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Thread: Are there ANY appliance brands that arent junk?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Are there ANY appliance brands that arent junk?

    The stove went out last night. I know how old it is, bought it when I bought the house. It was a repo, no appliances. So get a new stove, dishwasher and fridge. All new at the time 8 yrs ago. Replaced the fridge last year, on the 3rd dishwasher. And now the stove. Not like I haven't bought different brands hoping for better results. Doesn't seem to make a difference.

    Was a time when if you bought brand x you knew you were getting a good one. Now you really have no idea who made it, its just a name plate on the front. But an economics lesson for my 9yo. That they make way more money selling you a new appliance every 5 yrs than they do every 20 yrs.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master Electric88's Avatar
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    I like Amana for washers and dryers, because they are cheaper than other brands and relatively easy to work on.

    But in general, I believe all brands of appliances at this point in time will break sooner rather than later. It seems the quality isn't there anymore.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master


    Taylor's Avatar
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    No,they don't make'm like they used too.
    Pro Patria-Ne Desit Virtus

  4. #4
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    Speed Queen washers and dryers
    Old style designed to last for a couple few decades

  5. #5
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    GE sucks. We bought a pricey double oven gas range, the metal shield above the igniter got so hot it liquified and sagged down onto the igniter where it promptly began welding just like you were burning a 6010 rod in there. Took out the $90 igniter and a $200 circuit board, not counting the $99 "diagnostics" charge for coming to tell me that the parts I already know are broken, are what's broken... I politely informed the customer service individual that no I would not be spending $400 on getting this GE range fixed, especially when GE KNEW they had a problem with the design, and that I likely would not be investing any more of my money into any new GE appliances just to "redeem" my $99 diagnostics charge. Which I did not pay. I had the service tech call and I picked his brain for part numbers which I will find on my own.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master GhostHawk's Avatar
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    When my mom and dad got married they bought new top of the line Whirlpool clothes washer and dryer. 4 kids and 40 years later they still work fine. Few minor fixes, replaced a belt, stuff like that. They still worked when they moved out of the big house. But they looked old so they scrapped them.

    I had a chance to see inside a repairman's book once. Planned life of a clothes washer is 8 years. Period. Same for the dryer.

    In 20 years we have burned through 2 washers and we are on the third. Dryer still going strong.

    Dishwashers and fridges are not much if any better.

    Stove we bought Roper, Nat Gas, no electricity to the stove. Old pilot light style.
    Stove works when the power is out. And nothing has gone wrong yet in 20 years.

    I don't think I could cook on electric. Propane or Nat Gas for me all the way. I like my heat on instantly and when I shut it off I want it OFF.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy Kent Fowler's Avatar
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    Growing up, my parents had a Bendix Corp. washer and dryer. They got passed around, for years, to various family members after we moved to the new house and Mama wanted a new set of Maytags. Bendix went out of that line of business because they made too good a product.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    I have tried pretty much every brand swearing I wont buy the one that broke again. Whirlpool was the one fridge, it always made funky noises, I reset it once, unplugging it waiting then plugging it back in. Worked for another year I guess, then just stopped staying cold. So I bought the pretty much cheapest thing at lowes. If its gonna last 5 yrs, why pay more? The oven quit, may be an element. It had gotten hot, but then quit. I had made a pizza, not frozen. Stuck it in the timer went off, the cheese wasnt even begun to melt. So ruined dinner. I can live without the oven for a bit. Its Tappan brand, just see whats cheap at the store.

  9. #9
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    As stated above, stay away from GE. Plastic parts have insufficient cross-sectional thickness. Many parts that are subjected to intermittent load break within 3 or 4 years.

    Everything is now designed purely for profit, not durability or customer satisfaction. Warranties are often a sham, with many companies never having any intention of honoring them. Keep in mind, if a manufacturer offers a 1 year warranty, that means that the manufacturer believes that the appliance will cease to be reliable and operate as designed at the end of one year.

    Not sure who is making and selling the most reliable stove or stove/oven combination. We're using a Maytag electric stove/oven which will soon be replaced with a natural gas unit (not Maytag). The electronics started throwing error codes after about 7 years.

    Like jmort says, cry once and go with Speed Queen for clothes washer & dryer.

    When I buy appliances I check reviews on Amazon, Sears and one or two other websites. Consumer Reports usually just reviews features, cosmetics and general specs. I've never seen them produce a report on durability, reliability or long term customer support.

