Yes, it is crazy unless you are exceptionally lucky at roulette.

Because buying a Viking product is like playing roulette. I began with a Viking kitchen (except for Miele dw) 11 years ago. Oven was bought back after self-clean rendered it useless. Cooktop was replaced 3 times due to decals wearing off and now they are wearing off again.

Hood was replaced due to manufacturing defect.

Built in fridge was replaced after 10 years and multiple repairs.

The new company wasn't always able to ID parts I needed. Appliance schematics needed for repairs weren't accurate.

If you think the house warranty will handle it now, think again. Viking is prone to multiple repairs.

Some have hit their number when the wheel spun and have no complaints. Then there is everyone else.

When you have 13 service calls in 2 years for an expensive appliance and the company can't/won't repair it or exchange it, a dislike develops. It is only natural. Call it what you will.

If you enjoy frustration, go for it.

I Would be a bit leary of it too!

I searched and searched and even searched some more~~~ but try as I might, I can NOT find a single review on that range.

Even though I'm not a "Gasser, I've been "Inducted", (and Luv it!!!), given the 3 options that you show, sofarsolar, I would go with the Blue Star. It's the only option that you show that has "Open burners" .

To me, "open burners" do a better job at keeping the flames where you need them the most, (under the pan) and not scampering around the pan, (especially small pans)!

I base this on a DCS open burner stove that I have next to my BBQ, the flames pretty well stay under the pan even for small pans alto it's burner head heat distribution is no where as good as a Capital or Blue Star open burner.

Gary

While I am not a fan of Viking at all. I think the price is brilliant, a 48" dual fuel range with full warranty for less than half price of a Bluestar, capital or wolf would be very difficult to walk away from.

AND ITS WITHIN YOUR BUDGET

If the viking would have been lets say $1k or even $2k or even $3k less than a BS CC or wolf and yourt budget was $10k + I would say the same as others above BUY A BETTER brand.

Things to check
1) Get the serial number from the range and call viking and confirm that its not a damaged unit, or has any history of service in any way.

2) Confirm with Viking that the warranty will start from when you install the range.

3) Check how long the warranty will run for.

4) Think about buying an extended warranty for further issues down the road.

Thanks, trevorlawson -- that's extremely helpful. I'll check into each of those things. The store also services them, so I'm thinking of asking for a service plan (which I normally would never do).

Assuming everything checks out on the range, I still have to decide whether a 48" range from Viking beats a 30" range from BS. I have long coveted a 48" range -- DH and I often cook together and a 30" is a little crowded. But it's hard to evaluate the tradeoffs between BS 30" (open burners, reliable) and a 48" Viking (more burners, a griddle, less reliable).

"But it's hard to evaluate the tradeoffs between BS 30" (open burners, reliable) and a 48" Viking (more burners, a griddle, less reliable)"

IMHO, if one is contemplating spending $4500+ for a range, the trade-off on one side should not be reliability.

I am replacing a 40" 6 burner range for a 30" in my kitchen re-do. For the infrequent times DH needs to be at the range with me, we will just cuddle a little closer!

You didn't say what color it was (if any). That factors in!

I love my 36" Blue Star. I wish I could have fit a 48". But I am with Trevor on this one. Grab the Viking. Getting a 30" range makes no sense for you. If you have the space for a 48", you are not even in the same universe with a 30", I don'tcare how good the range is. There are plenty of Viking owners who love their ranges. My neighbor has a 48" Viking. It is all gas, but he loves it.

We bought a 48" dual fuel Viking 12 years ago. It was replaced several times and repaired countless times. The self clean doesn't work, the broiler and proof functions don't work and we have to use a long lighter to light the burners. I will be replacing it with a dual fuel Miele range when we remodel this spring. I personally would never gamble with a Viking. I think you should go for the KA.

Run

Seems like I'm in a minority but I'm with Trevor. I had no problems with my Viking range, although I only had it for 3 years by the time I moved.

I do love my BS more than the Viking before it, but that is a great price.

Option one is just crazy. They are selling it way below cost for a reason. ......... Option 2 is a nice range and who cares if the control does not hide away. It's not that big, nor is it hard to clean....... Option 2 is imho the best and if you don't buy it fast someone else will.

Like Trevor, tyguy, and nycbluedevil, I would say that the 48" Viking is not a crazy choice.

If you really want a 48" range, that floor-model VIking might be a better choice than the KitchenAid pro-style ranges from Sears Outlet that you are considering as an alternative.

For one thing, I rather doubt that the KitchenAids would be any more reliable than the Viking (assuming it is of recent production and not something that has been on the floor since the mid-2000s).

