Budget buster. New appliances

[scbelleatheart]

Long story short, I bought all new appliances in may of 2010. Whirlpool Gold because we are subcontractors for them so we have always bought WP. Never again. So far the fridge has been worked on 7 times, the range needs a $600 electronic board (after the $150 service call) and now the dishwasher died completely. A retired head engineer works for us part time and he cannot believe how bad the new appliances are. He even called corporate to no avail to see about getting them replaced as lemons.
Because WP maks so many different brands my choices seem limited. GE, LG, Bosch (another customer of ours), Viking and maybe a few I can't think of.
What brand would you buy?

 

[taaren]

Thanks for posting this is helpful. I just found out I'm moving into my house earlier than I anticipated so am being forced to buy appliances in the next few weeks. Will stay away from Whirlpool.
I'm currently looking at a Maytag fridge from Costco, though if it were comparably priced my family has had many long lasting appliances from Kenmore.

 

[scbelleatheart]

WP makes Maytag, some Kenmore appliances, Jenn Air, Amana and Kitchenaide.

 

[DOREEN1779]

What is your budget? There is a big difference between Maytag and Viking. How much was your range when you bought it? A repair bill of $750 is a lot of money. If you have repaired the range before through WP, you may have some recourse. Post on their facebook account ASAP. Put the models on there and your problems. Express your frustration with WP's customer service and their unwillingness to back up their product line. Just putting your problem out there where a lot of potential buyers can see it, sometimes makes "corporate" more responsive. I would be really mad if I had so many problems and would want the manufacturer to step up.

 

[wallawallakids]

I just bought all new Whirlpool appliances 5 days ago. But if I wanted to avoid them, I would go for GE. I have had GE appliances in the past and I really loved the products. I would die for a Viking but that has never been in my price range. Good luck and I am sorry to hear about your appliances. Hope something works out for you.

 

[HM]

My kitchen appliances except my fridge are all GE. They are all over 7 years old and the only one that has had a problem is the built in microwave that needed a $200 repair this fall.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Long story short, I bought all new appliances in may of 2010. Whirlpool Gold because we are subcontractors for them so we have always bought WP. Never again. So far the fridge has been worked on 7 times, the range needs a $600 electronic board (after the $150 service call) and now the dishwasher died completely. A retired head engineer works for us part time and he cannot believe how bad the new appliances are. He even called corporate to no avail to see about getting them replaced as lemons.
Because WP maks so many different brands my choices seem limited. GE, LG, Bosch (another customer of ours), Viking and maybe a few I can't think of.
What brand would you buy?

In 2009 we moved into a house whose previous owner was a GE exec, so he had GE appliances throughout the house.

--The washing machine stopped working the week after we moved in and the cost to fix was more than the cost to get a replacement (we bought a Bosch, which we love).

--The water softener had issues within a year, and I had to buy a part for it. Thankfully, I could make the repair myself.

--The freezer in the fridge quit working because a circuit board went bad and had to be replaced to the tune of $500. Then the coup de grace: over Christmas while we were out of town, a valve leading to the ice maker quit working, causing water to spill onto our kitchen floor and down through the sub-floor to our basement, causing damage to part of the basement drywall and our carpet. $210 to replace the valve, $2600 to remediate the water damage and another $15000 to put everything back the way it was. (Thankfully, it's covered under our homeowners, less our deductible.)

So GE appliances?

 

[MickeyManiac]

I agree with staying away from WP. My barely 5 year old dishwasher is ready to fall apart. It has never worked well and the racks have rusted and broken.

I'm getting ready to buy a new dishwasher and a new stove and WILL NOT be getting WP for either. I'm pretty sure the stove will be LG but I'm still not sure about the dishwasher. I have a GE microwave that is OK, but the Samsung I had(that was burned in a grease fire ) I liked much better.

