There’s no one answer. It’s a model by model situation. Lots of information in past discussions. Read them. Kenmore isn’t a manufacturer. Never has been. They just stick their label into whatever brand will sell them stuff.

If owning a made in the USA appliance is important to you, pick what you need (dishwasher, refrigerator, AC etc.) and then search which ones are made in the USA.

Then decide if the parts of that appliance also need to be made in the USA for you to consider that appliance. Many made in the USA products are assembled here using parts manufactured elsewhere.

Good luck

Well said Daisychain. I support buying American over foreign of course and try to do that whenever it makes good sense to do so. However, just because Americans are encouraged to buy American to help our economy doesn’t mean it should be a free ride for the manufacturers. They need to (and should be willing to) step up to the plate and offer products that justify the loyalty.

what maddielee said. The appliance may be assembled in the US but many of the parts are made elsewhere and then imported.

An appliance repair person explained to me the appliances are held down in price because they are made in cheap labour countries. When we need to repair them we are then repairing them in a more expensive labour country being Canada or the US. Hence the purchase price and the repair costs don't mesh.

These days, it seems almost everything electronic and/or mechanical is 'made' globally. Components for sure come from everywhere and most manufacturers - if not all - could not survive without imports - & exports as well.

Manufacturers fabricate things to the specifications required. Apple phones are of the highest quality and they are made in Asia where lots of companies source disposable junk. Country of origin does not matter to me as much as the quality of the product.

If I understand everything you are hopefully paying for the locally made design and that is reflecting a more expensive cost.

Then you are paying for the parts and that reflects a cheaper cost.

Then you are paying for the repairs and that reflects a local and more expensive cost.

So we are partially supporting our local companies if we purchase very carefully.

Also I suppose it means we should not squawk when we get the bill from our higher-paid repair people etc.

It's tough to give out my money for higher-paid people when I am not higher-paid. Which is why DH off and repairs things...

I don't think the cheaper parts going to change anytime soon. As lower-income countries catch up it will though. At least I think it will.

What daisychain said. We have a Bosch dishwasher, Bluestar range, Miele vacuum, Frigidaire fridge.

I'm in Canada, and up until about 15 years ago, we often bought Kenmore appliances (dishwasher, refrigerator, washing machine and dryer) from Sears Canada, in great part because the customer support was unparalleled. That began to change as Sears Canada's fortunes did, and we stopped buying Kenmore as SC began circling the drain. One of the last appliances I bought from Sears Canada was our first Bosch dishwasher.

Thank you for the replies. I naively thought I was asking a very straightforward question, but apparently that was not the case.

Of course I am not going to blindly buy something because it is made in USA. I think that would be kind of foolish. In my last house, I had Kenmore,(washer dryer) replaced by Whirlpool. Maytag range replaced by Samsung. Kitchenaid DW replaced by Bosch.

I need to replace old reliable (20 plus year old) DW, and range, and newer than 20 yr old fride. I was pleased to see Frigidaire and Kitchenaid mentioned here, but now I need to do my work to see where they are made.

From what the replies have indicated, it seems almost that each and every model is a unique case.

I guess I will look more at the models I like and then investigate further.

THanks for all the replies

Kenmore isn’t a manufacturer. Never has been. They just stick their label into whatever brand will sell them stuff.

LWO, that's so interesting. For years we always bought Kenmore-labeled big appliances and swore by them. I wonder what real brands they were. I miss the commodious, flexible interior of my old Kenmore DW every time I have to rearrange stuff in my Bosch.

IIRC, Bosch DWs are made in South Carolina. There are still some GE factories in the Midwest., but not all models.

https://blog.yaleappliance.com/appliances-made-in-the-usa

And this Consumer Reports article is eight years old but highlights the problems with "made in USA",

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2011/04/which-appliances-are-still-american-made/index.htm

Nor is a fridge or dishwasher built in America necessarily American-made. Indeed, items labeled “Made in America” must have all their significant parts and processing of U.S. origin according to Federal Trade Commission rules. Otherwise, you may find them labeled with phrases like "Made in U.S.A of U.S. and imported parts" or “Assembled in U.S.A.”

