Refrigerators
 

Any idea which brand is best? Don't even mention Samsung.

According to Consumer Reports, it looks like LG gets the best ratings overall for the competitive market (not super high end).

We have had good luck with Whirlpool in two houses now. One came with the last house and was still there when we sold it 20 years later, the other came with this house and is still running six years later.

I replaced a timer and a fan in the first and a freezer-refrig vent door in this one. All three were easy do-it-yourself repairs.

We just bought a Frigidaire 4 door and love it. One of the bottom sections can be temperature controlled to be used either as a freezer or as additional refrigerator space or a cooler.

Had a top of the line Kitchenaid. Had big problems with the ice and water in the door. Have had a Bosch 3 1/2 years, no problems. Most of the refrigerator problems are in the ice and water lines. Do recommend counter depth. Goes great with the cabinets and does not stick out.

Seems like a logical place for BNB to research.

:shrug:

Bosch

I did exact same thing about fifteen years ago. I bought a Kitchenaid, counter depth, to complete a kitchen remodel I was doing. I had to call out the repair guy numerous times to fix the ice maker. When I sold the house, I made it a present to the buyer. In our next house, I bought LG and haven’t looked back.

Why? I have a Samsung and I love it. Only problem is the ice maker, or, it was a problem until I added a little caulking around the ice make bin, and defrost it with a hair dryer once a month. Now, no problems.

We just bought a GE Profile 21.9 Cu. Ft. Counter-Depth Side-By-Side Refrigerator (model # PZS22MYKFS) and we love it. We had a Samsung, which we hated for multiple reasons, but mostly because it was extremely noisy.

We moved our Samsung to the garage when we got our new Thor refrigerator which has been faultless. But honestly we had no trouble with the Samsung either we just wanted a counter depth.

Never ever get a sub-zero, worst maintenance ever!

We replaced our new refrigerator that came in our new house (had a bunch of problems) with the top of the line Samsung 5 door. The bottom left door in the freezer contains the 2 ice trays of different size ice and the bottom right door can be configured for refrigerator or freezer. The water is in the top left inner door in an automatic filled pitcher and also contains a shelf for 2 gallon containers and a shelf for butter. Never had a problem with it and I don’t take out an extended warranty either. It was $3000 but well worth it. Bought the top of the line Samsung gas range to replace the original range and have had no problems. Both units are connected to my iPhone to change temperature settings and to alert me if any of the doors are open and when the gas range has reached the desired temperature.

Defrosting once a month?
That is a problem

Bosch...Side By Side...Counter depth

Our Kenmore frig died a few years ago. At the time it was only 3 years old. We had several repairmen come out to replace the compressor, then the evaporator coils, then the distribution fan and the ice maker. I asked each repairmen what manufacturers to stay clear of if I bought a new frig. Each would tell me it was easier to identify the only manufacturers I should consider ---> Frigidare, Whirlpool, KitchenAid and General Electric. I was told that all the other manufacturers used LG parts that are poorly made. One repairman told me about 30% of his business was due to replacing LG compressors.

Had an LG a couple of years back. Within 4 years we had so many repairs, including 2 icemakers, front control screen, main circuit board, and two compressors.
Lowes 5 year warranty was a $$$ savior. They refunded the full cost

LG 27-29 inch - best there us IMO

That's sad, I've had two of them and they were both great. I guess that don't make them like they used to.

Refrigerator
 

We bought a LG and at 6 months we had to have it repaired. Fan went bad. I asked service guy which band he thought was best. Said all about the same. Often parts are manufactured by same company. He liked LG because they are very quite. All have a lot more electronics so an extended warranty might be good. We usually don't take an extended warranty.

I would never buy an extended warranty for any product. You will almost always lose money.

I don't disagree and I normally don't take extended warranties either, but I think about it differently.

Things I have lost money on yet keep paying:
- Car insurance - over 40 years
- Health insurance - over 35 years though I may be getting some of that back now
- Home insurance - over 30 years
- AAA membership - a few years now
- golf cart towing/rescue - a few years now

I pay all those because however unlikely it may be that I have a problem, I would rather pay the premium today than pay the cost out of pocket later. I wouldn't pay for an extended warranty on my wireless router, if I have a problem I'll just replace it with a different brand. I *might* pay for the warranty on a $2,000 refrigerator to avoid paying again to replace it in the next few years.

You almost always lose money on extended warranties but when you don't lose money, when there is a problem, you're really glad you have one.

Yes, like LG. Don’t care for Samsung, I think they’re over rated, expensive & never held up for me. Just my opinion!

We’ve always had good luck with the brands consumer reports find as being reliable.

