oldhouseluvr wrote:Stay away from Sears. We've replaced several major appliances over the last ten years and because DH insisted, we bought all of them at Sears. In ten years, the dryer drum is rusting, the washer has spin control problems, the freezer door handle falls off and the paint on all five of the appliances we bought there is about as thin as you can get and still cover the surface. I would say that on a scale of good, better, best, we bought what we thought were better appliances, but what we got in terms of quality is fair. You're smart to do your research first.
You have to keep in mind that Sears doesn't manufacture its own appliances, they aren't all made by the same company, and the same appliance isn't necessarily made by the same company from year to year. You need to look at the reliability of a given appliance by a given manufacturer. The Sears salesperson should be able to tell you who made the appliance in question. For example, at our last house, we bought a Kenmore dishwasher and a Kenmore fridge, both made by Whirlpool, and we loved them both. Now Whirpool no longer makes the Kenmore fridges, and the salesperson said they aren't as good. So this time around we bought a Whirpool brand fridge at Sears (they still have great sales and deals on delivery/haulaway).
I believe Consumer Reports tells you who makes the Kenmores that they review.
Wow...thanks for all the input and info. I have the option of buying a dble conv oven (wall) made by Icon for 2500 and a range top by thermador for 1200. Might go with those but the only thing is that the ovens are not real deep. I need to take some of my pans in and see if they will fit. Occasionally I do big cakes 14 in or more and I think those ovens are only 13.5 deep on the racks.
I agree that Whirlpool is a great appliance maker. My first w/d lasted for well over 15 yrs or more. I replaced the heat elements several times in the dryer and the belt once in the dryer. Ended up giving them to my nephew later. My new w/d are whirlpool front loaders..which are ok but really huge...
Just like jeepnstein, we got an Imperial restaurant type range.
This range is such a joy to use. It is huge, but there is nothing I can think of that I can't do with it. Very happy. It does have a bunch of pilot lights going all the time, but that's just not a problem. Our PO was in the cabinetry business and got it for us wholesale at about $3,700 as I remember.
On the way to California in 1972