Liehberr vs Sub Zero

11 years ago

We will be saying goodbye to our 28 year old Amana bottom freezer semi-built in which is still going strong, except for the icemaker. But a kitchen overhaul is in the works, and leaving a fridge that old would be, well, kind of silly. Dilemna: no one makes a built in (or semi) that is 32" wide anymore. 36" would be just eating up too much valuable space in our small kitchen, and since we're empty nesters now, 30" should serve us fine, (we have a garage refer as well). I will need to cut and modify cabinetry above, since the 30"s are 80" high, vs our current 68" opening. In my reasearch, I've found two refers that will fit: the Sub Zero, and the Liehberr, which is about $2000 less. My dealer sells both, and says they have had no problems with Liebherr at all. If they both keep food cold, I have no problem saving the 2k, but wanted to know if there are any real life Liebherr owners on here? Or are there other 30"s out there I've missed? Thanks!

This post was edited by ctycdm on Sun, Dec 9, 12 at 9:02

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Comments (8)

deeageaux
11 years ago
I am a real life Liebherr owner. There are quite a few here.

Overall construction I think SZ is better.How the bins glide,shelves,etc the nod goes to SZ.The Liebherr compressor is much more efficient.Food preservation ability in these two models are equal IMO.

If you are buying the SS front paneled versions the Liebherr is much lighter. Some appreciate less effort to open the door others think heavy equals better quality.

Liebherr 30" made in Austria SZ 30" made in Wisconsin.
sara_the_brit_z6_ct
11 years ago
30" Leibherr owner here, now for 4 years with never a problem. I looked at the SubZero, but didn't like the freezer drawer thing: You have to stand to one side to find anything, and I'm much happier with the Leibherr set-up with several drawers, all of which are lightweight enough to lift out onto the counter to sort out, if necessary! We don't use ice, except very occasionally, so I use the icemaker drawer to store stuff in too.
I'm one who much prefers the Leibherr door too, with the 'assist' of the lever pushing the door opening. I've used SubZeros and find my arm aches all the time, opening them, plus I know elderly relatives would have problems with it.

I find the Leibherr layout to be excellent, and perhaps as a Brit, I am more used to the interior styling. You can store a gallon of milk in the door (most people don't realise it will fit). At 5'3" I have no problem reaching the top shelf either. And we fit all the Thanksgiving leftovers in there too! - it just takes some creative arranging.

I did switch to rectangular storage boxes, instead of round bowls though: it's much more efficient in the freezer, and can even slide comfortably under the wine rack.
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philwojo99
11 years ago
New Liebherr owner here, but for us the cost savings on the Liebherr over the SZ and some of the interior features and layout are what sold us on it. We also loved the soft close door feature, we have model# SBS0-24i1 (Link to web site)
rococogurl
11 years ago
Former Liebherr owner here. We had the 30" freestanding fridge which we made to look built in. We loved that fridge which I feel functioned better than our current but heavier duty Viking 36" single-compressor fridge. The Liebherr freezer was excellent and we liked the small ice cubes. I didn't think I'd like the drawers at all but loved them after using them for a year or so. The freezer temp didn't budge. I didn't mind the lack of heavy duty interior parts as I found them quite durable.

The food stays very fresh in the Liebherr, far better than any other fridge we've owned. DD had SZs always and loved hers. She now has the Miele fridge but preferred the SZ.

The only thing I didn't love was the curved SS front on the Liebherr -- our freezer door got dimpled. Might be an issue with small kiddos riding things around the kitchen. Alternately, the built-in model takes door panels -- end of problem.

Don't think either choice would be wrong.
sprtphntc7a
11 years ago
36" FD owner here...

its been installed over a year and have had no problems. (fingers crossed as i type).

i think the quality is excellent. we are a fam of 5 so it gets heavy use and no problems. we were considering the 30", but for us, felt it was too small. ours is panelled which i love.

FWIW: leibherr has been manufacturing refrig longer than SZ and from what was told to me and what i read , they have a very good track record.
we were looking as SZ, and saleman told me about lbhr and his "opinion" was they were just as good as SZ. so he did steer me towards a cheaper frig, which was good i guess. it was about $2,000 less than SZ. we just couldn't justify the price difference although we do love to buy things made in USA, but that $$ was just too much to pass up.
another positive, it is extremely quiet!!!!!

if you do go with Lbhr, just make sure it will be able to be serviced. make sure the dealer has a good rep for Lbhr.

as of now, we have no regrets.

good luck!!
vickinbobyo
11 years ago
Just bought a Liebherr refrigerator a few weeks ago, horribly noisy and runs 16 hours per day. Just found out no service in our area. have to wait to weeks for service, by then my electric bill should be $500. If I can possibly get rid of this piece of crap do you thing bus zero is better.
Sms
11 years ago
Been shopping for the same and decided we like the Thermador best. Kitchen not done yet though.
cookncarpenter
Original Author
11 years ago
It seems I have read more than a few negative reviews on the Liebherr's here lately. I'm getting concerned, since we had decided on it over the Sub Zero, mainly saving the $2k difference. We have not placed order yet, but if I keep hearing bad reviews, I may be willing to spend the money on the S-Z for peace of mind. Any more negatives or hopefully positives out there?

Liehberr vs Sub Zero

Comments (8)

deeageaux

sara_the_brit_z6_ct

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Liehberr vs Sub Zero

Comments (8)

deeageaux

sara_the_brit_z6_ct

Related Discussions

philwojo99

rococogurl

sprtphntc7a

vickinbobyo

Sms

cookncarpenterOriginal Author

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cookncarpenter
Original Author