate when it's sunny outside. Just to pick something at random, of course.)

Somewhat related, I was recently shopping for refrigerators, and fell down a data rabbit hole. If you just look at the overall style of fridge, French doors look like a terrible option from a reliability perspective. But then, digging in a bit more, it turns out that's kind of a spurious correlation. Actually it's the presence of bells and whistles like through-door ice dispensers that kill a refrigerator's reliability. And then perhaps on top of that the amount of extra Rube Goldberg machine you need to make a chest height ice dispenser work in a bottom-freezer French door refrigerator creates even more moving parts to break. But a those problems don't apply to a model that doesn't have that feature.

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bonestamp2 ◴[] No.42151717[source]
My fridge has been repaired twice, the first time within its first year. Both times, each repair guy said the same thing: Avoid LG and Samsung. Avoid counter depth. I have no idea if that's accurate, so I'm curious if your data dive backs up either of those notes?
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BLKNSLVR ◴[] No.42152160[source]
What is "counter depth"?
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1. duderific ◴[] No.42152250[source]
It's a shallower style refrigerator, that doesn't "stick out" past the depth of the counters next to it.
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2. EasyMark ◴[] No.42154662[source]
maybe that's why my 12 year old samsung fridge seems fine. no repairs yet, but I've been expecting it to die anyday according to the internets. of course it could also be that samsung is the most popular brand for fridges in the USA
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3. mathgeek ◴[] No.42156633[source]
I assume the issues with counter depth and reliability are due to them not compromising mich on internal volume (thus reducing the heat dissipation ability around the compressor). Most folks are going to buy purely based on volume inside. Compressor failing was what killed our Samsung but at the end of the day these appliances are cheap enough to let folks choose what they value.
4. riffraff ◴[] No.42167714[source]
My Samsung fridge (in Europe) died after 12 years, and the tech guy said it actually lasted more than average as they used to have some experimental compressor back then.

But he also said they have since improved that, and indeed, now samsung fridges come with a 20 year warranty on their compressor.