O. T. Kitchen Appliance Help...

[Derek Arita]

Well, kitchen appliances are kind of power tools of the house...right? Anyhow, I was in my local Sears today and was told that the company LG, is experiencing trouble and the result has been that their appliances are problematic and their parts availability is terrible. He also said that GE is trying to get rid of their appliance division, therefore future parts availability and CS are in question.
Anyone hear this or have any knowledge of it?

[Matt Ocel]

Don't know about LG but I also heard GE is looking to sell there appliance division. IMHO I couldn't see getting parts in the future being a problem, there are millions of GE appliances out that will need parts which means someone stands to make alot of $ selling GE parts.

[Ken Garlock]

HI Derek. I am surprised that LG is not doing well.
I am not surprised that GE appliances are in the ditch. I had heard for several years that people were having troubles with them. IMO, GE is not the company it was. I can't understand why GE stockholders have not replaced the current CEO, Jeffrey Immelt.

We have several brands in our kitchen. The refrigerator and washer/dryer are Whirlpool. Back in January of this year we replaced a Whirlpool dishwasher with a Bosch DW. It is fantastic, it is quite and cleans the dishes like the Whirlpool only wished it could. Lastly, the cook top is an electric Amana. The only appliance of the group I could not recommend is the replaced Whirlpool dishwasher.

[Brian Weick]

As far as the CEO ~ All I can say is "what is the holdup", and the dishwasher you currently have~ :D, I have the Bosch stainless steel DW with the controls on the inside of the door handle~ it is unbelievable how quite that machine is, you can barely, and I mean barely hear it running, and it does an outstanding job cleaning the dishes as well - however ~ the price $$$$.$$ , , but,,,,, it was well worth the money.
Bosch has got my thumbs up on their kitchen appliances~
Just my 2 cents. :)
Brian

[Matt Meiser]

I did see that GE was looking to sell, but I haven't seen anything on LG. However, I wouldn't trust an appliance salesperson at Sears for anything. Sears's appliance sales tactics are the worst I've seen. We were looking at a fridge and I found that it was marked up well over list price, then put on "sale" for list. Then at two different stores the salesmen spouted outright lies about the local competitors.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

GE appliances have been getting crummier and crummier in the past 15 years with the last 5 years having a quicker rate of decay. It's a similar situation with Kenmore, Whirlpool, Kitchen Aid and Maytag. In fact, I would not doubt it if Whirlpool also snacks up GE as it has done with many other brand names.

Repairclinic.com is a convenient and quick way to get replacement parts for most appliances. They will also help troubleshoot the problem and have exploded views of many appliances. I was also amazed of all the parts that are generic amongst the brands too.

American appliances. It's a race for the bottom.

-Jeff :)

[Dave Sabo]

No wonder the guy is humping washers at K - roebuck, he doesn't have a clue about anything it seems. LG had over 50 trillion dollars of revenue last year and made $10 billion in profit. Wish my co. was hurting that badly too.

Yes, GE is trying to unload it's appliance division along with others. They don't like or can't seem to run businesses that don't grow. And the gold rush days of the housing (appliance) market is over. Now folks are going to have to earn their $$$. To think that the new owner will keep the status quo is naive, but he's not going to shut down the parts and service division overnite because it has a nice pension surplus. Your new dishwasher or oven is safe for it's useful life. Check back 2 years after the sale if you plan on buying another GE appliance. One other thing, there isn't a line around the block of folks with a few xtra billion dollars looking for a manufacturing division catering to the housing market. This transaction is going to take a while.

[Pat Germain]

Dollars to doughnuts the Sears salesman gets an incentive for moving the merchandise nobody wants. LG is currently a very popular brand. So, sales guy spews negative baloney about LG in order to steer customers to the less desirable merchandise and thus earn a bigger commission.

Personally, I've never been impressed with GE appliances. It seems almost everything they make is "contractor grade". So much is changing with the other brands, there's no telling.

My last appliance purchase was a Bosch diswasher. That thing rocks. I'll probably buy more Bosch appliances. They're expensive, but less expensive than replacing a GE every few years. The Bosch replaced a GE dishwasher. That thing couldn't get non-stick teflon clean.

[Dave Sabo]

Almost forgot that LG is one of 2 front runners to buy the GE division. Was the sales guy wearing a polyester suit by chance?

[Derek Arita]

Thanks for all the great replies. Looks like he may have been right about GE. He said LG's problem was parts availability. People just can't get parts. Is there anyone here who is a repair person that might have some insight? LG has some great styles, with great features, at a great price. We were ready to purchase, then changed our minds after speaking with the Sears guy.
By the way, we were set to buy a Kenmore Elite dish washer, but may take a second look to the Bosch. Kenmore rated really high in Consumer Reports.

