Most reliable refrigerator brand?

[Joe1]

Originally Posted By: RazorsEdge
Originally Posted By: Joe1
Samsung and LG have leaped ahead of Maytag and Whirlpool in appliances just as they did to Sony in TV sets and Blackberry and Nokia in cell phones.


Samsung and LG are known for quality problems,so good job sharing some hilarious information there!

I work in this field,I should know whats going on FWIW.


A friend of mine who works in the appliance field has differing opinions than yours. I asked him for documentation and statistics to substantiate his claims. Don't think he can furnish anything other than personal opinion. I am interested in hearing more details about your statements though.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I've got a 1 year old $999 stainless steel Whirlpool. Works great, my only complaint is it makes too much ice so I usually manually turn off the ice maker and when it gets low I turn it back on.


Same thing here! Mine is a bottom freezer. The level bail for the ice maker always pushes it's way downwards, throwing another batch of ice in there. No big deal given we go through it.

The only issue I had was the plugged duck bill check valve at the bottom of the condensate drip tube. A few online videos and I fixed mine and a few family members.

 

[GrtArtiste]

Our 1996 GE with freezer on top still runs and we have done NOTHING to it during that time. Four months ago we had to get rid of our 1996 GE electric stove because the oven failed and the electronic controls were failing. It was replaced with a Frigidaire glass-top.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Joe1
Originally Posted By: RazorsEdge
Originally Posted By: Joe1
Samsung and LG have leaped ahead of Maytag and Whirlpool in appliances just as they did to Sony in TV sets and Blackberry and Nokia in cell phones.


Samsung and LG are known for quality problems,so good job sharing some hilarious information there!

I work in this field,I should know whats going on FWIW.


A friend of mine who works in the appliance field has differing opinions than yours. I asked him for documentation and statistics to substantiate his claims. Don't think he can furnish anything other than personal opinion. I am interested in hearing more details about your statements though.



The problem with Samsung/LG is their repair and parts network. You can buy parts and get service for a Whirlpool anywhere, but Samsung's repair network is so bad they have Dish Network doing recall work on their washing machines!

 

[Vuflanovsky]

While that may be true at least regarding Samsung's repair and parts network, I have a Samsung range and over the stove microwave. My micro had an issue with the touch panel after 5 years and it was ordered and replaced in five days by a sub that they contract through. So, I don't think you can make blanket statements about parts and repair availability about most of these manufacturers. It's probably closer to a case by case basis.

If I buy a Kenmore fridge then it's one of three manufacturers ( Electrolux/Frigidaire, Whirlpool, or LG ) that make it for them. Is the Mexican-made Samsung fridge easier to get parts for than the Korean-made models?? Is the overall reliability different?? The model has the potential to be a lot more important than the brand. My Samsung range/micro is 8 years old with the microwave panel being the only gliche, so at this point I can't complain too much. I'm not sure I'd buy one of their washers though....

 

[Oldtom]

I have had good luck with Maytag and Whirlpool. I would suggest buying the most no frills, no electronic junk frig you can get. I do have a tip that will help ANY frig to last longer:

The cooling coils on my Maytag are closely spaced and get choked with dust. The coils are impossible to fully clean with a coil brush, you just move the crud around without removing it. I found an 18 inch long piece of 1/2 inch copper pipe duct taped to my shop vac hose works perfect. The pipe is slim enough to get between the coils and clean all the way to the back. Use a bright LED flashlight to see what you are doing. If the coils are more closely spaced, a piece of 3/8 inch copper may work, altho I have not tried this. Clean coils and fan housing at least every six months, the fan seems to suck in a lot of dust.

 

[volk06]

Originally Posted By: Vuflanovsky
Originally Posted By: volk06
Buy from an actual appliance brand, not an electronics brand. Maytag and Whirlpool are the top two. Avoid, samsung LG and the likes.


I think I'd disagree to some extent because it can easily be model-specific and not brand-specific. In 2004, my folks bought a smallish LG fridge which at that time was the highest rated "cheap" fridge by Consumer Reports. It's been flawless for the last 13 years.

I think there can be a lot of variance within the same brand. The cheaper Samsung fridges are built in Mexico with the more expensive ones often made in South Korea. There may be country of origin differences as well as cost/part differences. Based on my recent experiences with GE and Whirlpool ( and most current major appliances ), I haven't found them particularly "better" but I tend to think of it by model and not brand.


Well that is your opinion. In my family we've had 5 LG appliances fail within the first 3 years of owning them, during the past 6 years. There was a large sale so we all replaced the 10-15yr old whirlpools at the time, that was a mistake. 3 were failed washers of different models. Bought the extended warranty and they ended up replacing almost all of them due to parts no longer Available. The another 1.5year later the replacement LG washer went out again. Wasn't all the same model washer and a fridge.
When it comes to repair, Samsung and LG are dismal.

Never again.

 

[4WD]

Same in my family and when I lived in Korea. You could not give me LG - the only thing I bought from LG was a large expensive window unit for my fishing camp - did not last two seasons. Just made an offer on a lake cabin - one LG unit dead already and one sounds like a freight train.
I have 5 Kenmore Elite (Whirlpool?) appliances that are 12 years old - never seen a tech with a large family.
I go with Maytag for W&D.
You all can keep KORUS - we did not need that.

