Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Here is the chronology of my experience with three different models of panasonic microwaves, including this model. I had a circa 2007 version of today's panasonic NN-SN966S-1.6cu (sorry, I don't remember if the model number was the same in 2007) which ran absolutely fine till October, 2014. I had to recycle it since it rusted from inside, otherwise no technical issues. I was pretty happy with that product and so went for panasonic again. In October 2014, I got a NN-SA661S-1.2cu from WalMart at $110. This one failed in August 2015 with error code H98 (i.e failure in Magnetron circuit). Luckily, it was under the 1-year limited warranty so the Magnetron was replaced by panasonic service center with free labor & parts. In July 2017, it failed again with error code H98. Since it is no longer under warranty, so I dumped it this time. Next, I wanted to buy a better one which would last longer, and I landed up in NN-SN686S. It looked a bit premium than the earlier model, so I wanted to give a shot at panasonic again. We got this one from amazon at $141 in August 2017. After 14 months, it failed last week (20th October 2018) with error code H98. Our usage is pretty light (not used for cooking but only for warming foods) and we maintained it well, so didn't expect it to fail so soon. I called up Panasonic customer care to check if they would cover the repair, because Magnetron is under 5 year warranty (but labor is limited to 1 year). The automated voice assistant said that it will charge $10 for any out-of-warranty products. I was fine with that too, but panasonic customer care never landed me to a human. I tried with panasonic support live chat, which does not work at all. Basically don't expect any customer support from panasonic. So, I called up the panasonic service center which is now located 20 miles away. They said Magnetron is covered but labor will be $65 and they accept carry-in for repairs only Mon-Wed. I haven't decided yet if I would take this route.... Neverthless, it seems none of the recent panasonic models run longer than 12-15 months. There is definitely a durability issue of the magnetrons. So, if you want to buy a panasonic microwave, consider it as 1 year investment (i.e the warranty period of panasonic). Here is an update. The panasonic service center charged $25 to diagnose the issue. The inverter is burnt out completely. The inverter is not covered by warranty and the price to replace it is additional is $162. The total cost $162 + $25 = 187 is more than the price of the microwave. The inverted burnt out which is not covered by warranty. So I dumped it. Will never buy Panasonic in my lifetime.