I've always had good luck with KA fridges and am happy with my current one. They are a well-respected brand for fridges over in Appliances.

Sorry yours is giving out! I wish I could tell you that your new one will last as long as your old MW unit, but it won't. Sad.

I've thought pretty well of KA refrigerators, but have not had one. We were looking at buying one for our remodel until we had terrible experiences with KA customer service on a washer and dryer. If you get a good one, I'm sure you'll be fine, but if you need help, I'm sorry.

Our plans changed and we wound up getting a built-in fridge. We later replaced our utility room fridge and went with an LG bottom freezer. I really like it -- as well or better than any freestanding fridge I'd had before. At least when we were looking, LG also made nearly the same model as a Kenmore. I would recommend them for a bottom freezer.

I would advise against GE. We just bought a new Samsung to replace our only 6 year old GE. The GE was a complete lemon. We had to repair it so many times over the years. I will never buy GE again. So far I love the Samsung, but we bought the largest one on the market so probably not the one for you. I cannot attest to the durability since we've only had it for a month now. The salesperson at the appliance store was saying KA is a reliable brand - easy to get parts. I had a KA before and we had one necessary repair in 5 years.

We are about to move into our custom built house in the very near future. The appliances my husband selected have been installed, and a couple days ago I discovered that the refrigerator Tweets. Yes. Tweets. If there is wifi in the house, the refrigerator can find you recipes, the weather, or take you to Twitter. I can see leaving the frig display set on current local temp, but for the life of me can not fathom who would need to Tweet from their refrigerator. (I don't Tweet from my computer or phone, so I'm clearly not the market.) All this to say: modern refrigerators can be tricked out to excess. Think of how you will use it and buy accordingly. Something the shopper in our house clearly did not do.

I loved my counter depth KA french door fridge in my old cottage. The house I live in now is running a 25 yo GE side by side, so as far as longevity goes, GE is probably fine. Check out the appliances forum. They're pretty clever over there.

"The refrigerator Tweets"

Seriously????!!

I knew some had TV like screens and read outs on them, but tweeting?? I don't tweet, but I can imagine an out of control fridge tweeting "Breezy must think the lavender ice cream is great. Two bowls?" Or however tweets are worded. Please. Spare me.

Are 22 year olds really buying expensive new fridges these days?

Thanks to the recommendations and feedback.

I thought of a temporary fix would be a mini refrigerator/freezer. I've seen them listed for under $200. This was I can buy all the appliances when I remodel the kitchen.

Buying a little guy and replacing it with the Real Thing later makes more sense to me. Unless you know now exactly what size space you'll have in the new kitchen, it would be hard to buy the "right" refrigerator now.

In CA many local energy companies will pay you to haul away your old refrigerator as long as it's still working at all. We got $35 rebate for ours last year, with the bonus of they come get it. You might check to see if something like that is available in your area and unload the old one before it gives up the ghost entirely.

"Monkey wards" sure brings back memories.
We live our elux counter depth FD.
Our electric company also pays for old fridges.

Very happy with our Kenmore Elite.

a2gemini - Can't believe anyone else refers to it as "Monkey wards".

A2gemini - you "live" your fridge? LOL, I can't tell you how many times I've texted DH that I "live" him. :)

We have a GE that's 2 yrs old. I bought it based on looks and layout. It's counter depth. It freezes any lettuce that is closer to the back of the fridge than the front. Ditto for celery.

However, I look like a super healthy person because now I keep all spinach, lettuce, etc in the doors (where normal ppl put ketchup, mayo, and salad dressing). I won't put the fridge temp over 37/38 deg F, so this is my compromise or work-around.

I also had problems with my old side by side freezing lettuce if it got too close to the dividing wall (between fridge and freezer compartment). So maybe it's me. But the standard depth LG French door fridge we left in NC never froze produce, so I think it's the counter depth or side-by-side that causes the problem (or my refusal to risk warm milk).

If you can have a std depth fridge, go for it. The PO here remodeled the kitchen and the island (that I love and never would have thought to put in) left not enough room for a std depth fridge.

We bought a side by side KA fridge this year when our 10 year old GE died (or rather was going to cost over 50% of the cost of new one in repairs) and we've been happy with it. For what it's worth the refrigerator repair person said that I should only count on this one lasting 10 years too - that the computers are the most common thing to break in fridges (that's what happened to my GE, and the repair person told me that he could tell by the installation that the computer in there was not original to the fridge - we moved in when the fridge was 3 years old) and most people just get new ones because the repairs are so pricey.

Don't you love predictive text. I do love my elux because it makes living in the kitchen better. LOL
Yes, I remember MW from years ago.

Had a surprise when I arrived home last night to put a gallon of milk in the fridge, it was warm and everything in the freezer was warm to. I guess I can't wait any longer now.

I went last night to look at the mini refrigerators which I thought would be a temporary fix, but unfortunately they are too small. Also, the salesman that I deal with at Abt Electronics was gone for the day and won't be back till Thursday. So I have a day to decide on what I'm getting. Any suggestions?
Thanks

I second the Electrolux.

Well that sucks. Last year we bought a Whirlpool Gold fridge, bottom freezer, single door. Ours is on the smaller side as we have a smaller space for it. We've really liked it. Our out-of-area grown daughter even asked recently what it was because she wanted to recommend it to a friend. This line comes in many sizes and configurations AND abt carries at least some of them. We bought ours on sale at Sears for around $1200, which was an excellent deal on this model.

If you're still looking for a temp fridge, there are many options in the "rental fridge" category for under $1000. A friend of mine who lives on a miniscule budget just had the same "uh oh" moment you did (also following a couple of weeks of signs of imminent failure) and acquired one of those. It does the job. Her old one still functioned enough that she got the gas & electric company rebate and haul away deal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Whirlpool Gold site

Bit the bullet on 11/15/2012 and bought a kitchenaid ksf26c4xyy for $1,487 after a $100 instant rebate from Abt Electronics. It had a suggested list price of $1,899.

It's sitting in my foyer currently since it won't fit in the current fridge opening. I guess this will give me more incentive to finalize a kitchen layout and order cabinets.

I know that it won't last as long as my old fridge, but didn't spend a arm and a leg on it either.

Breezy, your tweeting comment made me howl!