Although hardly an age-old question, many consumers nonetheless puzzle over what to do with broken, sometimes old-age products: When, goes the dilemma, does it become more economical to replace a product whose warranty has expired than to repair it?

To aid these consumers, we offer this basic advice for off-warranty products that need professional repair: Toss any for which you paid less than $150, and nix any repair that costs more than half the price of a new replacement.

It doesn’t pay, for instance, to fix off-warranty toasters, countertop microwave ovens, cordless phones, CD players, VCRs, inkjet printers and conventional TV sets under 30 inches. As it is, many such products aren’t even serviceable.

Repairs, meanwhile, make the most sense for expensive products that recently have come off warranty. Given their price, you also should consider fixing some large TV sets (LCD flat-panel, plasma) even after six years and rear-projection sets after five years.

Consumers also should consider repairing a self-propelled, walk-behind lawn mower (gas-powered) that cost $500 or more new, even if it’s older than seven years.

Confirm need first

If you’re thinking along repair lines, take the following steps to ease the process:

¢ Be sure the product really is broken. The trouble may be a loose plug, improper wiring, a tripped circuit breaker or a bad surge-protector outlet. Products that rely on microprocessors tend to be especially quirky.

¢ Go by the book. Most instruction manuals have a troubleshooting section, and some manufacturers’ Web sites also provide help, including user forums and downloadable owners’ guides.

¢ Search for help online. Web sites can provide solutions to common problems and help you find parts, contact companies and understand how products work. Some useful sites we’ve seen are at www.repairclinic.com, www.pcappliancerepair.com and www.livemanuals.com.

¢ Contact the manufacturer. When we surveyed our subscribers last year about their experiences with repairing products, many said they had trouble getting through to the maker of the broken item. Of those who did get through, about a quarter complained about the service they received. Yet some who kept at it were rewarded: About 10 percent of readers who complained about a problem got an offer to fix or replace an out-of-warranty product free of charge.

¢ Consider factory or authorized service, but don’t dismiss independents. Even though manufacturers train authorized technicians and keep them updated on repair issues, independents can be good for off-warranty work, especially if the repair is easy and doesn’t involve proprietary parts from the manufacturer. (Ask whether the repairer is certified by a trade group, such as the Professional Service Assn. or the International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians.) Our readers were equally satisfied with the quality of work from both factory or authorized service and independent shops.

Consumers’ levels of satisfaction varied, however, with the type of product being repaired. Appliance repairs usually involved the fewest problems, according to our survey, while fixing digital cameras, camcorders, computers and lawn equipment proved more problematic. Nearly half of all digital cameras took more than two weeks to fix, and 43 percent of readers said those repairs cost too much, a higher percentage than with any other product.

Repairs on decline

Such dissatisfaction may partly explain why respondents to our 2004 survey reported repairing 16 percent fewer products than when we surveyed in 1997. Another reason is declining prices for new products: Although repair costs have remained relatively stable since 2000, prices for comparable new products in almost every category we analyzed have fallen, sometimes by hundreds of dollars.

Add to that consumers’ craving for newness – in TVs, for instance, high-definition and flat-panel sets make upgrades attractive – and the long-term cost savings that come of replacing elderly, power-hungry appliances with higher-efficiency new ones, and it’s easy to understand this growing temptation to toss.