KitchenAid Stand Mixer - Artisan Review

I have a 25 year old Sunbeam still chugging away after more than a decade of hard use.It got a vacation/ light duty when I bought the lift bowl stand mixer in 2008. Artisan looks beautiful  inthe colors & out performs someother stand mixers but has the same NYLON gears as mine that just died. Kichern Aid was made famous with chefs for durabilty from METAL GEARS..the Full-Metal Jacket of the kitchen.

My dead Kitchen Aid was going to take $100 plus to repair & I figured I'd just buy a new color Artisan & have a reserve. The first weeks of school I was making 3-4 batches of brownies & cupcakes a week in separate batches. That is easy duty for a powerful mixer like this. Now that I need to mix oatmeal or choclate chip cookies,the thing died. It never smoked or bogged, it just wouldn't turn on the next day. 

My dead Kitchen Aid was taken to repair shop & was going to be there a while.My husband went & got a pretty red Artisan as an early Christmas gift but when the Kitchen Aid factory help line told me it would be $100+ to repair & that the NYLON GEARS were common failures, I took it back unopened. If the new Artisan with the same motor as the dead one  lasted another 8 years, I waould be spending over $38 a year for the use. I need my next mixer to be a ONE TIME PURCHASE.

I wasn't planning on buying another 5 qt Kitchen Aid just 7 1/2 years after spending $199 plus $75 on attachments back then. Everything is more now & these new $299 mixers only have a 12 month warranty!

I looked at getting another brand like Sunbeam or Hamilton Beach which may have nylon gears but they charge UNDER $200. KitchenAid is trading on their name but not as good relaibilty wise as Viking, Bosch and other Pro lines that kept metal gears.

Yes, metal gears are louder but big deal. If you want METAL gears that will last a LIFE TIME, move up to the 5 PLUS  or Pro Kitchen Aid series which have 450 watts instead of 325 W or even the 6 qt 600 series with 575 watts. All attachments are interchangeable but bowls from different sizes may not be plus lift versus tilt head bowls are not interchangeable.

Sorry to burst the bubble about these new Kitchen Aid mixers; the cheaper nylon gears made them affordable but it is also planned obsolescence.

I have ordered the 6qt in Copper Pearl but really should not have spent the money right now.

Know what you are spending your $$$$$ on. Occasional bakers will love this but notice all the NON-WORKING ones for sale on Ebay.(Repairs on motor are $100 minimum according to Kitchen Aid customer service line), THey apparently have the same problem mine did.December 2008. On the up side, you can pick up spare bowls and attachments for the price of shipping on EBay.  

Caveat Emptor & Carpe Mixum (seize the mixer)!