Laundry - Washers and dryers constantly needing repair

I don't mind the step by step directions for getting laundry done as much as the constant repairing. I finally just replaced the dryer in one house and the next time my sim used it it broke. They no longer have a washer and dryer, which is sad because I really liked my sims being able to do laundry. So it sounds like this is a bug and not by design but a year is a long time to go without a fix.