So much of this stuff is crap and out sourced in parts from China.
When we built our home 10+ years ago, I put in higher end appliances…the only thing that has gone out was the $1500 Kitchen-Aid Dishwasher…it was a work horse till the end but I’m still trying to figure out why I spent so much $$ on K-A dishwasher…
Love my Wolf 6 burner, griddle/double oven and Sub Zero fridge…
Knocking on wood, since I didn’t buy any of those extended warranty policies…over time limit but I always talk to my SS appliances and tell them how much I love them…ha ha ha
LOL, let’s see. I could have replaced this reefer every 5 years at $1000 a pop average. If I’d done that, I’d be on my 13th refrigerator (all would have needed repairs), the 12 failed ones would be in landfills, and the freon would be in the upper atmosphere.
I can buy an awful lot of electricity for $13K. Even if you believe an old, small reefer compares with the enormous modern ones in energy use (I don’t), the energy savings isn’t worth that, let alone the hassle (and spoiled food) of repairing/replacing every few years.
My 25 year old + Viking stove, the same thing. I hear they’re garbage now, I must have gotten the last good one.
And ditto on my 15 year old Kitchenaid dishwasher, the only thing it’s good for is storing stuff. I’m gonna have to try that positive reinforcement thing with the rest of my appliances.
About “rebooting” appliances…I’ve been having issues off and on with our relatively new LG TV. And when I call for Geek Squad help, it’s always “unplug, wait two minutes and reboot”. So the other day, my Keurig coffee maker stopped working, and it didn’t say “Prime” or “De-lime” or any other notification as has happened in the recent past. So fooling around, I unplugged it and plugged it back in and…it’s working perfectly again. Good to know! Actually I just saw a funny on Facebook, saying “If I’m ever gravely ill, please just pull the plug…and then plug it back in, and see if that works”. Ha!
Anyway, my GE factory repairman came the other day, and I was expecting the worst. Especially after the story above about arriving without any tools! But he was a pro, diagnosed it as the fan motor in about five seconds, and luckily had the part in his truck. The part snapped right in like a Lego block, so no tools required anyway. When I told him how I’m trying to learn how to fix things myself since my husband is out of commission, he took the time to explain everything to me, he was so great. Worth every penny of the extended warranty. On to my next adventure now
Our car once totally died while pulling out of a driveway. The car was coasting. We coasted back to the driveway and realized a car is now really a computer. You guessed it. We rebooted! It worked!
I know, it’s crazy right? We have a Prius so I know what you mean, you couldn’t fix it even if you wanted to. I’ll have to try rebooting it next time too
Yes, everything is this way nowadays. They will just come repair on warranty again and again, forever. Our new, fancy, energy efficient A/C and furnace took 6 months to get working. Forget that, our new, fancy, energy efficient water heater is still being repaired 18 months later. A part will get here sometime before I die and finally I will have hot water again. I completely agree about energy savings versus hassle, landfill space, etc. For these two items, I eventually had to make calls and investigate myself because, even though I didn’t 't know anything, what I was being told wasn’t passing the common sense test.
Another issue I have is, even though the companies will repair on warranty, they still scratch and bump the flooring and walls. And then waiting for them is like the cable company. “We’ll be there between 8am and 6pm.” That one time you don’t get up at 8, that’s the day they decide to be on time and start ringing your doorbell.
Anyway, I am purchasing a new refrigerator in a couple days. Does anyone have a model they purchased recently that didn’t give them issues? (Budget is up to $1000.) Against all the advice here, I’d prefer an ice maker because I’ve never had one and I always imagine the luxurious life of never running out of ice cubes. But I guess I can keep on roughing it if a recommendation is really strong.
I can’t help, because I’ve been disappointed by the Whirlpool French Door refrigerator I purchased at the beginning of the year. It is quite loud (65 dB), and runs most of the time. I’ve been told that is common with the newer “high-efficiency” compressors.
Also, the “stainless” steel showed very small rust spots in the second month, but cosmetic defaults are only covered for the first month.
Hi. Unsure even about the claims that older fridges are energy hogs. A crew of old-school HVAC guys on a couple of vintage appliance forums say that models without ‘frost-free’ technology (fans) are quite efficient because the boxes were highly insulated. They recommend replacing the gasket and swanning forth. People on the forums have reported no uptick in energy bills at all. & comments say that ‘defrosting’ is an every-few-years thing. Heck, I have to ‘defrost’ my Samsung monthly. By that I mean remove the crisper drawers, drain the condensate, and break up the ice that forms beneath the drawers. Which I do rather than calling a service person because I’m afraid if they tinker with the dials all hell will break loose and I’d rather just deal.
Just sayin. When this Samsung bites the dust I’ll be staring at Craigslist.
Re: reliable. My Chambers stove was just installed and it’s better than I even believed and hoped it would be. The hob-top broiler’s a whiz, the daisy burners are very powerful, and the super-insulated well and oven bake and braise sort of magically. In fact the daisy burners are so efficient I struggle to keep the heat turned low enough for my coppers. Just a pin-head of flame is enough. It’s built like a tank and if there’s a problem the solution involves a pair of needle-nose pliers. Yep it was a pain to have it restored but I could have done it myself, lots of people do (and not handy people either.)
THese things are all over the place on Craigslist. I have a feeling many of them are going to the scrapper. If I had any smarts I’d buy another one and put it in the basement for summer cooking. Most people who buy one end up buying a second one just for thrills. Am thinking that instead of putting thousands (and thousand and thousands) of dollars in corporate pockets we could be paying our local appliance repair people to maintain wonderful reliable old things. . .
And thanks chowdom for reviving this thread. Ok, it’s been a year. Any updates on new fridges, working well or ill?? Cuz I’m about to buy a new one and the well-respected local dealer is pushing me toward a KITCHEN AID. Yikes. Is this inSANE?
Well we left behind a big beautiful stainless retro style Frigidaire because it sucked!
We are keeping the plain semi ugly white Frigidaire that was in the house when we bought it.
It’s an animal, no complaints. I have had no luck with kitchen aid, my sister has had
a few kitchen aid built inns for the last year or so and is okay with them
Yes, I am the OP and since my Elecrtolux died we got an LG French door with bottom freezer. It also has that door that opens to a beverage area on the main door. It’s kind of cool and, I’m almost afraid to say, so far so good! Also the GE microwave we got a couple of years ago to replace the, you guessed it, dead Electrolux is working fine. Do you see a pattern here? Avoid Electrolux!!!
