Statistically, the evidence is overwhelming that the most cost-effective way to repair your machine is if it is professionally diagnosed first. We always knew this, but now we’re happy to have the data to back it up!

Frequently, we’re asked to perform repairs on machines we have not diagnosed ourselves. Naturally, we’re happy to do this, but do caution against it as well. We get it, no one likes spending money needlessly, and the perception is that the diagnosis is a “waste” of money, but is it really? What exactly are you getting for that diagnosis, and can that diagnosis save you money? We believe it does, because we’ve seen it happen, time and time again.

We generally find that people ask this question fall into three categories:

1. They had another company out to diagnose it, they didn’t like that initial company, so they called us. Imagine disliking a company/tech so much that you did not want them to come back out for the repair, but still decide to trust their diagnosis. Paying for a second diagnosis isn’t what you would want to do, but do you really want to trust that tech you thought was not trustworthy?
2. They diagnosed it themselves and know exactly what is wrong with their unit. Cool, that’s just fine, we’re happy to install that part you believe is faulty, but we’re not responsible for the completeness of your diagnosis, you are. A small $10 repair part is no big deal, but a $300 walking belt is a costly chance to take.
3. My buddy took a look at it and…(need we say more?)

Anecdotally, we’ve always known that about half the time these repairs do not go as planned, but we wanted more info on this, so we’ve been tracking these jobs to see what data we could compile. and below we show what we found in 2023.

Before we get into that though, any sort of stats are certainly subject to survivorship bias, and though I am certainly no statistician, I have put some thought into this. Keep in mind the 77 customers below are all customers we were NOT able to convince that a diagnosis would be a wise investment. These 77 customers were so confident in their diagnosis that they insisted that the only parts their machines needed were the parts they were informing us of. We do not track the number of customers who we were able to convince to proceed with a diagnosis prior to having any parts ordered, but I would estimate it to be at least another couple hundred last year.

So, let’s break that down: 

Out of the 77 undiagnosed parts installs we performed in 2023, 34 of them required essential parts beyond what the customer requested. For a more in-depth explanation, check out our repair parts classification explanations, but for now, an essential part is a part that must be replaced for this machine to work properly. 

Put another way, 44% of the undiagnosed parts installs we performed required even more parts than the customer originally thought. When looking at machines diagnosed as needing recommended parts, which are parts that should be replaced, the percentage jumps to 64%. That’s right, a whopping 64% of the undiagnosed parts installs we performed ended up needing additional parts installed for the machine to work properly. And once again, these are only the customers that were CERTAIN that their diagnosis included all the parts their machine needed and could not be persuaded to have a professional diagnosis performed. 

What we don’t like to see is our customers backed into a corner. One of the most common parts installations we’re requested to perform is a motor control board (MCB) installation. The cost of that can be about $600 depending on the make and model of the machine. So, you drop that money, because you know the MCB needs to be replaced and don’t want to pay for a diagnosis, and so frequently we come out only to discover that your walking belt and deck are damaged, and both require replacement as well. Parts, shipping, labor, etc. could easily come to another $1,000, now bringing this repair total to $1,600+. Now, the customer is stuck, they’ve already thrown $600 into it, putting another $1,000 in on top of that is a tough pill to swallow. Can they use this new MCB until it also blows up? Sure, but the blown MCB is the symptom of the issue, the high belt and deck friction cause still remains. $600 is a lot of money to put into (hopefully) a few weeks of extended treadmill use. However, if after a full diagnosis was performed, this same customer was told it would be $1,600 to repair, their decision would have been much easier, as they can decide how much to put into repairing this machine fully. A diagnosis is less than one tenth of that cost, which is ultimately cheap insurance that you’re not pouring money into an old machine, when you may be better off buying new. 

Interestingly, so far in 2024 the number of undiagnosed parts installations we’ve performed is up 25%, and even more interestingly, the 64% unsuccessful self-diagnosis rate is still the current average. Admittedly, it’s a small data set, but it has been consistent, and we look forward to tracking this annually from now on. 

So, what are you getting with that professional diagnosis? Not only does your machine benefit from a top to bottom inspection and tune-up, you also have a guarantee that the money you spend on the repair will fix your machine completely and entirely. Bottom line, if our diagnosis does not repair your unit, we eat that cost, therefore eliminating your risk. 

Once again, statistically, the evidence is overwhelming that the most cost-effective way to repair your machine is if it is professionally diagnosed first.

Still not convinced? Ask about our reciprocal agreement with Fitness Factory, they’ll give you a store credit toward the MSRP of a new machine purchase equal to your diagnosis charge. You can’t lose!