 

[msp2mco]

I would never by a GE dishwasher or refrigerator again. A few years ago, we updated our kitchen and bought GE profile appliances. Something on the motor went out on the refrigerator, and the repair person said it would be about $200 to repair. The dishwasher never cleaned the dishes. I had repair people out at least twice, and they told me that I am getting the results that they would expect, i.e. dirty dishes. We had some friends buy a new home with GE profile appliances, and they also got to know the dishwasher repair people. They finally resigned themselves to rinsing everything before putting it in the dishwasher.

I am now happy with my KitchenAid stove and dishwasher and my Frigidaire refrigerator/freezer.

In GE's defense, my GE garbage disposal has been a great workhorse.

 

[Happyjen27]

What would I buy for appliances?

Viking stove (love ours)
Bosch dishwasher (my sister loves hers. I hate our GE. Loved the Maytag I had in our old home)
Amana fridge (all aroud awesomeness)
Washer/dryer Maytag wins here too. A Maytag that is was 18 years old was in the house when we bought it. We haven't had to install the ones we brought from the old house yet, it's been 4 years. Which makes it 22 years old and still going strong.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

Have heard from a couple of places that among all appliances right now, refrigerators are a horrendous crapshoot. Unreliable compressors, high failure rates, expensive repairs, you name it. And when it comes to ice makers, Just Say No. As in NOOOO!!! These finicky pieces of machinery have a secret, silent union in which they conspire to detect the most inopportune times to fail while exacting maximal damage. Water leaks, chipping plastic components, cheapo motors, plastic gears; bah. Either buy yourself a bunch of cheap ice trays or get used to plunking down a couple of bucks for a 10lb bag every so often. Ice makers are demon spawn.

To the PP who had a $200 bill on a microwave - was there some reason you didn't just 86 that microwave and buy a new one? You can get a desktop microwave these days for $200 fairly readily, and most manufacturers have adapter kits if its intended for "built-in" installation.

Can't complain about our Whirlpool oven, although we had issues with the glass breaking within the sealed door because we had used the self-clean feature. The glass evidently couldn't handle the temperature!!! Fortunately, Whirlpool replaced the glass twice. The heating element on the unit died the night we were having a department dinner at my house...which was embarrassing.

Have a Whirlpool dishwasher, and its been serviceable. Can't complain.

Although I grew up around Sears-brand appliances such as Kenmore, our family has pretty much given up on them, as they've been infected by the same SearsisMaximusCrapitus virus that has hit everything ELSE sold under that venerable name.

Avoid the "Gold" or "premium" lines. Often times, you're paying a premium for the exact same box that just has a different set of badges on it. They might tweak one or two features, but don't think you're necessarily getting some frou-frou, superior product for it. 'Taint necessarily so.

 

[mikehn]

Our kitchenaid electric dryer started making funny noises last weekend. It still works, just making a loud humming noise. We got 14 years out of it so I decided to just go ahead and replace it. I found a basic whirlpool electric dryer at Costco for $399. Hoping the whirlpool will last another 14 years.

 

[Debbie7452]

I don't think ANY appliances are built to last anymore. When I was researching big appliance purchases in 2008 that is what I came up with. They are designed to fail (After the warranty is up) so that you have to replace them. It's very frustrating. That said, I crossed my fingers and got mostly Whirlpool stuff (whirlpool fridge/washer/dryer, kitchenaid stove top/oven/dishwasher) All of it is 5 years old and we have not had any repairs needing a service call on anything. Knocking on wood!! Hubby fixed the ice in the door thing, but I know they are notorious for problems. Thank goodness he is handy.

Sorry for your troubles!

 

[scbelleatheart]

What is your budget? There is a big difference between Maytag and Viking. How much was your range when you bought it? A repair bill of $750 is a lot of money. If you have repaired the range before through WP, you may have some recourse. Post on their facebook account ASAP. Put the models on there and your problems. Express your frustration with WP's customer service and their unwillingness to back up their product line. Just putting your problem out there where a lot of potential buyers can see it, sometimes makes "corporate" more responsive. I would be really mad if I had so many problems and would want the manufacturer to step up.

