opinions on appliance brands, please.

[mopinko]

need a kitchen for a rental i am rehabbing. stove, fridge and dishwasher.
last time i did this i had a bigger revenue stream to depend on.
also had to shop w the ex, who is a go big or go home kinda guy. this time around trying to be a little more sensible.

right now lowes has some good deals, but there is a big appliance joint here that always has good deals on bundles. even tho they all include a microwave hood, which i dont really need, but...
admit that if it was my kitchen, i would want that space saver option, but reluctant to guarantee a microwave to a tenant.

anyway, frigidaire and maytag have pretty reasonable prices. they tout their made in usa schtick, tho it is *designed, engineered, and assembled. iow, parts made in mexico, china, ??
want to support that, but hate to fall for the **

lg is also pretty good prices, and some smart design.

i used to be pretty loyal to kitchen aide, but i think they cut a lot more corners these days.

have had great luck w bosch, but reluctant to put that in a rental.

so, anybody done this dance lately? anyone have any opinions?

[Warpy]

1. Go to an appliance place that has old guys who used to be repairmen as sales staff

There is one such store here and those old boys have never steered me wrong.

Four years ago, when the fridge died, they were touting Maytag and Frigidaire as the ones that needed the fewest repairs to anything but the ice machines and water dispensers, problems in an area with water as hard as granite.

They didn't carry LG any more even though LG had fixed most of the major problems because they couldn't get the parts in a reasonable amount of time.

Kenmore from Sears has also enjoyed a good reputation in the past. Not sure if that's still true.

[emulatorloo]

3. Sadly Kenmore has gone down hill imho. Got similar advice on Fridgidare that you did.

The new fridge has been excellent. FWIW we decided not to hook up the ice maker.

[mopinko]

4. yeah, they are all just rebranded anymore.

and there is only one sears store left here. the whole chain is in trouble, so reluctant to deal w them.

if there were a sears near me, i would likely shop there, but the only one here is a fair distance away, and a bs city drive from here.

[hunter]

6. Icemakers are easily removed in most refrigerators.

We decided we needed the room more than the icemaker, partly because we've got such aggressive hard water. We've got a reverse osmosis unit under our kitchen sink but it's on the opposite side of the kitchen from the refrigerator. I'd rather just fill an ice tray with RO water at the sink and carry it across the room than install a special water line.

[emulatorloo]

2. In the midst of a kitchen remodel. My contractor who is doing a great job

recommended GE to me for new dishwasher and microwave. He's used them a lot and says they are very reliable

[mopinko]

5. they have some good stuff.

always interesting to see the new stuff out there.
5 burner stoves, and fridge zones that can be either fridge or freezer.

[elleng]

7. Never done all that,

but had very reliable Maytag in old house.

Good luck!

[JDC]

8. We have a Meile Dishwasher and it is the best I have ever owned

[irisblue]

9. I bought a Frigidaire gas range & fridge in 2002

No complaints at all w/ the range, occasionally the door racks in both the freezer and fridge will come off (leading to cussing), but otherwise no probs. I had a dishwasher when I moved in, don't recall the brand; I got a replacement Kenmore in 2004 I had to replace the soap dispenser cover in 2013 and 6 weeks ago I had to remove the top sprayer and deep clean it. I am happy with all 3 and would spend money on them again.

[safeinOhio]

10. I know just about all dishwashers that are

Made in the US, except GE are built in the same factory in Ohio.
I've terrible luck with GE fridg.
Best idea is to ask repair men. I had a front load cloths washer and never again. Bearing went out on tub and cost more to repair than a new one.

[mopinko]

12. yeah the newer top loaders are pretty good.

i am on my second front loader, and i have had to repair it a couple times. i lucked out that the guy who came out to look at it told me what was wrong. it was a fairly simple fix. a couple $5 sensors and a 25¢ resistor.

[bluecollar2]

11. last time at lowes I went with

Whirlpool...and GES

No complaints

[hedda_foil]

13. Go to ABT. They're the best appliance dealer in the whole country per Consumer Reports.

They have every conceivable brand. Their salesperson are extremely knowledgeable and are authorized to make deals. I was just there with a friend who needed a new washer and dryer and was super impressed. They're in Glenview, which is your neck of the woods, iirc.

[mopinko]

14. yeah, that is the mentioned big store.

and i know they make deals because they have a wall of pics of some of their big shot customers, and rahm is on there. autographed, thanking them for the great deals. lol.

that is where we got the stuff for the other rental. got some very nice stuff, but more than we needed to spend on a rental.

their service is usually pretty good, tho we havent been real happy w the 2 calls we had to make on the stuff we got then.
trouble is right now it is a hike for me. i had surgery on my shoulder and i can drive, but not far.
i could just go with a package, which i can do online. but hustling for a deal is hard.

which still leaves me trying to figure which brands are the most for the money.

[mopinko]

15. kickin for the day crowd

[Major Nikon]

16. In my rental I always go for the cheapest I can find

As someone else mentioned, many different brands are made at the same factories with many of the same parts. They seem to redesign them every few years about the time you can figure out how reliable a particular model is. All manufacturers make good ones and bad ones and higher price only really gets you more features. I've had good ones that were cheap and bad ones that were expensive.

[hamsterjill]

17. Speed Queen is the only way to go for a washer.

I'm not much of a cook, and I have an old Maytag refrigerator that I've had for many years. But I do laundry out the wazoo because I run an animal rescue.

If you want a washer that won't break in the first year, buy Speed Queen.

I've had almost all of them. Whirlpool, Maytag, Samsung, LG and Fisher Pakel. All pieces of shit.