What is or isn’t American-made is also a shifting landscape. A GE spokeswoman told Consumer Reports GE is investing $1 billion in new product lines made in Louisville, Kentucky, including front-loading washers and matching dryers, the GeoSpring hybrid water heater and French-door refrigerators. Additional investments in other refrigerator plants in Bloomington, Indiana, Selmer, Tennessee and Decatur, Illinois should make GE the largest domestic refrigerator manufacturer.

Interesting about GE. We have had nothing but GE fridges and ranges for 35 years and have never had an issue with them. Our current ones are 10 years old and have just been ticking along. Maybe we're just lucky,

DW;'s are always Bosch and same thing.

Bunny, SalonVA, et al,

The first three digits of Kenmore appliance model numbers is a code for the source manufacturer. Syntax of NNN.nnnnnnnnn. Typically can only be found on the model/serial tag ON the appliance. Advertisements, feature-description stickers, user manuals, Kenmore web site may reference only a partial model number as a catalog number or stock number.

Sears / Kenmore Manufacturer-Source Codes

I think Kitchensid appliances are made in the USA for the most part but the company is owned by whirlpool.

Whirlpool has owned KitchenAid since 1986. Whirlpool bought Maytag in 2006.

Whirlpool easily beats the competition as far as a number of acquired appliance brands is concerned. Established in 1911 as the Upton Machine Company, the Michigan-based appliance maker got their start making electrically powered wringer washing machines. In 1919, Upton merged with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company. Not long afterward, the new corporation obtained ownership of the Seeger Refrigerator Company as well as RCA, explains Success Storymagazine. RCA was reacquired by General Electric in 1986. Today, Whirlpool Corporation owns the Jenn-Air, Maytag, Amana, Roper, and KitchenAid brands.

Electrolux brand appliances have been making housework easier for more than a century. Established in Sweden, the Electrolux company currently owns Frigidaire, Tappan, Kelvinator and Gibson appliance brands.

In 2014, Electrolux tried to purchase the General Electric appliances division at a cost of more than $3 billion in cash. The deal was quashed by the United States Department of Justice on the grounds that the merger of the two companies would create an unfair monopoly in the American household appliances market.

General Electric (GE) is a multinational conglomerate that manufactures products to serve many industries, including renewable energy, aviation, healthcare, and appliances. The appliances division of GE was purchased by the Chinese-owned Haier company in 2016.

Four years prior, the same company acquired the New Zealand appliance maker, Fisher & Paykel. When the Haier company acquired GE, they wisely retained the right to use GE brand names through 2056. Today, Haier manufactures GE, Hotpoint, Cafe, Profile, and Monogram branded household appliances.

Samsung Electronics may be best known as the maker of Galaxy cell phones, but the Korean company also makes a number of Samsung branded ‘smart’ household appliances, including cooktops, refrigerators, wall ovens, microwave ovens, and laundry machines, as well.

In the summer of 2016, Samsung acquired the Dacor brand of American-made luxury appliances. Dacor is the only appliance brand to be endorsed by chefs at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary institute in Paris, France. High-end appliances that are made by Dacor in California include refrigeration units, cooktops, and wine preservation systems. According to Investopedia, Dacor became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics at a cost of around $150 million.

LG is a multinational appliance manufacturing conglomerate that began as the Rak-Hui (pronounced “Lucky”) Chemical Industrial Corporation in 1947. Today, LG manufactures a variety of appliances for the kitchen, laundry, and other household uses. Air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, and LED lighting solutions are also part of the LG repertoire of products.

Source: https://academy.fredsappliance.com/news/appliance-brands-owns/

I'm happier when I can purchase a product that's made here or in Canada. However in practice I buy the best product that I afford after extensive research and my own personal experience. Two years ago we bought a Bluestar range, a Sub Zero refrigerator, Bosch DW, Thermador electric wall oven and microwave.

Doing research on appliances is how I found GW. The Dacor double wall oven that we installed in 2005 developed excessive condensation between the glass. It was only 10 months old and Dacor offered to buy it back or replace it with their newest model. While looking for reviews for the new model I stumbled across the Appliance Forum here - and after 15 years I'm still here and learning new things all the time.

