The drawers work for my family of 4, but you do start to lose the advantage of the drawers if you easily run one big load a day. They do hold a lot though, and staggering small loads might work better than doing less frequent big loads. It's much easier to get someone to unload a drawer than a full size DW. You'll get used to whatever you have I suspect. I don't know what the advantage of stainless over plastic is, really, aside from sparkle...that's the least of the differences between drawers and traditionals. I can say that F&P customer service is really nice and responsive and you talk to a real human quickly when you call them (my stupid installer threw away parts...).

Well, I have an Ancona cooktop in a rental. Haven't heard any complaints or calls for service the past 4+ years. Costco has an Ancona 24" gas range for 1200.00 that I've been eyeing. I'm going out on a limb here to say that perhaps a European appliance in that size is more reliable because they are more standard. Of course, it looks like who makes Ancona products is shrouded in darkness.

The issues seem to be with the ranges. I purchased a 30” double oven and it’s a professional grade oven. It doesn’t have hot spots (I have thermometers in the oven - leftover from the old Frigidaire). They have a 2 year warranty, that’s a year longer than most. My repairman is trained on them, so I do have someone familiar with them if I do have a problem.

After considering many high end ranges, I settled with a FP (48”). It was a nightmare. Long story short, the range came with a malfunctioning gas safety valve. After dealing with their New Zealand based customer service (which was not good) and having their local certified repair company attempt to fix it, it was still no good. After 6 months they finally tell me about a regional customer service manager in the area...not sure why they waited so long. He was good and was able to get me a new range. It’s the newest model and we just baked with it for the first time. It vents extremely hot air from the back vent when the oven is on....seems to be a safety hazard (see photo). It’s a good looking range, but I wish I had spent the money on something else.