Samsung TVs have gone downhill as well.

I have never had a GE, Hotpoint, or Frigidaire that did not last at least 20 years.

LG compressors were the subject of a class lawsuit a few years ago. Had one fail in less than 3 years, and cost to "fix" was not worth it. Bought another brand. But no matter what brand, don't expect today's refrigerators to last like the ones you grew up with. They won't make it to your garage as a secondary unit. The more techno gizmos and gadgets added, the more problems that can happen. Keep it simple, and you might even get more than 5 years out of your purchase.

I bought the top of line GE profile French door PFE28KMKUES. We had a faulty electrical harness which they replaced twice. The water filter for the waterline cost around $55 and they want you to replace it every three months and you can only use GE brand as they have a microchip on it. We have had trouble with these filters as half of them spew out excessive amounts of charcoal into the water. We've had 9 service visits and the problem still exists. So we use the bypass and cannot have filtered water unless we want a ton of charcoal in it. GE service is terrible and eventually my salesman went around them and delivered a new fridge. Most of the filters are still bad though. We had a GE fridge years ago and that completely failed on us. It was part of a class action suit that we got a few dollars back. So no more GE refrigerators for us.
The unit we stayed in for design had a whirlpool fridge that was amazing but I don't know how they hold up.
I hate stainless steel so the slate finish GE offered was what I chose. I love the finish but hate the stainless steel handles.
If you get stainless steel, make sure it resists fingerprints. Good luck.

I have all of those things except the golf cart, since I don't have a golf cart. But, I have them mostly for the liability coverage, where I have a large amount of coverage. But, if they raise my homeowner's insurance too much, they may lose me as a customer. I believe in self-insuring whenever possible. According to Clark Howard, companies that sell extended warranties only spend 8 percent of the premiums collected to pay claims.

You could cheat a little. I understand you can carefully peel the lable off one of their filters and stick it to the interior just behind where the filter hangs, this tricks the sensor into thinking there is a genuine GE filter installed. Then you can use a generic filter for much less money and better quality.

I suggest you stay away from the water/ice despenser in the door. These types seem to have the most problems. Get the type with the water despenser in the fridge and the ice that drops inside the freezer. Samsung and LG have the most problems according to a YT expert online.

in our last house a few years ago, we had the top of the line Frigidaire and the warranty techs had to come out 8 times before they replaced the unit. We had a GE when we moved in and the tech came out 3 or 4 times for the same problem. Wouldn't replace the unit, so we replaced it. Samsung TVs are very good.

Would never buy an LG
 

We bought a new LG in Sept. 2018. We've had the ice maker replaced twice. Just had the "10 year compressor" replaced. LG provided a new compressor but we had to fork out $1200 to have it installed (should have bought a new refrigerator).
My understanding is that new refrigerators have butane in the refrigerant and only a few technicians can work on them. In fact, the first technician we called came and said he could not work on it. We had to go to LG to find a technician who could install the compressor and that would keep the 10 year warranty valid. We were without a working refrigerator for over 3 weeks.

Consumer Reports
 

Go online and read the Consumer Reports ratings of refrigerators. It is the definitive source for all appliances.

All you will learn on this forum is what make/model a person owns and he/she will tell you it is the "best".

Who makes what brand?

Appliance411 The Purchase: Who Makes What?

You may be getting same thing with different name?

///// double post

LG French doors w/bottom freezer approx $2,800. In 2.5 years compressor went out. LG paid for new compressor, I paid $650 labor. At 4 years, sealed refrigeration system leaked. I put refrigerator at the curb & called junk p/u. All brands basically the same…junk Warranties worthless, have to wait weeks/months for repairs/replacements. So disappointing…

Whirlpool. A repairman for our old refrigerator told us Whirlpool was reliable and easiest to get repaired should you need it.

We had an LG for 8 years with only the replacement of a sensor. Then the compressor went bad. Compressor still under warranty but try finding someone to work on them. If you can find someone nearby that won't charge an arm and a leg I would still go with LG. Instead we bought a Fridgidaire Professional and it started having problems in less than a week. Fridgidair's customer service was the worst! They set us up with a repair person who was 2 hours away and never showed up or even called to cancel. We normally never buy extended warranties either, but we got a good deal on one from the dealer. I called them up and told them to send somebody down or come and get the piece of junk. Ended up having him come 3 times and order 2 different parts. Seems to be working now but I would never ever recommend Fridgidaire. Also has several inconvenient design aspects that are extremely annoying, including not chilling the water, just dispensing it.

I am partial to Fridgidaire appliances. Whirlpool is my second choice.