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Comment by ejb999 | Hacker News Reader

when I had my last kitchen remodel done (a modest one,but very nice), the builder that did it said with all his clients there is an inverse relationship between how much people spend on their kitchen and appliances, and how much cooking they do - i.e. the people who spend the most, actually do the least cooking, and vice-versa. In my own limited experience, I tend to agree.

I'll take an awesome cook (my spouse in this case) and a modest kitchen, over a modest cook and an awesome kitchen any day.

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I was appliance shopping recently and it seems like the most expensive appliances are often not the best. If you just want to cook, you're usually better off with a good LG or GE oven than with a Viking, which test notoriously poorly. Same with many consumer products - a Honda or Toyota will be more reliable with more convenience features than a BMW or Rolls Royce; a Chicco or Britax carseat is often safer, more comfortable, and more convenient than a Peg Perego; a Samsung or Apple smartwatch has a lot more features than a Rolex. A good rule of thumb I've had for getting good consumer products is to buy the high end of the mass market; don't skimp on budget items, but also don't buy products that are priced so the average person can't afford them.

Makes sense economically. Mass market manufacturers can amortize their R&D and quality control over many more units than luxury brands. The point of the luxury brand is explicitly countersignaling, showing that you can afford to spend more money on an inferior product.

> - a Honda or Toyota will be more reliable with more convenience features than a BMW or Rolls Royce

What convenience features? Is the Honda or Toyota really meaningfully more reliable during the first couple of years of ownership?

More cupholders, the ability to seat 3 carseats abreast, fabric rather than leather seats, better gas mileage, fits more easily in tight parking spots (and you care less if it gets dinged because you didn't pay $70K for it). Only thing the BMW really has on them is soundproofing (and probably acceleration & handling, but I don't care much about that).

And I care more about how reliable it is at > 10 years of ownership, not < 3 years (when nearly everything is reliable). My Honda Fit is coming up on 14 years old and runs like new.

Rich people probably only care about the first few years of ownership since after a few years they’ll upgrade the the newer model.

Right, but this subthread is explicitly about efficiency, i.e. getting value & quality for your money, and not about what's adapted to rich people's lifestyles. The context is people who cook a lot but don't spend a lot of money vs. people who cook only infrequently but spend a lot on kitchen appliances.

> Is the Honda or Toyota really meaningfully more reliable during the first couple of years of ownership?

It sounds like the comment you replied to was not about efficiency, but about rich people's preferences and whether they're justified.

Yes, many of the more expensive finishes are extremely cosmetic and have negative utility.

Stone backsplashes require frequent maintenance and special chemicals. If you don't stay on top of it, they are basically impossible to keep looking clean.

A lot of newer kitchens have wooden floors, which is insane.

I've seen kitchens with thin coated bright shiny copper/brass handles on everything which immediately tarnish and can never be maintained in new looking shape.

A lot of modern gas ranges are fairly hard to clean with lots of parts you have to remove, while a solid middle class electric glass countertop one is zero effort.

I once rented a place where the guy had wooden edges on the kitchen counters which of course aged poorly, plus a porcelain kitchen sink which immediately broke any glass wear that dropped even a couple inches while cleaning.. and was impossible to keep clean looking.

> A lot of newer kitchens have wooden floors, which is insane.

What's insane about this? I grew up in a pretty basic old house with a wooden floor in the kitchen, I don't recall it being an issue in any practical sense.

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