Behr Paint - any good? FAQ

Very int eresting! What ARE CR ratings worth, in your opinion and that of anyone else who might want to weigh in on this?

I'm vaguely looking at dishwashers (mine is out of order; see other post on water inlet), and their "Best Buy" is a Kenmore. Then I went to my nabe appliance store. The man said that Wbirlpool makes Kenmore makes Kitchen Aid (or some sequence). How can consumer tell which is best line? Also, CR rates KitchenAid low for too many repairs. Sigh!

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Other than some of the longevity testing such as paints and such where they may be of some validity I personally don't take CR seriously at all.

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Yes, Sears has appliances made for them to sell under the "Kenmore" brand -- and different kinds of appliances by different manufacturers, and perhaps the manufacturers change from year to year, for all I know: our Kenmore refrigerator and dishwasher are by Whirlpool, washer and dryer by Frigidaire (which is now Electrolux, which is Swedish), our microwave by LG, I think (Korean). I don't recall the manufacturer of the gas water heater.

I have read that the first three digits of the Kenmore model number indicate the manufacturer.

BUT Sears can have Whirlpool (or whoever) build an appliance to Sears' own specifications, with either more or fewer features than those of the models Whirlpool sells under its own name. Further, one or two "layers" of the distribution system -- the distributor/wholesaler -- is/are eliminated , so it's *possible* (but not guaranteed) that the consumer gets better value for money.

Home Depot, Lowe's, Sam's and Best Buy can do the same, except that the appliances they sell still have the Whirlpool (or whatever) name on them. Yet they could have unique model numbers and be somewhat different from an identical-looking appliance sold by "Joe's Home Appliances, your locally owned neighborhood store." It's possible that the *only* difference is the model number -- so you can't invoke the price-match guarantee.

Whirlpool can incorporate different features into the appliances it manufactures under different brands (Maytag, Kitchen Aid, and others?); some of those may not work well and render the product unreliable. Or quality control in the plant where a particular Whirlpool-owned brand of appliance is made may be sub-standard.

One problem with CR -- as with similar publications in other countries

-- is that the highly rated product may have been discontinued by the time you are ready to buy.

Perce

Higgs Bos> I'm vaguely looking at dishwashers (mine is out of order; see

"benick" wrote

I've used it with roller and brush and been happy with it. Can't speak to spraying as havent done that.

LG stants for Luck Goldstar. Back in the 80's Goldtar appliances hit the US market and were not very good. The re-did their egineering and re-emerged as LG>

My local appliance dealer belongs to a buyers coop, as do many now. He is able to meet or better the prices of Sears and all the big box stores. His service is far superior also. I could tell you a few stories of how he does things that HD or Lowes would laugh at you if you asked.

My company made parts for a Sears appliance supplier. Sears would always ask for something just a little different to offer a perceived better value. Some were pure useless gimmick, but they could check off one more box on the features comparison. .

That surprises me as we've had very good luck with KA appliances. Three dishwashers over 40 years, refrigerator, disposals, etc. Never had to call a repairman.

That depends on how you define "not very good". In reality the definition was more like "not very fancy", and I recall friends with a few Goldstar items waiting for their pieces of crap to die so they could replace then with something better (fancier), but they never did, they just kept working just fine.

Yes, and now their products are indeed "fancy" and seem to be similarly reliable.

Yep, I got my Maytag Neptune Superstack W/D from a real appliance dealer, and got it delivered for a couple hundred less than the exact same model at HD / Lowe's without delivery.

Just what are KA appliances ???

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That surprises me as we've had very good luck with KA appliances. Three dishwashers over 40 years, refrigerator, disposals, etc. Never had to call a repairman.

Kitchen Aide. There have been so many buy-ups in the past few years I have no idea who owns who.

Pretty sure they are still Whirpool now. Of course, that was last week and may have changed.

Built a new home in 1998. SUB-ZERO fridge and 4 other KA appliances. Only the Sub Zero needed a minor fix.

New home from 2004. All KA appliances (although their 22cf bottom freezer is made by Amana) No problems So far.

Underneath the KA name, I think there is a Whirlpool appliance.

A few months ago, when I switched over to digital, I finally retired my Goldstar VCR. I bought it in 1990, because it was affordable and had stereo output. Played hundreds of tapes, recorded hundreds of hours of programming, and the thing never had any trouble at all.

I'd still be using it today, except for the change in technology.

Jon

You have to read the study in question and decide if you believe in the methodology they use.

With cars for example, their reliability ratings are based on reports from THEIR subscribers on a voluntary basis. Statistically speaking, that's total bunk. ("Dewey wins" comes to mind).

In addition, their categories of car repairs are way too wide and vary from very minor and/or service campaign covered problems, to major issues that also include manufacturers denying responsibility. So, their red/black circle summary for a detailed category is often misleading. OTOH, at the end of the day cars with lots of black circles are definitely less reliable than cars with lots of red circles.

So, look at HOW they tested specific items, and decide if you believe in their methods.

Still Just Me. wrote: ...

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That's a non sequitur--if the statistical basis isn't valid, then it's not possible to draw any definite conclusion from the analysis of the data.

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I'm still using my 1989 Sony Stereo VCR. It was state of the art then. The "date" settings (calendar built into the chip) ENDED in 2005 so to set the TIME/DATE (to be able to Program record ) each Year, I have to select a "year" that has the same date layout as current. Right now, its 1998. The good thing about this system is that I can record different channels over one evening. The local cable TV provider wants me to go to a Digital box. If I do that, I'm stuck recording the (whichever) ONE channel the digital box may be set on.. The only way to get around that is get a PVR/DVR and since my VCR works fine, I dont see the "need" to spend $ 300 on one of those just yet. My wife has a newer (1995) SONY in her room which is also working fine.

I agree with your statistical point, especially since it's my point.

However, as a rough gauge, cars with "lots of red" do seem to be more reliable than cars with "lots of black", once you do the research behind the scenes. Despite the statistical issues, I think there's still subjective value to data acquired from asking lots of people who bought specific cars if they had problems or not. At the same time, I would not draw detailed conclusions such as comparing cars with half red or half black circles and coming to conclusions as to relative reliability.

Definitely don't use it to draw any conclusions about specific vehicle systems without further detailed research. Just use it as another somewhat subjective general indicator and then do some legwork to find out what the specific car is all about. After all, at the end of the day, your own survey, the opinions you find on the 'net, and your decision isn't going to be any statistical wonder either.

Not a commercial customer, but a repeat customer and I get 15% minimum off everything from SW here in Ontario Canada - and they know their stuff. Applied for the discount when I bought paint for 3 rooms at once about 4 years ago.

replying to Still Just Me..., Ranran wrote: I've used Behr interior and exterior paints, trim paints, and just recently a deck stain with UV protection for a new set of wood steps. Everything I've used in that line was excellent.

Really, that's nice. While doing these chores around the house while posting to HomeMoaners did you happen to glance at the date of the post your replying to? I thought not. Psst, you're replying to a SEVEN YEAR OLD thread.

Now stop frequenting that stupid site, HomeOwnersHub, you look like an idiot.