Thanks for the facebook idea. Never thought of it. I have always loved/ liked WP because we have subcontracted with them since 1957. I knew the company and the manufacturing process well so I was so shocked when these appliances all were going bad.
The range was $1200, the fridge $1800, the dishwasher $800. The only thing that still works is the microwave.
I would love Viking but 2 1/2 years in to these appliances, I cannot afford them. So GE, LG, Bosch, Samsung, Electrolux. Anything but WP brands.
BTW, the engineer that works for us worked for WP for 35 years and got nowhere with corporate so I'll try the facebook thing and let every one know the outcome.

 

[teacup princess]

It seems to me all appliances are just complete hunks of garbage built to live a short, painful existence while awaiting their final resting place in the junkyard. That's why when we buy any new appliance nowadays we just buy the warranty plan along with it. We do it through sears and have been happy with their service. Yes, I know Dave Ramsey says not to do that and to put the money you would spend on a warranty plan in savings instead but when I run the numbers it's a better deal. Our plan for 4 appliances is around $200 a year. They were about $5000 new so it would take me 25 years to save up for new ones. The odds of us needing them repaired or replaced in that time period is pretty much a sure thing so to me it's a good deal. So far I've been right. Our 3 year old appliances have all been repaired multiple times. Plus, once a year they come out just for a checkup and during that time they always replace some little thing that doesn't bother me like a loose kickplate or burned out light on the display panel. We have our oven, cooktop, microwave, and beverage center on the plan. The only two we didn't buy new we're the dishwasher and fridge because they were still functional and I thought we could wait a year or two until they died or needed repair to replace them. I hate our fridge. The kitchen was built for a counter-depth fridge and I hate our full-size fridge that sticks out. I thought I'd just live with it for a year while we recovered our finances from the over budget remodel but now I want to replace it and darn it if that thing just won't die. It's the only appliance that never needs a repair.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

We replaced all of our kitchen appliances almost 2 years ago - all Samsung, zero problems.

 

[staciepm]

LOL HATE my Samsung fridge. It is probably 8 years old now, but I have had problems with it since we bought it. Going to replace it at some point. I'm just too cheap.

The Kenmore fridge that we bought in 96 second hand for $125 is still running in the laundry room. Sigh. Old appliance were made to last and not to be disposable like they are today.

 

[manning]

Then the coup de grace: over Christmas while we were out of town, a valve leading to the ice maker quit working, causing water to spill onto our kitchen floor and down through the sub-floor to our basement, causing damage to part of the basement drywall and our carpet. $210 to replace the valve, $2600 to remediate the water damage and another $15000 to put everything back the way it was. (Thankfully, it's covered under our homeowners, less our deductible.)

Ouch. This is a good reason to shut off the water when you go on vacation. Just be sure you shut dow the water heater. easy to do and relight if gas.

This happened to a relative, only it was a pipe the failed. It was a new home and found that when being built a nail punctured the pipe causing eventual failure. On top of that was the high water bill. They figured it broke early in the three week vacation.

 

[manning]

Unreliable compressors, high failure rates, expensive repairs,
Can't complain about our Whirlpool oven, although we had issues with the glass breaking within the sealed door because we had used the self-clean feature. The glass evidently couldn't handle the temperature!!! Fortunately, Whirlpool replaced the glass twice. The heating element on the unit died the night we were having a department dinner at my house...which was embarrassing.

I talked with an engineer in his 80s. He said years back you could get a fridge that lasted years. He said the reason was the compressors spun at a low speed. Then they went to high speed compressors which reduced the lifetime.

 

[scbelleatheart]

Years ago WP used to have a chart for how long each appliance should last. Employees could buy an appliance at a verygood discount directly from the plant but couldn't buy another one until the suggested life span was up. Fridges were 12 years.
Obviously they eleminated that program!