Refrigerator suggestions, please

[Ms3r4ISU]

I can hardly believe I'm going to a thread on a sports board asking mostly guys about this, but I swallow my female pride and do it anyway.

The freezer portion of our Samsung refrigerator has died and it's just a short matter of time before the fridge part goes, too. The repairman said that for the most part, Samsungs aren't good -- the company tried to do things that didn't work, and made it virtually impossible to find help online or replacement parts. I guess we were luckier than most with ours lasting 7 or so years. I couldn't even find a manual for our model online. Sigh. Repair guy also said Whirlpool is best brand, Electrolux is also good, as is SubZero but I don't have $10,000 for that!

However, with the impending demise of this major kitchen appliance and my limited luck finding much good in online reviews, I'd like to know if anyone's recently purchased a refrigerator with French doors, ice and water in the door and bottom freezer. I don't really want a full drawer in the fridge part (have to open both doors that way), but I'm open to various arrangements of shelves, etc.

What did you buy? How long ago? What do you like, not like, absolutely hate? And if know your SO's thoughts, feel free to include them, too.

I'm in Ames and not really looking forward to losing more food when my fridge decides it's done. Had enough of that with the freezer. TIA.

 

[cjs24]

https://www.whirlpool.com/-[WRX735SDBE]-1021394/WRX735SDBE/

Bought this Whirlpool fridge a couple months ago and it's been great. My wife uses the middle drawer to store fruits and yogurt and she loves it. One cool perk that seems like a waste until you use it is the measured fill for water. You set how much you want one time and then after that you just set your glass down, hit fill, and continue getting food ready while your water glass fills.

 

[intrepid27]

Anything in the $800 - $1400 range will last 5-7 years. Buy one with the looks and features you want and be ready to do it again in 6 years.

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

https://www.whirlpool.com/-[WRX735SDBE]-1021394/WRX735SDBE/

Bought this Whirlpool fridge a couple months ago and it's been great. My wife uses the middle drawer to store fruits and yogurt and she loves it. One cool perk that seems like a waste until you use it is the measured fill for water. You set how much you want one time and then after that you just set your glass down, hit fill, and continue getting food ready while your water glass fills.

Thanks, I'll take a look. One thing I forgot to mention is that I'm looking for an energy star rated model. That will get me $100 rebate from the city. I looked at one very similar to yours and then found it wasn't an energy-star model.

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

Anything in the $800 - $1400 range will last 5-7 years. Buy one with the looks and features you want and be ready to do it again in 6 years.

The problem is that what I want costs more than that in most cases. And if I'm going to spend more, I want it to last longer.

 

[carvers4math]

We've had the same fridge for 30+ years, but my sister recently got an Amana one with a water filter. She likes it but my BIL is one of those people who thinks the water is going to kill him, so he probably filters the filtered water again or some crazy chiz.

 

[chuckd4735]

We bought a Samsung about a year ago, mainly because they had great reviews and the NFM salesman said they were top notch. Its been great so far, but wow Im scared!

 

[3TrueFans]

We bought a Samsung about a year ago, mainly because they had great reviews and the NFM salesman said they were top notch. Its been great so far, but wow Im scared!

Same, bought a Samsung last year, the reviews I read for Samsung were very positive, we like ours a lot so far.

 

[somecyguy]

I like Samsung for TVs and phones. Kitchen and laundry appliances, they make me leery.

 

[CascadeClone]

We have had a Kenmore for 16 years, and never any problem (except forgetting to replace the filter). It's actually made by Whirlpool I believe.

Ours is a side by side with no bottom freezer. Seems to be fine for us. My folks have the bottom freezer with french doors on top fridge, and mom loves it, but it seems odd to me. Probably personal preference as much as anything.

Kenmores always are actually made by one of the big brands, and we've had great luck with all Kenmore appliances:
washer & dryer 22+ years only 2 minor repairs
fridge 16 years
stove 16+ years

 

[ripvdub]

Whirlpool ice makers seem to take a crap on on us. otherwise ok.

 

[cowgirl836]

when we were buying last year, we were told the door ice maker is usually the biggest problem across models so we skipped it. We actually don't have water either though the freezer makes ice - which we LOVE since previously we always ran out/forgot to refill the trays. Our tap water is fine to drink so the no water/ice in the door thing has been fine for us.

