Reliable Kitchen Appliances

[Menschenstimme]

I am considering some new kitchen and laundry appliances. Which brand is high-tech and upscale but still reliable and solid? Think the "Toyota Avalon" of appliances.

[gsneide]

After major disappointments with some brands, I now stick to GE (stoves, built-in rangetops and ovens, refrigerators) and Whirlpool (dishwashers, microwaves, refrigeration, laundry). Bosch makes good dishwashers, too. Look at the high-end models of these brands, they are reliable and a good value. Frigidaire is kind of a crap shoot, although I have a front-load Frigidaire laundry pair that is 11 years old, have had great service from it. Maytag has had its problems of late; stay away! Many of the "commercial grade" or professional appliances (Wolf, Sub Zero, et al.) look pretty but perform below the cheaper models and are troublesome. Check Consumer Reports...their experience parallels mine, I believe. Just my $0.02, YMMV.

[nullogik]

In Europe, Miele is widely regarded as producing some of the most reliable and robust kitchen appliances. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.

Bosch rates highly too.

[Menschenstimme]

Apparently, a refrigerator being down is no longer considered an emergency and perhaps not even a high priority. This seems to apply to official factory service as well as independent contractors.

Whatever happened to "time is of the essence"?

Is this the way it is or am I just unfortunate this time?

SIGH!

[gsneide]

Oh no, was this the new fridge, or haven't you bought one yet?

[Clarion]

After major disappointments with some brands, I now stick to GE (stoves, built-in rangetops and ovens, refrigerators) and Whirlpool (dishwashers, microwaves, refrigeration, laundry).

That pretty much follows my thinking; although washing machines can be a bit of a thorny issue. While I agree that Whirlpool makes the best, they have a bit of a problem with the top loading beast that doesn't have a visible agitator. It has a reputation for tearing clothes and other bad stuff.

From talking to people with ultra-expensive front loaders, while they are not all that thrilled with the performance, unless you keep the door open, stinky stuff starts to grow in there.

For performance, the top loading, adjitator Whirlpool units are not only the best priced, but offer the best performance!

GE stoves and fridges tend to do a reasonable job, although nothing to rave about. While their stoves are okay, their fridges, tend to offer a rather crude interface with the user. The only thing GE has to offer in that area, is that all of their competitors are doing worse.

Whirlpool dishwashers are great; but you have to use the right detergent. When all of our glassware started to get irretrievably cloudy, a brief internet search revealed the problem: Cascade Dishwashing Detergent!! The remedy turned out to be Finish Dishwashing detergent!! After using Finish, all the the glassware cloudiness disappeared.

But I still had a bottle of Cascade I didn't want to waste; so I occasionally did a wash with Cascade in an effort to get rid of it. And every time I attempted to sneak in a wash with Cascade, my wife could tell every time!! "You used Cascade, didn't you!!!"