 

[dja4260]

We're about decided on a no frills Whirlpool side by side.

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

My eighteen year old Whirlpool 22 cu ft has been clunking for two years but otherwise works just fine. We have looked at replacement twice but the fridge keeps clunking and maintaining set point. Ice maker still works too.

 

[donatom]

We have a 5 year old Samsung with French doors on top and freezer on the bottom. After ten months the refrigerator iced up. It took three technicians to finally fix the thing (it took three weeks). Now the refrigerator is icing up again; I have manually defrosted it 3 times. We have spoken with a dozen technicians who have said that most models of Samsung refrigerator have the same problem. They stated that LG and Samsung have the least dependable machines, while Whirlpool (and Maytag) were probably the most reliable. Most of these technicians advised us to junk the Samsung and buy a Whirlpool (they also said that no brand would last over 8 - 10 years) because it probably could not be fixed.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I bought a Whirlpool side-by-side no frills model (around $1100 retail price - paid about $850 on sale) last Nov and the ice maker died after 6 months. Only used it as needed as it made ice pretty fast. Ice maker replaced under warranty. Ice makers seem like a weak spot in most refrigerators.

The fridge keeps fridge and freezer setpoints very well, and the compressor duty-cycle is good at around 50%.

 

[StevieC]

I bought a Whirlpool plain jane stainless steel fridge with bottom freezer. It's about 5 years old and it runs great. 0 issues. Before that we had a Maytag that came with the house and it was from the 1990's. We only got rid of it because it was a smokers yellow white and didn't fit with the new kitchen we put in and other stainless steel appliances and the thermostat was starting to have problems not turning off when it was cold enough inside so we would have stuff freezing in the fridge.

My parents have had a really hard time with their LG appliances. Fridge, Stove, Dishwasher, Washing Machine. They all got replaced over 5 years with Samsung and it has fixed their problem.

 

[thooks]

Raise the front of that Samsung up to where it's 1/4" - 3/8" high in the front.

That's what I did after HOURS of reading online.

It's been holding 38 degrees (via separate therm) for 8+ weeks after I did this.

Let me add - after emptying the fridge and turning the breaker off for 36 hours to fully defrost it.

 

[KrisZ]

We had a Samsung French door and ice maker, bottom freezer model in my previous house for 7 years with zero problems. We got another Samsung for the current house.

 

[thooks]

Another add about the Samsung, sorry, I was typing on a phone earlier......

The theory is that if the fridge is level or tilted forward.....or not tilted far enough back that water from the defrost cycle will not fully exit the drain/pan/area where the melted ice drains from the defrosted evaporator coil. This water stays in the fridge compartment, close to the evap coil and freezes, clogging the drain line and preventing future defrost cycles from being effective.

Again, since I turned the fridge off for 36 hours and elevated the front (raising the front legs and adding a penny or two), it has been holding 38 degrees ever since. I use a stand alone refrigerator thermometer in the fridge to tell us the temp in it. One of these https://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Class...words=refrigerator+thermometer&psc=1

I am thinking about lowering the tempt to 36°F to see if anything changes.





In my opinion it is extremely sad that Samsung will not address this horrible problem by advising this solution. This is a very well-known and common problem and there seems to be hundreds of videos, hundreds of thousands of complaints about this.....and I've only seen ONE post about this solution.

 

[nthach]

My parents had a Whirlpool-made Kenmore that they bought for the first house they bought. It was trouble-free for its life and lasted almost 20 years. It was replaced with a Samsung that had one service call for a broken shelf just a month before the warranty is up.

I think this will be the last Samsung appliance they buy - IMO, Sammys are good for what they are. The biggest issue is that they look good at the expense of materials, they seem to be using flimsy metals and cheaper plastics. Their Sammy washer bought from Lowe's in 2010 is rusting and developing a bearing noise - they'll put me in charge of procuring a replacement as the bearings are only part of the outer wash tub. I'll spec a mid-range Maytag or Whirlpool.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted by dja4260
We're about decided on a no frills Whirlpool side by side.


The more basic.... the better.

 

[thooks]

We have 3 Samsung TVs (no phones), a Samsung Gas Stove/Oven and the Samsung French Door Fridge.


There will never be another Samsung anything in my house. They are a horrible company that has no customer service. They produce a very nice looking Refrigerator, Stove and TV.... We've had no problems out of the TVs.

The Stove is horrible. Burner output is pathetic. The fridge is now working as it should but only after 9 months of frustration and trying to figure out what to do (dump it, what to replace it with, etc.)


IMO, there are no good consumer level appliances out there right now. If you want to change that, let them sit in the stores. Make the manufacturers understand that the consumer has figured out their game and force them to make great appliances again.


Buy used. I don't care if it doesn't match the current style trends. Style doesn't keep your milk and meat from spoiling....

 

[DBMaster]

That must be why I've kept my 1991 Montgomery Ward Signature 2000 (Admiral) fridge. It wasn't a high end model when I got it and Admiral had middling reliability scores. A new one would be significantly more efficient, but pretty much everyone I know has had issues with both low and high end models made in the past ten years or so. So, I keep my dinosaur which is very clean and functions well.