New Refrigerators - anyone have advice or warnings?

[drumstick diva]

Everything seems to have sturdily declined in quality. Every time we have to look for a new major appliance - it's a nightmare. Of course prices continue to rise. I do know my friends with ice makers have all had trouble with them, leaking, not shutting off and my sister's dog learned how to get cubes out and she comes home to puddles all over the kitchen.

 

[sunflour]

Everything seems to have sturdily declined in quality. Every time we have to look for a new major appliance - it's a nightmare. Of course prices continue to rise. I do know my friends with ice makers have all had trouble with them, leaking, not shutting off and my sister's dog learned how to get cubes out and she comes home to puddles all over the kitchen.

OK, made my decision to fix the current one - and when I do have to buy one - avoid the in door dispensers.

Never thought about a dog accessing the dispenser

. That is just too funny.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

If I were to buy another one, I would prefer one without ice and water dispensers. Its just one more thing to break and take up room and I don't use either one. DH does, though, so I guess I'm stuck.

 

[sunflour]

If I were to buy another one, I would prefer one without ice and water dispensers. Its just one more thing to break and take up room and I don't use either one. DH does, though, so I guess I'm stuck.

At least he doesn't let the ice fall and melt on the floor ... or does he

 

[SunHwaKwon]

At least he doesn't let the ice fall and melt on the floor ... or does he

Sometimes...

The dog cleans it up after him

 

[cmom]

I love my ice maker and the door dispenser. I think they are more reliable now than in the past. When we bought the new fridge for the apartment we just assumed we could use the ice-maker out of the old fridge because they were made by the same manufacture, but surprise, it didn't work that way so we bought a new ice-maker and installed it and now we have plenty of ice. The ice-makers were identical except for the plug on the end.

 

[sunflour]

Sometimes...

The dog cleans it up after him

Or maybe the dog did it and is just blaming your DH?

I love my ice maker and the door dispenser. I think they are more reliable now than in the past. When we bought the new fridge for the apartment we just assumed we could use the ice-maker out of the old fridge because they were made by the same manufacture, but surprise, it didn't work that way so we bought a new ice-maker and installed it and now we have plenty of ice. The ice-makers were identical except for the plug on the end.

We don't use a lot of ice and I have only used the cold water dispenser when I blanch beans so in the door is not too important for me.

Sounds like you have had good luck. But so many including my best friend have had the opposite experiences - she has an in door ice maker ( it was top of the line Kitchen-aid side by side) and the ice maker broke right after the warranty ended - the only way it could be fixed was to buy the whole door panel - or that's what the "official" repair folks told her.

But today's paper is filled with great bargains

 

[cmom]

Quote:
We had a used fridge friends gave us for many years with a nice ice-maker in the freezer. It worked fine but was almost running constantly even though I kept the air flow clean (coils). Our old fridge cooled under the bottom. I needed to keep it cleaned out but we knew it was on it's last leg and it showed. The door gaskets were starting to crack so I'm sure it wasn't sealing good and with air escaping is why it was running a lot and it showed in the electric bill. We bought 2 refrigerators, one was a French Door, the freezer on the bottom, counter depth. The other one was a top freezer with the fridge on the bottom. An ice-maker and door dispenser on the French Door. On the other one, we bought it with no ice-maker thinking ours would fit being they were made by the same company, but no they had different plugs on the end of the cable we had to plug in. We bought the ice-maker for it and installed it. We do use a lot of ice as we live in Florida and go through a lot of ice water, I put the ice and water in my glass from the dispenser on the French Door fridge and use the other ice-maker for ice and when I blanch my vegetables for canning. I put the ice in a large bowl with ice water to cool the vegetables. I have a nice tool to get the vegetables out of the ice water and into the jars. I'm not saying to buy a new fridge. When the time is right the time will be right. The fridge from the house temporarily replaced a fridge in our apartment so we bought the house fridge first and months later bought a new fridge for the apartment. Just my experience.

Awhile back our microwave keypad stopped working just out of warranty. We found a keypad and took the one out and replaced it. Has been working great so far.
I always try a repair first then if I can't make it work, replace it.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

My 26 year old GE side by side may have to be replaced. It still works great but the ice maker needs repair - doubt we can find parts, so have been researching for a replacement.

But everything I have read and been told is overwhelmingly bad.

Anyone have advice on brands and longevity.

Should I just buy bagged ice?

And go for a record on how long can a fridge last?

It may be in your best interest to repair the old one. All the newer ones, and we have experiences this too, are poorly made. We have to replace our refrigerators every few years.

The one we have now has lasted a while though.

 

[sunflour]

Thanks for all the opines and experiences.

I'm going to try to fix mine - DH is recovering from surgery and will have to wait til he is able to handle this or ask friend to help me with the project. But I can contact the local folks to see if they do have the parts we think we need.

The one I think I would want may not fit my space without some changes in the slot and is so new parts would not be available if it had problems. So, keeping this one awhile longer until it gets an expensive repair need would be the best plan. The interior, seals, compressor, etc are all still like new.