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stjamesb_gw

Kenmore or Liebherr fridge?

stjamesb
12 years ago

Crazy choices right? After reading and reading more threads, I got off my duff and went and checked out fridges in the show room. It seems every brand has its detractors. Every brand has issues and I just want a fridge that works. Lofty goal, I know :) (ok, I am only slightly sarcastic)

Specifically, I am looking for a traditional bottom mount or french door fridge without ice dispenser on door (thin water dispenser is ok), tall crisper bins is a must (at least 6.5 inches). You notice that I didn't say anything about width or counter depth vs full, integrated vs panel because I didn't want to limit my choices too much. So what did I found? on the low end of the scale, I like the Kenmore, the fridges are basic, no frills and I can get one that satisfy my basic requirements. We had a Kenmore bottom mount (at least 10 yrs old) in our old house, it was trouble free and we loved it.

At the other end of the scale, there is Liebherr, beautiful fridge, no ice maker on door, yay !!! and it got very good reputation.

What about other brands, you ask?

Well, I've looked at ajmadison and went to about 5 different stores to see the fridges in person. Here is what I think:

Many of the mid price fridges have a large meat bin that go across (you know the one below the crisper bins), because of that, the crisper bins are not as tall as I'd like (I brought tape measure and a cauliflower to the show rooms - kid you not). All fridges have to pass the cauliflower test LOL.

- whirlpool/samsung are a possibility.

- fridgedaire & elux: people here scare me about issues with Elux had few years back. Elux is not cheap and if it doesn't perform, it will really upset me.

- F & P is a possibility: I like the fridge, but Consumer report didn't have good rating on F&P fridge

- KA: can't find a model with tall crisper bins at all.

- Bosch: I can't find a Bosch fridge that doesn't have ice maker on door.

- Miele, sub-zero and the like are out of my price range.

So why Kenmore vs Liebherr? The answer has to do with my lofty goal of reliability. Please correct me if I am wrong here, it seems that the mid range fridges are the ones the manufactures tried to pack so much features in with cheap parts and something will likely go wrong. I either get a Kenmore and knowing that it may not last me long and I will replace it periodically or get a Liebherr and hopefully it will last me 15 yrs.


What do you think of my rationale? I am serious about solicit your opinions because I need a fridge badly. Right now, we are living off coolers. Really.

p.s Cauliflowers got cooked up after every shopping trip because there is no room in the cooler :)

Thanks a bunch

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