FWIW & IMPO, performance and reliability - as well as affordability - are of greater concern to me than where something is made. I am not brand-loyal, esp. since nowadays with all the mergers & acquisitions, so many old-school familiar brands are not what they used to be.

We had the new KA refrigerator delivered about an hour ago. It’s very quiet. Has a sticker inside that reads ‘An American company for over 100 years’.

I asked the guys about the brand and they both answered in unison that KA made a great refrigerator. Said Maytag did too. The younger guy chimed in and said stay away from Samsung, as they had lots of problems, and the older guy agreed. I asked about LG washers and dryers as that is what I purchased a couple of years ago, and they said they were good and so were Maytag (again). I will always have a Bosch DW.

Just passing along their comments for those who are thinking about new purchases. I know several of you are very happy with your Samsung refrigerators.

As I type my new Jenn Air dishwasher is running its inaugural load. I didn’t start out wanting a Jenn Air, in fact, I was looking at Asko, as I had used them at B&B’s in Europe a couple of times and was impressed, but we have hard well water, and need a built in water softener, Asko didn’t make one until recently (at least in the US). In 14 years in this house we have killed two dishwashers; a KA and a Smeg, which was only OK, tbh, and I was determined to get the DW of my dreams; the Asko. Fast forward to Friday, when I was tooling around with my daughter and happened into a local appliance store, where they had a 2 year old Jenn Air floor model top of the line for $900, compared to $1600 for the Asko, and after furtively reading reviews whilst pretending to kick appliance tires, I liked what I read and bought it, $700 cheaper for a comparable model, well, this cheap yankee was thrilled.

In talking to the sales rep, Jenn Air is owned by Whirlpool, and they also make Maytag, Dacor, Gaggeneau, KA, Admiral and, allegedly, IKEA badged products. The dw’s literature and stickers say “Designed and manufactured in the US”, but the origin of the parts is not discussed, so figure a global component there. We also have a Maytag fridge, which we like, so we figured it was worth a shot.

Outside, when we were looking for a new fridge we found reviews to be universally bad. We went with the KA because the reviews weren’t any worse than the others and we liked the look of it. Most negative reviews had to do with water or ice so we didn’t hook up either. Knock on wood, it’s been fine for 4 years. I hope you‘re happy with yours too.

lakeaffect, that is a great deal. Check back and let us know how you like it. Our ASKO is 13 or 14 years old now and we r starting to think about what to do if/when it packs it in.

Gaggenau's parent company is Germany's BSH, not Whirlpool. BSH is the parent of Bosch and Thermador, plus many other brands in Europe.

We have a Miele DW in the main kitchen and a KitchenAid in the in-law unit. The KitchenAid was much cheaper. But that's the only good thing to say about it. It has plastic parts that hold up the baskets and that break about once a year making the basket crash down.

It never washes great. There always are several dishes that I need to hand wash afterwards. In fact, I have recently been using the Express cycle on the Miele and it does a better job in 30min than what the KitchenAid does with a full cycle. But of course the full cycle on the Miele works even better.

The Miele also let's me pack dishes much more tightly. I need much fewer loads.

So, overall, for a rarely used appliance the American brand is fine. But for a heavily used appliance in a household with kids, I'd only recommend either Miele or maybe Bosch. It pays off quickly, both in fewer loads, in less aggravation, and in fewer repairs. Unlike the KitchenAid, the only thing I ever replaced on the Miele was a worn out backflow valve after about 8 years. A user accessible part that cost me $40.

Middleby Corporation, headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, owns over 80 different appliance brands for commercial and residential applications. Their brands for the home include (surprisingly to many) LaCornue and Aga. Also, Viking, Uline, Marvel and others.

Where it's made is not at the top of my list, although we tend more to USA and German made.

Have a Wolf (USA) stove, KA (not sure where it's made) fridge, Bosch (USA) dishwasher, SpeedQueen (USA) washer and dryer, Riccar (USA) cordless vacuum and a Sebo (Germany) canister vacuum.

