[awhitby]

One obvious thing is that some people are probably toasting a slice a week and others half a dozen a day. The parts don’t time out, they wear out, so that really matters.

Another is that being cheap, there’s probably quite variable quality.

So it’s not that surprising that experiences vary.

[Cthulhu_]

"Wear" is exactly right; most toasters have a pretty crude design involving hot glowing wires, springs and an electromagnet that jolts the whole thing pretty violently when it's finished. Just the glowing wires will fail after a while, even if you make them extra thick.

(That said we have a basic model secondhand toaster that gets used multiple times a week for the past six years and it's still fine... although some of the glow wires don't work).

[account42]

How does the coord wear out though? Surely it's not getting hot enough for that so the only wear would be if you constantly bend or pull it.