[jedalton]

need to buy a new fridge. any recommendations?

[villagetinker]

Try going to Consumer reports for what should be an independent review of these. One thing to keep in mind, all brands seem to have problems with ice makers, we are on our 3rd one, so far the last one installed (new design) seems to be working much better then the original and first replacement. This is in a almost 6 year old Whirlpool french door unit. You will probably be getting lots of negative comments regarding the Whirlpool products, but outside of the ice marker and a minor leak there have been no other problems.
I would definitely stay away from the new internet connected units (cameras and screens) as these are probably going to be a maintenance nightmare, JMHO.

[retiredguy123]

I would buy it from Lowes because they will deliver it in their own truck, and install it using their own employees. And, you have 30 days to return or replace it. Home Depot doesn't do that. I don't know what brand is the best, but the builder installs mostly Whirlpool appliances, which have a 2 year warranty. And Fields Appliance is in The Villages from Orlando on a regular basis, to do Whirlpool warranty and other repair work. I think they are very good.

[jojo]

I bought an LG from Home Depot. In the research that you are doing now you will likely discover that all brands have problems. Based on that information I took the extended warranty with Home Depot which I usually do not do. We had a compressor go out after the first year and Home Depot provided a loaner refrigerator while we had to wait on service. Glad we had the coverage.

[John_W]

Make you measure your width and depth so you will have a unit that will fit, in our CYV we couldn't go with a side-by-side but we got one with a French door.

We started by replacing the cheap Westinghouse W&D that came with our home, and then decided to do the entire kitchen. I spent several hours on the Home Depot, Lowes, Amazon and Best Buy websites looking at reviews. Just open them all up in different browsers so you can flip around.

When it was over, I found LG ranked great in washers, especially top loaders over front loaders and then studied the kitchen appliances and LG came out ahead again. We then compared prices and found Best Buy was generally cheaper and after we got there and got the assistant manager involved, we got really great prices. They matched the veteran discount of Lowes, gave us $100 store credit cards, gave us Google Home devices and free towaway of old appliances and discounted everything just like a car dealer.

My advice is start with looking at Best Buy website and LG as a brand and work your way around. I bought a Samsung 75" TV at the same time from Best Buy and it just went out, the power board needed replacing after two years. I found Samsung had bad reviews on most other items, my personal opinion, stay away from Samsung.

Also, if you buy from Lowes beware they only deliver form the store you purchased. So if there is a unit you really like and that store is out, you won't be able to buy it until it is restocked. Best Buy delivers from a central warehouse near Orlando and has almost everything in stock. I also found that I had picked a microwave and oven that were a different line than the refrigerator and dishwasher and the sales associate noticed that the handles would not match. So if buying more than one item, keep that in mind and the Best Buy sales person seemed very knowledgeable.

[Villageswimmer]

Originally Posted by jedalton

need to buy a new fridge. any recommendations?

we’re also going to need one within a few months. I’m one for very basic things. Do they still make them WITHOUT an icemaker? I can live without it and without the headaches.

[thelegges]

Our 8 year fridge board started blinking cost $400 plus didn’t know what would go wrong next

Extensive online search I wanted counter depth and side by side. I love the French doors, but takes me forever to find stuff in the freezer, and always seems to be less space.

We bought from Lowe’s, whirlpool side by side, staff was great, (changed my mind twice) delivery was early in the window bracket. Price was less than within 50 mile radius. Plus if you are a veteran you get 10% discount

[champion6]

We bought LG from Best Buy. We're happy with the price and the product.

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by Villageswimmer

we’re also going to need one within a few months. I’m one for very basic things. Do they still make them WITHOUT an icemaker? I can live without it and without the headaches.

Even if it has an ice maker built in you don't have to hook it up to a water supply.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by New Englander

Even if it has an ice maker built in you don't have to hook it up to a water supply.

I agree, but why would you not want an icemaker?

[SouthOfTheBorder]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I agree, but why would you not want an icemaker?

We just purchased a new one w/o ice maker because we already own another refrigerator that makes ice cubes....

Don

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I agree, but why would you not want an icemaker?

I want and have an ice maker. I mentioned not hooking up water supply for Village swimmer.

[Count'n the days]

Our Samsung french door fridge has served us well except for the ice maker. It's six years old and we started having problems with the ice maker freezing up right after the warranty expired. I understand it's a bad design and probably the reason the french door style didn't originally have ice and water dispensers in the door. We're tired of thawing out the ice maker every couple of weeks and look forward to replacing it. It's just hard to justify such a large expenditure just for a new ice maker. BTW we did replace the ice maker and after a short while it started freezing up too. Because we want to replace it the fridge will probably last a good long time. When we first tried getting the ice maker repaired the repairman said Samsung should stick with TV's.

[Velvet]

I’m thinking of replacing my GE fridge that came with the 2007 designer home. I am not sure what the typical opening or fridge size is. Mine looks like every one else’s. Any recommendations?

[New Englander]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I’m thinking of replacing my GE fridge that came with the 2007 designer home. I am not sure what the typical opening or fridge size is. Mine looks like every one else’s. Any recommendations?

You need to take a tape measurement. Measure the area where the fridge will go. Carefully measure the opening of the area. Height, width, and depth. Then measure the fridge you pick out to see if it will fit.