Repairing a Viking range for a friend of mine. After endless searching on the web, Viking is junk and their support is crap. All I can say is this 48" gas range is about 6 years old. The only reason is has lasted this long is due to to the fact the person that previously owned the house and installed the appliances did not really cook. So they were rarely used. There is a file with about 4 service visit. The igniter for the burners has 1 bad leg and the igniter continues to run. Kind of normal, igniter order to replace this. When using the oven there is a constant gas smell and the other day they were using it the CO detector in the kitchen went off. I tore into the oven yesterday. Baking burners have holes from the oven glow ignitors running all the time. Then I found the entire bottom of the oven a disaster. The flame guard/baffle fell off the bottom floor of the oven and was resting on top of the baking burner tubes!! It appears that this flame guard/baffle caused the screws to back out over time when it expands and contracts?? Screws are in the bottom of the oven below where they would have been installed. This only happened on one side. Then when the screws fell out of one side of the flame guard/baffle, the spot welds on the "Z" bracket on the other side broke off. There were 2 spot welds that were too close to the edge of the "Z" bracket and they were less than 1/2 strength. I did better spot welding in my middle school shop class!! What total idiots. I will see how many years their warranty covers mechanical parts and welds, as far as I am concerned welds should be lifetime. So new bake burners have been ordered. Not sure how to repair the bottom of the oven as the floor is porcelainized and welding or drilling will cause the porcelain to crack, but probably will make a repair and see how it goes. These stupid ranges are a serious safety hazard and everyone needs to report their problems to the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission). They will not do anything for your specific problem, however, if enough complains show up, then they investigate and may issue recall notices? Oh, this is just the range problem, will not even go into the refrigerator door hinge problem. These have been recalled, however, the appliance repair people they sent out have changed the hinges 3 times and the doors still do not work correctly. Not sure is the problem is parts, training or just plain sloppiness on the appliance people?? Anyone who tells you Viking appliances are good quality either do not use them or they have staff that cooks and they have no idea about the poor quality of these appliances. If you use these appliances daily, you will see. Oh, then just wait if you expect support from Vikings indignant customer un-service staff. They feel like you are personally attacking their company. Well they deserve it, how disconnected can you be regarding crap products you turn out and sell for $1000-$5000 more than a standard Sears or GE product that actually works!

I researched several ranges extensively, and recently bought & installed a new Wolf AG range. I almost bought a Viking since Viking has supposedly addressed all of the problems they've had for years, but the salesman asked that I buy an extended warranty on the Viking while he said I wouldn't really need one for the Wolf. I also called several major appliance repair stores in my state that are factory trained. I'm not sure if they got more calls for Viking repairs because of the ubiquity of the Viking, or whether the Wolf is less repair-prone. The repair guys said that the Wolf is made from better quality stainless steel, double-walled unlike the Viking, and more solidly made from higher quality components than Viking. Like the difference between a GM car and a BMW. BTW, if you're thinking of selling your house soon, every salesman at every store said to get the Viking because that's what high-end buyers want. I'm staying put, and simply put: I love the Wolf!!! I'm a serious cook, so I've used everything that this stove has to offer from convection fan baking, high BTU wok cooking, to the lowest simmer. The Wolf is a tremendous workhorse and delivers on every promise. BTW, my daughter was bummed when she returned to university and had to use her "crummy and slow" range in the house she rents with other students. That only heats to 10,000 BTUs and identical recipes turned out not as well on her range. While the Viking was definitely eye candy and appeared easier to clean, I have not regretted buying the Wolf for one moment. It's been a snap to keep clean. And I've grown to love the signature red knobs.

Can't speak to Viking specifically, but we are getting rid of a high end dual-fuel Dacor range that we've had for 12 yrs. It is still a beautiful looking appliance that I'm certain someone would even still pay to have in their kitchen. But I wouldn't give it to anyone I know in good conscience knowing the costly and inconvenient problems we've had with its electronics. I would heed hollysprings' warnings on this.

Just saw this quote on applianceadvisor.com Submitted by Appliance Stallion on Mon, 04/20/2009 - 6:16pm. As I stated ,I took a survey of 103 dealer/distributor types who spoke on the record as long as they would remain confidential as to who they are. Typical for surveys I guess. Here are the results.Best is first...1. Thermador. Most comments on the PRD364EDG 2. Kitchen Aid. A surprise.3. GE Monogram. Another surprise.4. Wolf.5. Dacor.6. Viking.For the top rated ones people liked the look but more importantly ease of use and service response.For the others it was a matter of service response and product difficulty in some of the uses. Apparently they all assume each company will have some problems and it is the response and corrective action that is most important. Funny , but the look was not as important as in earlier years, a surprise to me . Nothing terrible to say. Just their opinions' Here is a link that might be useful: Appliance Advisor forum on Dual Fuel Ranges