Refigerators

[Patty Hann]

Patty, I would suspect that ice makers are the number one failure point for refrigerators with the filtered water dispensers close behind. They are mechanisms that have moving parts that move frequently due to their function. While I would not be without them, they are pretty much the reason why an extended service contract is very attractive on this particular appliance...the cost of the contract is the same and sometimes lower than the cost of replacing the ice maker.

True about the extended service contracts now available wrt coverage vs costs.
They were around when I bought my fridge but with very limited coverage and you were stuck with whomever the seller had a contract with.
But even now I hear the horror stories of the business that does the repairs: problems are not fixed to last, or maybe not fixed at all.
Scheduling can be a nightmare.
All these repair complaints are locale dependent of course.

I'm still of the mind that minimal bells and whistles is best... it simply reduces the chances for needing a repair.
However I'd get the ext. contract if only for coverage of the compressor.

[jack duren]

We just want a straight forward refrigerator. Size and ice…Don’t care about special doors, round ice, etc..

[Rick Potter]

Had to repair the ice maker on our 13 year old GE twice. First time it was a plastic bushing that failed, second time the rotating part that pushes out the cubes had worn through the housing. We got lucky on that one, and the old school repairman drilled out the worn area and put in a bushing of some sort. Fine since then, unfortunately he retired.

When I asked him why the ice maker was so crappy, he said to look closely and notice that the ice has to go UPHILL to get to the dispenser. Ergo, it gets clogged often. Brilliant design.

[Pat Germain]

I have all Maytag in my kitchen (Whirlpool) and I don't think I would buy Whirlpool again. The oven has been a POS, can't count the number of times I fixed it. The dishwasher has been a bit better but the keypad/ display is always flashing. The fridge is always running. It's only broken once though. The over the range microwave has only had the lightbulb burn out. As for parts, good luck.

Anyone telling you that they are the brand to get because of parts availability they are mistaken. The oven's main heating element burnt up the first week. They sent out a repairman (under warranty) to confirm what I told him. He called back the next day and said it wasn't available. So I called Home Depot and said I was returning it. The HD lady said that was fine but asked if I would wait a day. She called back and said she talked with Whirlpool and they were removing one from a new oven so mine could be fixed. Both the control board (which is obsolete 4 years after I bought the oven) and the heater element have died. I have learned how to repair the control board to keep it working. There's a plastic clip for the folding tines inside the dishwasher's upper rack that broke a little over a year of using it. It's not even listed on the parts diagram. When I called Whirlpool asking for the part number the person told me there wasn't a clip in it. After about 10 years a relay on the fridge's compressor died. It was easy to get. But I decided to see what parts were no longer available. I would say half are no longer made for it at that time. They are a bit over 15 years old now and if something dies it's either try to find used parts on ebay or just replace them.

I'm not saying other brands are better. Just that I know that Whirlpool is not the brand it once was. I will say this. I will be buying a new fridge before they switch to heat pumps over freon. I think they are going to be even more problematic for some time.

I believe you. The trouble is, here in 2024, it really isn't a question of what appliances are good appliances. Rather, it's a question of which appliances suck less. Appliance manufacturers are now focusing on bling rather than reliable machines that last. Apparently, they think that's what people want. The people here on this forum wouldn't fall into that category. Pardon the stereotype, but woodworkers tend to be very value conscious and skeptical of new, complicated technology. Most people are impressed by shiny new things and will pay a LOT of money for a "smart" refrigerator.

My mom purchased an LG refrigerator. She hated it so much, she got rid of it. For some reason, she then purchased an LG dishwasher and also hated that. I suggested a BOSCH dishwasher which she really likes. But that doesn't mean all BOSCH appliances are good machines. BOSCH makes a very good dishwasher, but I gather their other machines are pretty lackluster.

And everything changes so quickly you can't buy based on previous experience. If my Kitchenaid refrigerator lasted 20 years, that doesn't mean the Kitchenaid refrigerators currently available are good machines.

With parts availability, a machine can be too new as well as too old. When an appliance is brand new and needs a part, that part may not have yet entered the stock system. After a few years, the manufacturer might not support that particular model and stop stocking parts. With LG and SAMSUNG, the parts might never be available because they come from Korea.

[Dave Zellers]

My Father's overall philosophy (that pertains to devices whether mechanical or electrical, or both) was "the more bells and whistles means more opportunity for something to fail, and the more expensive it will be to fix."
And he wasn't referring to someone else repairing it; he did most repairs himself. **
Parts, labor, parts AND labor....bells and whistles increase price of repair. But factor in a repairman its even more $$$.

Thanks- that's what I was expecting. While I do like the ice maker, I think if/when it fails, I'll just shut off the water line in the basement and revert back to old school trays for ice.

[Brian Elfert]

I don't think Yale Appliance has been mentioned here. They put together an annual list of which appliance brands of each type they serviced, and the number of times, during the previous year. It isn't perfect because some of the brands they didn't service enough to really be a representative sample. I recall it is also mostly warranty service and may not reflect long term reliability. They also don't sell every brand and only list service history for brands they sell from what I recall.

Yaleappliance.com

[Brian Elfert]

I had the main board in my Whirlpool fridge fail after seven or eight years. This was in 2022 I recall and the fridge was broken for a good ten days. The board had to be shipped from Kansas City and then the service guy had to come back to install it. The freezer was still cold enough to stay frozen and the fridge was warmer than I would have liked, but the service tech said it wasn't warm enough for the food to spoil. I never got sick from anything so he was probably right. I did limit what I bought new to store in the fridge until it was fixed.

The good news was they could get the board. A new fridge almost identical to my Whirlpool fridge from 2014 is about $4,000 with sales tax. The repair was less than $500. The labor was really cheap when I looked up my cost to buy the part. Now, the probably get a discount on parts and don't pay retail.