With the entry of LG/Samsung and dominance of big box retailers like Home Depot, Lowes, Best Buy/Pacific Sales, and internet sales appliances have become a commodity market (high end as well as low end). For ovens the electronic control modules are not well protected from extreme heat. A number of people have recommended not using high temperature self cleaning features to help your oven or range last longer. A lot of people buy extended warranties even though in the past we might not have done so. Also use easy replacement to help you decide which appliance to buy. There isn't a standard sized cutout for oven height or cooktop width but many are within factional inches. There are outliers and you may find some appliances that are an inch or more different from most other models that you might want to avoid.

No matter how hard manufacturers try for zero defects, they are going to happen. (Personally I believe a lot of the defects "develop" during transportation.) Many times people only take the time to write a review to slam the product. Personally, I like the Whirlpool Gold products....

The thing about trouble reports is that people having trouble are much more likely to report it. For every consumer having trouble, there are hundreds, thousands, who are happy.

We're renovating the kitchen in our bungalow right now and got to a similar point. We didn't stick to one brand and instead bought appliance that did a good job of doing their job. To us function is more important that all the handles matching or having the right name on the door. We knew we didn't want a french door fridge or one with a water/ice dispenser on the door to cut down on maintenance issues and use to use the interior space better but we wanted one with a bottom freezer. I don't know if it will help any but we ended up with. All of them were purchased over the course of about 6 weeks so we could shop around and find the best deal and stretch our dollar.

Samsung Slide-In Gas Range with True Convection -NX58H9500WS

LG Large Capacity Refrigerator Bottom Freezer with Ice Maker - LDC24370ST

Bosch 500 Series 44-Decibel Built-In Dishwasher - SHP65T55UC

So far we've only used the fridge (it's currently in the dining room) but we've been very pleased with it thus far.

I am so old school, I have to get over not having the whole appliance suite….I'm beginning to think they're like cars, It depends on when they were made, by whom, and how carefully it was delivered. I guess, I just want it made with quality materials instead of doors that don't seal and wimpy vegetable crispers. It does seem like an awful lot of money to be disappointed. Oh well, they just don't make them like they used to. I am going to consider the LG or Whirlpool and cross my fingers..

I think Yale Appliance has a very informative blog. They service what they sell and so see both sides of the transaction. Here is a link to what they say about reliability.

The-Least-Serviced-Most-Reliable-Appliance-Brands

If you can live with the styling and no self cleaning in the oven, I recommend GE Artistry appliances - look stylish, little to go wrong, but you do give up features.

We have a GE Profile oven that has some problems with heat on the electronics. Our Whirlpool Gold glass cooktop is not as well built as the GE it replaced, but is was a lot cheaper ( old one broke when a heavy bowl fell out of the cabinet above). The old Maytag dishwasher has been bulletproof. We have a Kenmore side by side refrigerator that developed problems with the through-the-door icemaker after about 10 years. Fix was relatively inexpensive from a local repair shop and some do-it yourself stuff. So no one brand will be great, since the Maytag is no more, made by Whirlpool now.