Sometimes it's a tick annoying that we have to open both doors to get into the meat/cheese drawer - but I really like the overall arrangement. The fridge in our apt was tiny and inefficient so this has been quite the upgrade for us. It fits SO MUCH stuff! We had leftovers from my birthday party + a CSA bag in it - so there was most of a watermelon, two 9x13 pans, three heads of lettuce, large bowl of fruit, bunch of beer, then two gallons of milk plus all our other normal stuff. Husband brought home the CSA box and I had no idea how we were going to make it work, but everything fit! The trays themselves can move around (as can the drawers in the door) and it's easy to do so if needed. Only been a year but very happy with it.



looks like our specific model is no longer being manufactured but this appears to be pretty much the same on the GE website.

http://products.geappliances.com/appliance/gea-specs/GNE29GMKES

We bought from a local appliance place and were definitely under the MSRP plus there were a couple rebates for us to use. It was a recommended model on Consumer Reports with a rank of 83.

For brand reliability it looks like they have Kenmore, GE, LG, and Samsung within three points of each other at the top and then a gap to Maytag and another gap down to KitchenAid and Whirlpool.

 

[mywayorcyway]

I have a Samsung. It looks nice and does the things a refrigerator is supposed to do (you know, like keep stuff cold), but I hate the organization of it. Despite the movable shelves and sliding pieces we simply cannot get it setup the way we want it and we have given up and just deal with it. I regret buying the model with the icemaker in top section (french doors), it takes up soooo much room and we don't even use the water dispenser. I wish we had bought the model with the icemaker in the freezer and no water dispenser.

We've only had it for 2.5 years so I can't speak to the longevity.

 

[carvers4math]

Yea, we don't have the ice/water in the door or an icemaker. However, the size of our family, we do have another fridge on the porch that is mostly ice and drinks, plus holiday overflow food. And a dorm size fridge upstairs that we first got for baby bottles and now use for other drinks. Those things in the door do seem to break down for about everyone I know.

 

[cyhiphopp]

Question:

Is your refrigerator running?

 

[ArgentCy]

We didn't buy a Samsung Refrigerator but ended up buying all the other appliances for our house as Samsung. I don't think I will make that decision again. We have had nothing but problems with a new basic model washing machine. Piece of junk that they had designed poorly (they knew about it because they had a spot on the outer case installed but not the new parts) basically knowing that the pump would fall off the bottom. They have the worst service because they try to only let a few repairmen have parts or anything, which in our case the guy is 2+ hours away. Luckily I'm pretty handy so after the guy finally figured out what the new parts were I basically had to rewire the whole unit to install the part. The failure also appears to have fried the main board but we are making it work until throwing the thing out the windows.

Dishwasher runs quiet but already making a noise. The Microwave is doing fine. I suspect that any things that have more moving parts and not just electronics, the Samsung models will not be reliable.

 

[DurangoCy]

Anything in the $800 - $1400 range will last 5-7 years. Buy one with the looks and features you want and be ready to do it again in 6 years.

Yikes, is this your experience or are you pessimistic?

I'm on year 11 with all of my appliances, dryer has needed 2 new heating elements and I think my dishwasher is one it's last leg, but my fridge has been bomber.

 

[dmclone]

https://www.whirlpool.com/-[WRX735SDBE]-1021394/WRX735SDBE/

Bought this Whirlpool fridge a couple months ago and it's been great. My wife uses the middle drawer to store fruits and yogurt and she loves it. One cool perk that seems like a waste until you use it is the measured fill for water. You set how much you want one time and then after that you just set your glass down, hit fill, and continue getting food ready while your water glass fills.

We've have something similar to this model but 5 years old. No problems so far. I like the middle drawer for holding pop.

 

[Leidang]

We bought an $800 Maytag about 16 years ago. It still runs great and has never had to be serviced... except my wife tore the door gasket once. I went online to their parts store and ordered a replacement and installed it myself for about $60. It's a pretty straightforward model top freezer, ice maker. But it does it's job well and dependably.

 

[BCClone]

We have a kitchen aid that is similar to the top model in the whirlpool link. Wife bought it by herself from a local sales place. 2500-2600 area, basically turn key and old one down the road. Was about 4 years or so ago. Had the ice maker guts crap out this last winter and service guy said that is the only issue with these.