Are there any refrigerator companies that make a reliable fridge anymore ??

[coobie]

What brand you get and where, big box?

Went to local appliance dealer who has been I business 40 plus years has sales & service.Bought a whirlpool (no ice maker) 3 French door freezer on bottom this time around wait and see what happens with this one.Time will tell I guess.

 

[BoylermanCT]

The refrig design has a lot to do with reliability. According to Consumer Reports, freezer on top models are much more reliable than french door models. For freezer on top models, LG and Maytag get 10 out of 10 for reliability. For freezer on bottom models, LG and Kenmore are on top at 9 out of 10. But for french door models, Kenmore is on top at 6 out of 10, LG get 5 out of 10 and Maytag gets 3 out of 10. GE is middle of the pack in their ratings.

 

[goeduck]

I have a French door GE refrigerator/freezer that was here when I bought the place in 2015. I am not sure how old it is. It crapped out about a year ago but I as able to determine a fix (thanks to YouTube) and with a $15 eBay purchase, it has been running fine since. It was a defrost heater in the back of the freezer section. As mentioned by someone, you cannot pack stuff up against the air flow vents. I have a dedicated Kenmore refrigerator and a dedicated Frigidaire freezer in the garage and they are solid. No bells or whistles, just basic machines.

My GE dishwasher went out last year and I replaced it with Bosch.

 

[PILOON]

Gee, guess I'm lucky.
My 20 C F freezer is over 22 years old and still OK.
Same for my washer/drier.
Beer fridge over 22 yrs and good.
Main fridge was replaced 4 yrs back so averages hurting here.
Dishwasher is going on 10 yrs and showing no evil signs.
A 25 yr old air conditioner still produces as it should.
But then the 80+ me is not doing all that great, LOL.

I think that things started downhill when they started adding 'computer' technology to the basic appliances.
Those 'chips' simply don't like electrical burps .

 

[aczlan]

The refrig design has a lot to do with reliability. According to Consumer Reports, freezer on top models are much more reliable than french door models. For freezer on top models, LG and Maytag get 10 out of 10 for reliability. For freezer on bottom models, LG and Kenmore are on top at 9 out of 10. But for french door models, Kenmore is on top at 6 out of 10, LG get 5 out of 10 and Maytag gets 3 out of 10. GE is middle of the pack in their ratings.

Probably because models with freezers on top are far less likely to have ice in the door (at most they may have water in the door) so there are less moving parts to complicate things.
They will also have more space available inside for the same outside dimensions of the fridge as there is less space occupied by the divider between the fridge and the freezer.

Aaron Z

 

[Gem99ultra]

Seems all brands have their shortcomings. Those I own start with the letters "LG". We had begun replacing our old GE appliances with the touted wonderful brand of LG. Dishwasher, stove, and then here comes the frig.

Our LG frig, now 3 years old, has had so many service calls that it makes me sick. Everything from 2 ice makers, control boards, compressor, you-name-it. Last time was earlier this year. Wouldn't get colder than 50*. Making that even would take 2 or 3 days. We had bought their extended warranty. Had never bought one before, but decided to do that this time; good choice!

Repairing the LG this time took over 6 weeks, many calls to HD and LG headquarters and our purchasing 20 lbs. of ice for our coolers daily. I could write a book on the excuses the service tech gave us for reasons that he failed to be able to make the correct repair.

Forget their 'repair or replace' policy. Their 'replace' policy part is a fairy tale. There's no end to the number of times they can attempt to make repairs, nor is there a requirement that the service tech have any remote knowledge of how to make it. I'm quite sure the service techs we saw had not finished high school, or was infatuated with their ride-along girlfriend in her bra-less halter top.

The final fix turned out to be what we thought was the problem at the time of the first service call. So much for harping about LG. That's the end however, of our quest to turn our appliance supply into a LG showroom. There seems to be horror stories about every brand, so I don't suppose there is any brand that is good for all appliances. Crap shoot at best...

 

[CobyRupert]

7 pages of antidotes about this brand or that brand. Might as well ask if Fords or Chevys are better. " I had a dentist whose cousin's neighbor once had a Chevy, and he had to get the exhaust replaced! -so I know Chevys aren't any good! " - This is what these 7 pages sound like. :banghead:
There's maybe 2 posts about what the problem might actually be.
Given that the freezer works (and thus the compressor, etc..), I'd bet it's a 15 cent ($30 dollar retail) problem.

What tests has repairman suggested?

 

[fried1765]

Seems all brands have their shortcomings. Those I own start with the letters "LG". We had begun replacing our old GE appliances with the touted wonderful brand of LG. Dishwasher, stove, and then here comes the frig.

Our LG frig, now 3 years old, has had so many service calls that it makes me sick. Everything from 2 ice makers, control boards, compressor, you-name-it. Last time was earlier this year. Wouldn't get colder than 50*. Making that even would take 2 or 3 days. We had bought their extended warranty. Had never bought one before, but decided to do that this time; good choice!

Repairing the LG this time took over 6 weeks, many calls to HD and LG headquarters and our purchasing 20 lbs. of ice for our coolers daily. I could write a book on the excuses the service tech gave us for reasons that he failed to be able to make the correct repair.

Forget their 'repair or replace' policy. Their 'replace' policy part is a fairy tale. There's no end to the number of times they can attempt to make repairs, nor is there a requirement that the service tech have any remote knowledge of how to make it. I'm quite sure the service techs we saw had not finished high school, or was infatuated with their ride-along girlfriend in her bra-less halter top.

The final fix turned out to be what we thought was the problem at the time of the first service call. So much for harping about LG. That's the end however, of our quest to turn our appliance supply into a LG showroom. There seems to be horror stories about every brand, so I don't suppose there is any brand that is good for all appliances. Crap shoot at best...

...."ride-along girlfriend in her bra-less halter top"?
He11,....... I might have considered deliberately disabling that LG a few more times.

 

[k0ua]

Probably because models with freezers on top are far less likely to have ice in the door (at most they may have water in the door) so there are less moving parts to complicate things.
They will also have more space available inside for the same outside dimensions of the fridge as there is less space occupied by the divider between the fridge and the freezer.

Aaron Z

Yep a lot less to break. And the avenue for cold air to flow into the refer section is "natural" also. Cold air sinks. These types of machines are simpler and tend to run for a lot longer. We have one of those in our downstairs kitchen, and it is at least 10 years old. We use it as our bulk ice maker (old style Whirlpool ice maker inside the freezer section with a plastic tub.) and to keep the cold drinks in. Also overflow refrig for the holidays.

 

[txdon]

Some credit card companies will double the manufactures warranty if you use their card. Many want to check this out if you charged the refrigerator. I bought a Samsung from Costco last year. For an extra $100 I got and extended warranty and then the cc company added two years for a total of 7 years under warranty and I'm keeping all receipts and small print papers.