Who Makes The BEST Appliances?

[MICHELLE H.]

Would love to here opinions on what company makes trouble-free appliances, that are built to last and not break down right away for many years?

Here's the thing. Our 25 year old "Magic Chef" dryer is finally on it's last legs. One of the things wrong with it, is that its takes about 2 hours to dry 1 load of wet clothes, but the main thing is that the drum is rubbing against the dryer door, and its causing metal to grind on metal, and little SHARP shards of METAL get all over the clothes, lint trap, inside of dryer, etc, etc.

So for the time being its off to the laundry mat while we shop for a new dryer. We have had problems with other brand new appliances in the past. About 6 years ago, when we bought a brand new "Frigidaire" refrigerator, we had 2 problems with it in LESS than a years time!!! 2 months after we bought it, the freezer section wasn't keeping the frozen foods cold/frozen, and "Frigidaire" had their repair man install an "insulation kit" for the freezer. 6 months after owning the fridge, the COMPRESSOR went on the thing, and the repair guy tried to milk us out of $178 dollars for a new compressor, even though its was under warranty, and he left all mad.

We had a 2 year old "Kenmore" washing machine that had to have the agitator replaced after only 2 years!!!

So anyway we want to buy a QUALITY made appliance this year, and so I have asked friends for suggestions, and they all say that either "Whirlpool" or "Maytag" are the BEST appliances that are durable, and need repairing the least.

We were thinking about either "Maytag" or "GE Profile", but my friend says that she has a "GE Profile" dryer, and it only worked good for about 2 years, before the belt started squealing, and the bearings had to be replaced.

Is "GE Profile" a junky appliance? Are "Whirlpool" and "Maytag" really the best? What about our "Magic Chef" dryer that has lasted for 25 years? Does "Magic Chef" still make good, quality appliances?

Any thoughts and opinions would greatly be appreciated!!!

Thanks!

[salty]

Fisher & Paykel

[Tony]

I'd stay clear of Magic Chef, if they are still in business. There quality went way down, probably shortly after you bought yours.

Personally I would avoid all the electronic solid state controlled appliances and go for the good ol' turn the knobs and press start. Much less to go wrong.

[MICHELLE H.]

Actually our dryer is an "Admiral 20" dryer, manufactured by the "Magic Chef" Corporation. It was made in June 1985!!!!!

[LSMFT]

For what you pay for a 'good' appliance you can buy several of the cheap ones on not get to upgrade as often.

[Jules Richardson]

Youch. One of the few things that'll kill a dryer, I suppose (most other things can be repaired)

Freecycle. Pick up a dryer for $0 from someone who's just upgraded to a new one. I don't much care for microprocessor-controlled stuff, lots of plastic parts etc.; it's a dryer - it just needs to be functional, that's all.

That's why I'm going to run my 1977 (Whirlpool) fridge into the ground - a replacement would need to run for over a decade to recover costs (in terms of power saved) and I'm not convinced of anything new lasting that long.

*If* I were going to replace things, I'd go for Miele - they're the one name I hear that just keeps on coming up as being reliable as well as having good after-sales service.

Anything GE tends to be a dirty word in our house :-) Complete garbage - avoid.

cheers

Jules

[GROVER]

IMHO I think your best chance at a trouble free appliance is to select from amongst the simpler models, ie those with less bells and whistles. The more complex the device is, the more chances there are for failure. The ones that have too many cycles will have an expensive circuit board which is not repairable, (generally fails after the warrenty has expired) but rather only replaceable. Once set, most people don't use many of the cycles that they have paid for anyway.

Joe G

Joe G

[MICHELLE H.]

We got 25 years out of this "Admiral 20" dryer made in June 1985, so I guess the ole' saying is very much true:

"They don't make stuff like they used too!!!".

[Peter]

I dunno. We have a GE washer and a GE electric dryer that we purchased in 1983 and they are both still going strong!

[Percival P. Cassidy]

When we were looking for a new dishwasher about three years ago, I did read up on Fisher & Paykel but found far too many complaints, especially for an appliance in that price range.

Perce

[salty]

You can find internet complaints about any brand. I have their washing machine. After 10 years, the pump started to drip. I got a new pump at the local dealer for the same price as it was advertised on the internet. $74. Nice design. Didn't even need any tools whatsoever to remove the old pump and install the new pump in about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile the machine cost less than half what a typical frontloader costs, yet has all of the energy and water saving advantages. In fact it has a few advantages beyond the advantages of a front loader. It doesn't require special expensive soap, either.

Fisher & Paykel has not been marketed in the U.S. for very long, but this is a very well known company with a long history and reputation for quality and innovation in other parts of the world.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Wed 03 Mar 2010 11:55:27a, Percival P. Cassidy told us...

Electrolux

[harry]

Miele is the best. Followed by Bosch and AEG if avaible in the USA. I have Miele, reliable and enegy efficient. Unlike many American appliances. All of the above are German.

[E Z Peaces]

Until they went out of business, it was Mallin (code-named Shelby). Washburn (code-named Androck) and Speaker still make them. They've made hundreds of millions of appliances over 68 years. I don't think one has ever needed repair.

[HeyBub]

Two hours to dry a load is a common complaint of most dryers and can be fixed cheaply (clogged vent, temp sensor, heating element).

Rubbing on the door is probably the result of a worn-down roller, also easily and cheaply fixed.

Me? I'd fix the sucker and get another 25 years out of it.

[Molly Brown]

I have had very good experiences with Speed Queen.

[ransley]

Quality is commercial grade and most manufacturers have them , go see what laundrymats use. Our last set was a maytag commercial set up it lasted 35 years at least. Consumer stuff is made not to last. Just check the weight of a commercial unit to a consumer grade, commercial units have everything heavy duty, just like consumer stuff used to be.

[Tony]

Hey! I knew her! That was back in my drug days.

[willshak]

MICHELLE H. wrote the following:

Sears does not make anything, including their Kenmore and Craftsman products. Check the first 3 letters of the model number and go here to see who made it.

[willshak]

[e-mail] wrote the following:

I have a 10 year old Kenmore (Whirlpool) Dryer. Recently, a propane burner relay died on it and I got a new relay at the local appliance store. It did require a screwdriver to remove and replace. The Kenmore (Whirlpool) washer and dryer I have look like brand new, including the tubs, except for the white plastic panel parts on the control panel getting slightly discolored.