Who makes the best refrigerators?

Marlin

I'm looking for a basic white, freezer on top refrigerator in the 400-600 price range. I'm inclined to go with a Whirlpool again because my current one is 22 years old and is just starting to go. However quality can go one way or another in that much time so I'm curious as to who makes the best these days. Most of the ones I see in my price range are GE, Whirlpool or Frigidaire.

slakker

Consumer report does a good job ranking these, but it's a subscription based service. I personally have a LG and really like how it's performing.

Knucklez

you can get consumer report from your local library.

you'll find that Kenmore from Sears gives best bang for your $

Knucklez

scorrpio

I found consumer report largely useless. Reviews, in general, seem to be of two kinds:
1. Someone gets a brand new shiny appliance, and is so taken by how better it is than what it replaced that they get to their PC, and post something like "I've had it for 2 days and I LOVE it". 5 stars.

2. Someone gets a defective unit and a bad customer service run - and posts a really bad review.

People whose fridge just purrs away for years doing what it should just don't tend to acknowledge the fact enough to go and write a review. People who have something go wrong, and a single service visit fixes it, just take it in stride. I mean, if a model has 2 type 1 reviews and 6 type 2 reviews over 4 years, that's hardly indicative of anything. Yet for someone who doesn't bother to consider the above, the model will appear with a 2/5 star rating. In particular, I know that LG units, beautifully styled, but generally priced lower than brands like Dacor, KitchenAid etc, must have a large sales volume - but about every model has a handful of bad reviews, offset by a smattering of 'just got it' positives.

Far more accurate are word of mouth, various forums, and doing feature-to-price comparison.

RemodelMan

I have the priviledge to work with best Buy's #1 appliance repair guy in the U.S. He tells me that Whirlpool now owns and manufactures Maytag as well.
All components are now as good as Whirlpool. Whirlpoo,l is ranked up there for the least problematic along with Amana. If you can afford the Sub Zero brand, or the other commercial appliances then you can also afford the rare and spendy visits by those repair personel.
In short, Kenmore is made by Whirlpool as well.

slakker

I thought I'd update my comment re: LG... I'm still happy with the performance of the product itself, but trying to get a replacement part is like pulling "hen's teeth"!!! None of the retailers can get the parts, I have to contact LG Canada and they have a very limited number of distributors to order from and they themselves are not setup for retail... All I needed was a $30 replacement shelf that I broke....

TurningColorz

Amana
Kenmore
Whirlpool

In that order...

Good Luck!
Mike

http://www.TurningColorz.com

Melanie337

Laid out some serious cash for GE Profile applicances. They look nice but are very expensive. I have had tons of trouble after only 1.5 years, especially with the fridge. I will never buy "on looks" again. I thought I would get what I paid for. Check the consumer reports and historical information....I didn't

rjordan392

I have had a Amana 22 cu. ft. side by side for over 10 years and had no major problems. I only had a leak from the water dispenser line and no problems since.
if you see fancy electronics on the model you are contemplating, I would stay away from it. An ice dispenser would be ok. If you get bells and whistles, you most certainly will have problems down the line.

Marlin

It's been some time since this post. I ended up going with a GE refrigerator. it's pretty basic, has a digital temperature control for the refrigerator and freezer and a water purifier/icemaker that I don't have hooked up yet. It was $600 off the regular price because the side of it was scratched to all hell. I figured why not, it's going in a recess anyway. Hopefully it holds up.