[Joe Pelonio]

We too have been looking at dishwashers. What we don't like about Bosch is that they have no food grinder in them. They are made in Europe where garbage disposals including those inside dishwashers are illegal. We are likely to go with Kitchen Aid which has models with the same low decibel noise rating as the Bosch, with grinder, for a bit lower price. Our old one is a Whirlpool and while it has never broken down in 10 years has always been loud, now the racks are starting to peel and rust.

Lately I noticed that Electrolux, formerly selling just vacuum cleaners, has come out with some really nice looking appliances. It seems that they bought Frigidaire but are selling under their own name now.

I have 3 of the LG window A/C units. They have all been great except for one problem common to all of them for which LG support has not been able to help. When we set the "off" timer, after 1-2 hours the temperature setting changes to 72 by itself.

[Tom Godley]

Many times I wonder if owning more that one home is a plus or a minus -- it does make me a test bed for major appliances.

Just before a major kitchen remodel the old dishwasher died -- I purchased a Kitchenaid Surperba (sp) thinking I would use it in the new kitchen. Well, I ended up with a very cool Bosch with no controls visible from the front and moved the Kitchenaid to a bar area I have. I also inherited a Fisher Pakel that a previous owner bought because "the low water use is good for the septic tank". I also own a cheaper Bosch with dials that I bought when a very old Maytag lost its battle with a freezing house in winter just after I bought the other Bosch.


Without any question the Kitchenaid is the best --- The european units hijack your dishes for almost 90min then return them wet! - they do this all without making any noise...... The KA is fast and quiet and does what a dishwasher should do -- plus it cleans its own filter!!!


Same with washers -- the european units flip and start and flip some more- and they are still not finished.......especially the Bosch front loader :( :(


The one house came with a very very old Maytag washer -- two buttons and a dial. I felt sorry for the thing - so I replaced the two belts in about 5 min and the thing is great ---- Finishes in about 25min.

The GE stuff is junk and has been for 25 years. They want to get rid of it because it is not a worldwide business --- it is subject to US downturns. Maybe a good fit for LG as a second tier brand for them. I have not heard about any problems with LG -- it is a huge Korean Co....Was Lucky/Goldstar

I have had good luck with Whirlpool products -- especially refrigerators and washer dryers --- They own Maytag/Jenair/Amana/Kitchenaid + others. Whirlpool also makes a very high percentage of Kenmore stuff - I believe the top dishwasher is a Kitchenaid - it was the last I looked.

Wow -- I got a little carried away :)

[Chris Padilla]

If you place stock in Consumers Reports, they are a good source of information to start your search. They led us to replace our aging Kitchen Aid with a new Kenmore and we are quite happy with the noise level and, so far, it has been trouble-free for 2 years.

I will NEVER EVER buy any Maytag appliances again. Their pricetag does not justify longevity...well, at least as far as refrigerators go. I guess my Neptune W & D (gas) are doing just fine 9 years later....

[Pat Germain]

We too have been looking at dishwashers. What we don't like about Bosch is that they have no food grinder in them. They are made in Europe where garbage disposals including those inside dishwashers are illegal. We are likely to go with Kitchen Aid which has models with the same low decibel noise rating as the Bosch, with grinder, for a bit lower price. Our old one is a Whirlpool and while it has never broken down in 10 years has always been loud, now the racks are starting to peel and rust.

FYI, Joe, my Bosch dishwasher has no food grinder and it works great. It's never needed a grinder.

As Tom pointed out, it does take a long time to complete a cycle. By default, my Bosch dishwasher came with heated drying set to "OFF". Once I set the heated drying to "ON" it got the dishes dry. It's supposed to dry the dishes through condensation on the cold, stainless steel walls. This works OK if you leave it overnight, but nothing less. It's designed that way for energy conservation. I'd rather have my dishes dry now.

[Joe Pelonio]

FYI, Joe, my Bosch dishwasher has no food grinder and it works great. It's never needed a grinder.


The only problem I foresee is having to rinse the dishes, and still clean that filter every time you use it, which is not needed with a grinder model. When we had 3 kids still here they would rarely remember to scrape/rinse. Maybe now I'm just lazy!:eek:

[Derek Arita]

So, without the grinder, do you have to empty the filter often or not? Salesman said maybe once every couple of months.

[Pat Germain]

So, without the grinder, do you have to empty the filter often or not? Salesman said maybe once every couple of months.

I don't rinse the dishes and rarely empty the filter. Every once in awhile I'll see a piece of a chicken bone, or something, sitting down there and I'll pull it out. That's about it. When I pull out the the filter, there's typically little or nothing in it.

I used to have an older Maytag, made when they were good, which had a grinder. I wondered about the Bosch not having a grinder when I bought it. The salesman assured me it wouldn't be a problem. As it turned out, he was right. It's magic, I guess.