Thread: car fridges

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

why are they so dam expensive? I looked at an Engel this morning for $2000.
I can buy a brand new 'beer fridge" for $200 and spend another $100 or so modifying it to suit my vehicle, Even if it cost $200 or more to modify it, whats the big deal with the car fridges? Enlighten me please.

Damn right. I can buy a small Chinese bar fridge at my local electrical shops for around $85-$100 and name brand one a bit larger for $220- $250. For the price of an Engel I can buy a ginormous double door domestic Fridge-Freezer.

What are they? An insulated box with a compressor and motor and some control gear, that's all.

Its like saying "Wedding" - the price just triples!

Camper trailers are my favourite price rip off....

Its a $1500.00 trailer with some **** stuck on it... Not a $30,000.00 object by any stretch - Yet cashed up people keep on buying them.....

not this lil black duck

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

why are they so dam expensive? I looked at an Engel this morning for $2000.
Enlighten me please.

I'm sure part of it is because as people keep repeating, you get what you pay for. Except that often when they say it, they don't realise that what they are paying for is the name.

I'm sure that in the case of the Engel, they are an established name and some people are prepared to pay for the name.

But one of the most important attributes of a car fridge IMHO is reliability.

I met a bloke in Broome whose Autofridge had carked it and he was buying a new Engel. He was not happy , as the nearest agent was thousands of ks away.

I agree that they are outrageously priced but you have the choice of a Chinese special, or a bar fridge if you like. The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.
My Engel is now 12 years old and going strong, and I do not begrudge the price paid , which was the same then as now, so they are much cheaper now in inflation adjusted terms.

They ar every robust even though they get surface rust. I doubt a bar fridge would lat one trip on corrugations, if the Dometic fridges in caravans are anything to go by.
Regards Philip A

Engels are like Toyota's,the ones you buy today aren't the same as the ones you bought 10 years ago.I have fixed many broken fridges and 9 times out of ten it's the battery system or poor airflow around the fridge or some other problem that caused the trouble,most if not all car fridges have the same parts that come out of the same Chinese factory. Pat

Originally Posted by PhilipA

[snip]
I doubt a bar fridge would lat one trip on corrugations, if the Dometic fridges in caravans are anything to go by.
Regards Philip A

They did once upon a time.

Back when I was a kid Dad fitted out a caravan for off roading (raised suspension, shockies, etc) to tow behind our 4WD and it went from NSW across the Nullarbor twice when it was still dirt and bulldust, all around the dirt roads of the south west, etc.

He fitted a normal Westinghouse bar type fridge running off a gennie fitted to the drawbar, and he was an Electrolux agent at the time
Oh, he also removed the condensing unit and fitted that to the drawbar too, running the suction and liquid lines all the way back to the fridge.

That little fridge lasted for years.

Oh, and I agree, the pricing is crazy but the importers will say it's economies of scale, etc, but I'd suggest someone is maximising their profit margin somewhere