10-20 years

i don't trust appliance salesmen either. All they want is your money.
Try calling liebherr and ask to speak to the technical assistance department.
This they will know for sure.

gitananoel - do you suppose the guys at Liebherr especially those that answer the phone know about such things? Think they would tell you an unbiased story if they do know? At least the appliance salesman has the option of selling you something else. If Liebherr doesn't sell you a fridge , they have nothing else to offer. Not a very good setup for candor.

antss
call liebherr first. you can always call several different resources and try to figure out which answers have the most in common. it is just a suggestion

Another idea is put it on a credit card like american express. You can use another credit card too.
If something happens to the fridge call ae and they will rescue you from liebherr. Don't use a check cashing card or debit. they are one in the same.

The whole thing of appliance shopping is enough to drive you nuts. So many things hidden.

By the time this all over with you can sell appliances to your appliance salesman. You will probably know more than him too.

I wish you the best of luck.

If you search the 'net for life expectancy of refrigerators, the common answer is 13 years. This does not differentiate between brands or price point. This has me wondering if there is no small coincidence that the sealed units on the higher end fridges are guaranteed for 12 years?

When antss said 10-20 years, to me that didn't sound any better than any other fridge. Just last weekend my parents replaced a cheapo GE that was bought in November '92. No problems ever. My current GE Profile was bought in Feb '98 and has never had a problem, knock on wood. The fridge it replaced, and other hand-me-down fridges I've replaced over the years, have been way older and were always thrown out for cosmetic reasons, never mechanical.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, if there is in fact a longer life expectancy in the high-end fridges, I wonder if it really has much to do with quality or if it's more the fact that someone will plunk a lot of money to repair an $8000 fridge, thereby extending the life versus just throwing out an $800 fridge.

I would have to think there's a quality factor, but I'd just question how much it really comes into play.

Can't speak to Liebherr's but to my my new GE Monogram All fridge and All Freezer - two separate units - neither of which made it to the 2 yr mark. With lots of hassle from GE and an incredibly supportive appliance store (www.abtelectronics.com) they were replaced with Miele units which I am hoping will last 20+ years. ya-think has a point - hope I don't prove him right :)

Do you think a manufacturer is going to give you an accurate life expectancy. Why would they. Beside they really can't.
It's a mechanical item and subject to failure and repair. For the most part figure 15 years, if less you lose if more you win.

Well i can tell you one thing you will be lucky if it last you more than five years without any sort of problem. We spent quite a considerable amount on our american style fridge/frezer only to find that after six months all our food kept freezing and after several call outs the problem still arose. We only got lucky in getting hold of someone who's quite adept at these machines from a company call agsrefrigeration they operate in the london and surrey area. It has been several months now and for the first time our fridge does whats its suppose to do. www.agsrefrigeration.co.uk.