7 sourced reports, with what to check before you buy. Each one links to the page it was reported on.
Costly or dangerous
BES875 trips mains power when 1/2 cup pressed; cracked solenoid valve
A repair thread on the BES875 variant reports the machine trips the mains circuit breaker when the 1/2-cup button is pressed; the diagnosed cause is a cracked solenoid valve that has been leaking and corroding over a long period.
What to check. A cracked solenoid valve leaking water onto the electronics can trip the house breaker and is a safety-relevant electrical failure. It is a specific BES875 issue documented by repairers, and fixing it means replacing the valve and o-rings.
Integrated grinder failed two months after purchase; Turkish service wait for replacement part
A Turkish owner (Ankara, Enplus store) reports the grinder broke two months after buying a Sage SES876 Barista Express Impress; the service blamed user error, charged 3,000 TL, and the replacement part had to come from abroad, leaving the machine unrepaired for two months.
What to check. For a TR buyer this is the most market-relevant finding: the integrated grinder is the weak point and the Turkish spare-parts pipeline is slow. Check warranty terms before agreeing to a paid repair, and confirm parts availability before buying.
Integrated grinder repeatedly breaks within the first year
A verified buyer review reports the built-in grinder breaks repeatedly within the first year of ownership, stopping after 1-2 cups and making a horrible sound. The grinder burr replacement parts are the SP0008611 lower inner burr assembly and SP0001801 outer burr assembly.
What to check. The integrated grinder is the most-reported failure point across sources. Replacement burr assemblies (SP0008611, SP0001801) exist but are a paid repair; a buyer should weigh the grinder's reliability before choosing this all-in-one over a separate grinder.
Pump runs constantly; suspected solenoid assembly or triac PCB fault
A repair forum owner describes a Barista Express whose pump runs continuously and never stops; the likely causes identified are the solenoid assembly or the triac PCB, requiring board-level diagnosis.
What to check. A pump that runs constantly is a control-board/solenoid fault, not a user error; it typically needs board or solenoid replacement and is an expensive repair. A buyer should know this failure exists and that it is not covered by routine cleaning.
Loss of brew pressure right after warranty; fixed by repeated descaling
A Swiss Q&A thread reports the machine suddenly lost brew pressure three months after warranty expired, with coffee barely flowing; repeated descaling (twice) restored the pressure, pointing to scale build-up as the cause.
What to check. A sudden loss of pressure is often scale, not a hardware failure, and regular descaling can restore it. But this happened right after warranty, so a buyer should descale on schedule to avoid a post-warranty scare.
Water leaks from the group head; replacing the gasket twice did not fix it
A French owner of a Sage Barista Express (SES875BSS2EEU1A) reports water escaping from the percolator/group head after three years, and that replacing the gasket twice did not stop the leak; Sage's own reply attributes it to a damaged silicone seal.
What to check. Group-head leaks appear after a few years of use and may not be cured by simply swapping the gasket, meaning a deeper seal or group-head repair. This is a maintenance cost to expect on an older unit.
Pressure gauge stops working; auto dose and water volume no longer adjustable
A French owner reports that after six years the pressure gauge stopped working, and the automatic dose and water-volume controls also stopped responding, forcing manual stopping of each shot.
What to check. The pressure gauge and dose controls can fail with age, degrading the machine's core convenience features even though it still brews. This is a long-term reliability concern rather than an immediate defect.
These reports come from the pages linked under each item: owner forums, repair guides and workshops. They are not a diagnosis of any one unit, and a careful check of the one you are buying still applies.
Text from the Kriko Espresso & coffee machines catalog, version 0.1.1, under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license.
