Almico wrote:But that's not my gripe. My gripe is that I see so many of these expensive machines being restored when they are only 10-15 years old, some much less. In my world if a company is saying that our "1 cubic foot boxes with a few pipes and electronics inside" is built so well that we are going to charge $6000 for it, how come they need an overhaul so soon? At that price they should last 30 years.

You aren't really being fair. Fuel is designed to clean and lubricate, and engines still require regular service. Water at 120c can be corrosive and will leave deposits.

Espresso machines can be quite expensive due to their low-volume and specialized nature, but you can't claim they are poorly built. Nothing will survive fifteen years of superheated steam and 9bar of pressure without maintenance.

Also note that most "restorations" are just cleaning and replacement of rubber seals.

Almico wrote:I'm not down with the whole car analogy thing. A car is a much more complex set of systems than a boiler with a couple of tubes. At least not comparing a commercial machine to a Ferrari. More likely a Ford F250 pickup truck, I would think. In my mind, in a commercial setting, they should be built like a workhorse and be relatively maintenance free. When my car needs service I can drive it to the shop and rent a car if need be. What do I do with my 3 group, 200# behemoth when it needs major service?

And most routine car maintenance is relatively inexpensive and can be done by oneself, if a little handy. I just replaced plugs, fuel injectors, MAF sensor, ignition coils, wires and brakes on my sons 1994 Mercedes C280. It took a few hours. The car is 22 years and runs like a top. It only has 97,000 miles and was not driven for many years before he bought it. It likely was left out in the cold, but strangely does not need a complete overhaul. It does not need head gaskets, transmission seals or have any other issues that would prevent it from doing its job.

Car analogy aside, maybe better then to step back one step, to the premise of the question. "Why do expensive espresso machines need restoration so soon?"

I have a Cremina espresso machine that is around 30 years old that has had no maintenance other than a gasket on the group. That is pretty maintenance free for a consumer machine, and for home use it is a relatively expensive machine. I also use an expensive commercial Rancilio multi-group machine in a shop setting that has been pulling 100-200 shots a day or more for the past 4 years and also never needed any maintenance other than a group head gasket. I see no indication that expensive espresso machines necessarily need restoration that frequently, from my personal experiences.

I suspect the reason some of these expensive machines need restoration after 10-15 years is due to the owner not caring for the machine the way it should be cared for.

A Dutch member of a barista forum bought a Kees van der Westen several years ago through ebay Germany, took the whole machine apart and spent weeks cleaning and descaling the machine, which had a boiler that was practically coated with scale.

Since, as someone as mentioned already, Kees provides an instruction and maintenance manual with his machines, the only thing I can imagine is that the previous owner of that very, very expensive machine didn't believe in maintenance. Or he expected the machine to be self-maintaining.

My first espresso machine (after working with professional machines) was a tiny secondhand Rio d'Oro from Jura. The seller of this refurbished machine offered 6 months of warranty and told me that it could last for another six years if I maintained it well. It lasted for more than twelve years before breaking down.

I bought several secondhand espresso machines to 'restore' them. In most cases, replacing gaskets and descaling the boiler and pipes is enough to get the machines in working order again.

I think many owners fail to understand that professional machines need daily maintenance and care. And the less you use a machine, the more maintenance it requires. That seems counter to logic, but whether you make one espresso per day or fifteen, you still have to flush the system. If you allow the boiler to re-boil the same water days in a row because you only drink one espresso per day, your boiler will accumulate scale faster than if you rinse the boiler every day, et cetera. Put that espresso machine away for a few weeks without cleaning and the thing will barely function after a year.

Cleaning and maintenance is key, whether you have a 100$ machine or a 10,000$ machine.