    Purchasing appliances has become a bit like voting for a politician. There is no good one, you just try and choose the lesser ***.

    One other thing I can add. Costco, for no extra money, adds one year to the manufacturer's warranty on major appliances.
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  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    My problem is the clothes washers. Samsung ~3yrs old, no spin anymore. They need to hire some decent designers that understand spin. Trying to control centrifugal force with electronics. Silly thing has $200 attitude sensor, instead of a large flywheel to off set the unbalanced load. But then they would need a larger motor.Speed queen lasted longest (commercial type), ~5 yrs. IIRC, Dad got Mom a Maytag after the GE wringer washer was given to Granny. They had a pretty good durable design then, counterbalances for the spin, simple transmission. Dad worked for GE and got a deal on the first fridge model that didn't have the coils on top. It was still working 12 yrs ago when they sold the house but it was not the kitchen fridge after we kids got to H.S., too small.
    Whatever!

  11. #11
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    Sigh, we are rolling the dice again as well unfortunately. I've had bad experience with Samsung and LG, so we went with a variety this time. I hate the fact the new "quiet" dishwashers take twice as long and don't clean as good as the older models. I looked at the speed queen washer/dryer's but just couldn't stomach the price for them. We are using decades old kenmore set that are still running fine. Grandfather rebuilt the dryer twice IIRC.
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  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    I do not buy anything Samsung anymore. Bought a sound bar set up, lasted maybe a year. A DVD player didn't last much longer. My ex was obsessed w Samsung, every appliance in her new house was Samsung. The overly fancy washing machine that she only knew how to use one setting on. I bought the cheapest washer dryer they had, Roper, its been running 8 yrs without a problem. The stove may only need an element, never have been able to get it level where a cake comes out straight.

  13. #13
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  14. #14
    Boolit Master

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    Over the years I've learned to be a pretty fair amateur appliance repairman. We have an old mismatched Whirlpool washer and dryer set that we bought used 15 years ago, from a friend who bought them used before that. They look like they're from the '80s. I've done some tinkering on both of them over the years: belt, motor, elements, sensor, and maybe a pump as I recall. All pretty cheap fixes, several used parts from appliance stores. I think I bought a dryer motor used for $20 or so and it worked great. I don't know how many times I've taken the dishwasher apart to either clean cherry pits or Legos out of the impellers, or replace minor parts.

    My wife wanted to replace the washer and dryer with a new front-loader a while back. We went down to Lowes and the salesman kind of offended me. He said that with a "huge" family like mine the most I should ever expect from a washer/dryer would be 4-5 years (We have 4 kids, since when is that a huge family?). I ended up telling him we'd stick with our 30 year old set that still works fine. I told my wife we'd get new counter tops this year instead, so that will be my project this summer.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    be careful making "huge" families....you'll screw yourself away from the dinner table!

  16. #16
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    Brand doesn't matter to me. I can fix them and they all break eventually. What irks me is some of the engineering. As an example I will point out the door seals on LG washers. Parts are cheap enough. But it costs $140 in tools to replace it. Yes, you can do it w/out them. Particularly the outer band. But the inner one is virtually impossible to replace w/out their tool. They could have designed the band differently so it only requires common tools but that would be to much. Since I have to tools I plan on repairing it until I can't anymore.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Whirlpool washer and dryer, still going strong after two sons and 22 years, Whirlpool microwave, cooktop, oven, refrigerator, dishwasher are all 22 years old, the microwave latch got a little funky last year and had to adjust the switch saying the door was closed. I did replace the water pump on the dishwasher about 5 years ago, and my son replaced one igniter on the gas cooktop last year. No complaints from me about whirlpool.

    (Ahhh, yes, I did replace the seal around the front loading door on the washer, it seems the seal and football shoulder pads aren't compatible.)

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Washing machines are the worst offenders ,then cookers .it seems they are not repairable as its an old model as soon as you run out of warranty !

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master

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    No ....they are all designed to fail. And the important word here is DESIGNED , they are made to only last so long. My daddy hade a refrigerator bought in the 1950's, it was still running and sold at the estate sale we had after he passed in 2012...it was 52 years old, weighed a ton and still ran ! The fellow who bought it wanted it for his hunting camp.
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  20. #20
    Boolit Master
    Hick's Avatar
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    We have all GE-- (Double oven, Induction range, dishwasher, Microwave), and have had all but the microwave since the mid-1990's. BUT-- GE may have changed since then.
    Hick: Iron sights!

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