I have to begin by saying say that CR's reliability surveys are not turning up enough buyers to provide data on the reliability of pro-style ranges. The last time that happened was 2007 when Viking was selling in large enough volumes to show up on CR's annual membership surveys. No other prostyle/premium-prce brand had enough sales to CR members to even register in the pro-style category. That was at the nadir of VIking's reliability and service problems. At that point, something like 30% of Viking range owners were reporting major problems in the first five years of ownership. Some of those were complete stove failures, some of those were lesser failures such as the cheap decal problem that roccocogurl ran into with her Viking rangetop.

If you check the reliability survey reports at CR for conventional electric and gas ranges, you will see that for the better part of the last decade, KitchenAid ranges have been much less reliable than almost every other brand of range including ranges in Whirlpool's other product lines. Roughly 1 in 6 KA stoves have needed major repairs in the first five years of ownership. The only brand with a higher defect rate in the survey data has been the electric ranges in the JennAir line (1 in 5), another of Whirlpool's premium brands.

This might seem hard to understand with some of the other Whirlpool brands of ranges turning up among the most reliable in the CR membership surveys, with defect rates of half or one-third those of the KA and JA ranges. The obvious explanation for difference is the use of much more elaborate electronics in the "higher-end" KA and JA ranges. I'm not sure about this, but I suspect that if you did a detailed comparison of owner's manuals for various models you might very well find that the pro-style KA models use the same or more elaborate electronics as the more expensive conventional KA and JA ranges, which would not bode so well for long term durability and reliability of the KA pro-style models you are looking at.

And that brings me to another factor for you to consider in comparing the Sears Outlet KA with the local dealer's floor-model Viking. You buy the Viking and your local dealer provides service if and when you run into any problems. You buy the KA from Sears and you are stuck with service from A&E, the Sears-Whirlpool joint venture with a not-so-great reputation. A&E's reputation is variable and is sometimes deservedly terrrible. In my part of the Rocky Mountains, for example, A&E had such a poor reputation among my friends that I ruled out Sears as a place to shop when I was appliance shopping. What I am talking about is friends having to wait up to six weeks for an apppointment for a non-functioning new appliance, techs missing appointments because of being scheduled for adjoining appointments at locations over a hundred of miles apart with no provision for travel time, high employee turnover, very limited competence and, techs showing up with no parts or the wrong parts. Worse, readily available parts (things I could find from Sears Parts Direct) not being available in the A&E database. My friends all eventually paid-out-of-pocket to our local repair guy (very experienced, highly competent, and lives ten miles away in the next town up the road, which is practically next door in this area). To be sure, even the long threads on outrages by A&E have postings from areas where A&E service has been prompt and efficient. In contrast, the local servicers for Viking have had a (mostly) very good reputation. So, for me, in my area, I might be inclined to choose that Viking over the KA pro-style ranges if I really needed/wanted a stove that big.

That brings me to a third factor. Parts availability. One theme I've discerned from decade or so of seeing threads on Viking is that the company has not always continued to support older model numbers. This led, for example, to a spate of complaints that Viking ranges could not be repaired when, say, an owner was told Viking no longer carried a stock of the spark-control-ignitor module for the gas burners on their stovetop. But, as I've learned from threads on other stoves, many brands (including the NXR) used the same ignitor module from Tytronics and OEM stock is radily available elsewhere (including Amazon) at about 1/4 the price that Viking used to charge. A well-regarded local servicer might (or might not) be willing to look for corss-references and find parts that will work where A&E will not.

That may or may not be the case with the pro-style KA models you are looking at but is something I would definitely check out before I bought one.

But -- or rather BUT --- oven electronics might be a different story. Viking has long outsourced its electronic control boards and its suppliers sometimes had quality control problems. Note, in particular, that VIking bought back roccocogrl's wall oven when the electronics failed. Note also the long saga of her Viking refrigerator which was eventually replaced. One wonders if Viking would have done that if she had not been known to be a log-time poster here at GW?

Again, with the issues with A&E service and the reliability concerns from the CR surveys, and Whirlpool's spates of corporate indifference --- try searching on "dishwasher fires" for some really virtiolic hate --- one has to wonder if the KA's electronics would be any better.

Also, I just checked the Sears Outlet website and found the 48" KA models are priced at $5400, $900 more than the Viking floor model.

So, in terms of gambling on 48" stoves, the local dealer's floor-model Viking doesn't seem to be any worse than the KA 48" "ding-n-bings" from Sears and might be a better bet,

As for choosing between a new 30" Blue Star (RNB?) and one of the 48" ranges, that begs some other questions. First, as a long time lurker, you've robably read all the admonitions about vent hoods, but I do have to ask if you have factored that into your decision? A good vent hood for a 48" range is going to be a lot more expensive than one for a 30" range, plus it can really complicate the question of make-up air systems. Second, how often will you be doing the kind of production cooking that will make a 48" range a convenience for you? (Not saying you will not, just asking the size will be a significant convenience for you.) Third, who will handle delivery and installation? Sometimes that gets wrapped into the prices and sometimes not.

