Its been that way for awhile, I blew up 6 mixers all just after the 2y warranty expired-like one was a week out of warranty. They know what theyre doing!! I now have an 8qt commercial KA, a Kenwood, & a tilt-head for small things. I learned-lol. ETA it all happened when whirlpool bought them in 1986, everything changed after that(took about a decade for full changes)