What is wrong if a washer will not advance itself into the rinse cycle? If the knob is manually advanced it works fine. Someone is selling a 5 year old washer with this problem for $40 and I am wondering if it would be worth it to buy and repair myself.

The mechanics of the timer for the cycle are bad.Replacement parts can be found on many sites.. you would have to get the exact model # and search for the part,it should all be in the same unit.. Timer.