This post was edited by JWVideo on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 19:27

You are only stuck with A&E if you buy Kenmore. With any other brand you buy from Sears, you can just call the manufacturer for service like you would if you bought it elsewhere.

Also, we must remember that not all dealers service what they sell. We don't know whether the guy selling this Viking floor model has a service department, and if he doesn't, getting service will be no different than if it were bought from Sears.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 20:15

>>>You are only stuck with A&E if you buy Kenmore. With any other brand you buy from Sears, you can just call the manufacturer for service like you would if you bought it elsewhere. I thought so, too, but the local Sears sales force told me that all service here goes through Sears, which means A&E (as though that were a good thing!).

>>>Also, we must remember that not all dealers service what they sell.Good catch!

I had the impression that sofarsolar's local dealer did the service but, on re-reading the original post, I don't see that actually being stated. Also, sofarsolar is talking about buying an extended warranty. It bears emphasizing that the dealer who sells the warranty may or may not be providing the service and may or may not have any idea about who provides the service. Good thing to check before buying.

I thought so, too, but the local Sears sales force told me that all service here goes through Sears, which means A&E (as though that were a good thing!).

So if I buy that range from Sears, it breaks, and I just call Whirlpool and I tell them it broke, they'll just refuse to send someone out? How would they know where I bought it at that point? And if they did send a local authorized servicer out and I showed them my Sears receipt, would they really leave and refuse to work on it? If so that would stink!

Well, not that quite stinky. Sears (I was told) wants you to coordinate your warranty coverage through them in case they need to replace your appliance. But even if you go directly to Whirlpool/KA, and need a tech to come to your home, you likely wind up stuck with A&E, anyway, since Whirlpool is half-owner of A&E with Sears.

JWVideo: thanks for your extremely thoughtful post. I probably don't have to tell you how much more helpful it is to get a list of thoughts/concerns than simply "buy" or "don't buy."

We got the Viking, and the dealer gave us the Viking 48" hood and 1200cfm blower for an additional $600. 3 year warranty on everything. The store is the licensed servicer -- and we have had good experiences with the store -- so fingers crossed.

Thanks for your help, GW.

I took a used 48" Viking gas range as final payment on a countertop job once, the customer owed me about $1,500.00. It only needed an igniter one time in about 8 years. It would heat the house in the middle of a Michigan winter when the furnace went out.

Pull up to that dealer with 30 100 dollar bills, a big truck, and several big guys so you're gone before he changes his mind.

Holy crap!! a 48" Viking for $4500 and a 48" hood for $600??!?!? I want to check this place out!!!!

Congratulations. I think you made a good deal.

Do you have an option to extend the warranty beyond the 3 years? If you do I would consider it if they have in the contract that they will replace for like and or kind if parts are not available. Just as important is a lemon policy that will offer a buy back or replacement.

Good luck.

You are not really stuck, you do not have to buy either of these. Neither has a good reputation. Why restrict yourself to this choice? You would be better off saving for a number of months more and getting exactly what you want and continuing to look for it on sale elsewhere. Also there are quite a number of both ranges for sale used on craigslist. When a high-end appliance consistently shows up for sale on craigslist it's a hint (also they are in the same price range as you are contemplating paying, except that the sellers on craigslist are more likely to be willing to bargain...something to keep in mind as you may be that seller in a year). That being said, if you elect to go with Sears be sure and take photos of the stove before it is transported. About two years ago I purchased a stove from Sears outlet, I took pictures of it in the showroom and then went home and waited for it to be delivered. I was so excited. When they delivered it, it was clear that when they put it on the back of the truck they had made no effort to wrap it up or keep it tied down. It was banged to hell, paint chips, gouges, scratches, you name it it went from one small scratch on the bottom drawer when it left their showroom to absolutely trashed. I rejected the delivery, The delivery guy started to fight me about that but I showed him the photos on my phone and that really intimidated him, it still took five months to get my money back; don't open a Sears credit card for the extra discount. I could not in good conscience do business with them again, which is really sad because my childhood dreams were made of the Sears catalog...my local appliance store is smarter about things like that, they would deliver a completely intact range, but they don't have the best reputation for repairs-they get the repairs done correctly but it reportedly can take weeks for a service call. You need to look into who will be doing the repairs.

Congratuatlions! Let us know how you like the range.

I just purchased an almost $8K induction range from Viking. So far I am pretty pissed. One of the TruGlide racks is bent and does not work, the oven door is crooked and one of knobs does not turn correctly and makes a scraping sound. You have to call the dealer to get the service persons number, who never answers the phone. Two weeks before they can come look at the range. Dealer ordered the rack 10 days ago and it is still back ordered and could be another two to three weeks. Was told they have to do one service call before I can make them take it back. These people should be run out of the United States. And I was trying to buy American. Germany has better quality.

range hoods