My Blue Star range was made in PA. It came with extra igniters. I'm not sure where those are made.

I had to replace a toaster. I wanted a plain, dumb, 2-slice toaster. No toasters for consumers are made in the US. If you have an old toaster that works, start making offerings to the toaster gods. Even the higher end Dualit, which is made in the UK, requires more fiddling that I want for a piece of toast.

I have been happy with my Breville kettle and food processor, but their toasters are fancier that I wanted. I think their toasters are made in Malaysia.

People have to get over the Made in USA blarney. Long before the general public heard of globalization products have been a hodgepodge of parts made all over the world.

When a widget is designed it goes to the fabricator. The whole part may be outsourced either locally or globally or done in house. Even if the part is built in the USA the materials may sourced globally. If you have a stainless steel anything that stainless was most likely sourced from Asia.

When an engineer specifies a part for a refrigerator (say a control unit for an ice-maker) that part is shopped worldwide for the best price from whoever will meet those specifications. So your neighbor's fridge may have parts from China and yours may have parts from Korea or whatever, even if they were built in the same year, at the same factory in the USA and purchased at the same store. The specifications remain the same but not necessarily the origin. Both parts maybe source from China but actually fabricated in different shops there. So it really comes down to quality control not where something was "made". The more of something you have and the more of something purchased the more things can go wrong. One out of 3 is less likely to go bad than 100s out thousands etc.

GE was bought by Haier but GE products are still manufactured in the US. However Haier is is doing a lot of of innovations both in design and marketing. That is turning out to be a good thing for GE.

Toasters are such a crazily difficult appliance to shop for. I used to have great toasters in the 1990s and early 2000s. And they weren't even all that expensive. But it's been getting really difficult to find replacements, even if I am willing to pay a premium. Sure, there are tons of models at all price points. And they all look very different. But the differences seem to be mostly cosmetic.

Once you read the reviews, they all have problems. These toasters don't last very long, and don't toast evenly, or produce very varying results between individual runs. And many models can't handle a variety of breads (sandwich, English muffins, dinner rolls, artisanal bread, ...).

For the more free-form breads, I am particularly partial towards single-slot toasters. They work great, but there are even fewer models on the market. I have a toaster that I bought a few years ago and that gives passable results. Not great. But OK. I just hope it won't break.

Alternatively, the broiler in my range makes amazing toast. But sometimes I just don't want the hassle and a single-purpose countertop appliance would be nice.

I'm with you, M, what IS the deal with toasters? We've had them all, from a fancy Dualit to our current "Housesmith" model, a $16.99 POS from Target, a holiday shopping impulse purchase that is now in the back of my car, ready to be returned (2 of the 4 slots don't work, right outta the box). We never got on the no carb bandwagon in our house, so we toast all manner of bread, english muffins, bagels, even banana bread and the like often. The Dualit, which I found at TJMaxx a number of years ago, worked OK, not great, and finally died a few years ago, which has sent us on the quest for a good 4 slice toaster that isn't a fortune ($279+ for a toaster isn't in my comfort zone). I have a 25 year old Cuisinart food processor, a 30 yo KA mixer and a 20 year old KA blender which all still work perfectly, why won't toasters? Very vexing indeed.

In other news, the Jenn Air dw worked well on its two first runs (I may have let the dishes stack up for a couple of days knowing DH was installing Sunday), the only thing that didn't come out spotless were the knives with peanutbutter refuse on them, put in the 3rd silverware rack, but tbh, they weren't rinsed at all, I just chucked them in there, and as I confessed previously, they were sitting in the sink for a day or two. It is absolutely silent, only the occasional gurgle from the sink, no clunking, no motor sounds, no whooshing of water. It has 4 interior LED lights, which is pretty cool, and new to me, as well as an indicator light that shows green when washing, blue when drying and white when the cycle is completed, good thing, because unless you touch the front panel, you absolutely can't tell if it's still on. Looks wise it's a bland ss with a decent sized handle that doesn't stick out enough to hip check you. It took a LOT of salt, I used pickling salt, no one in my area (including the appliance store) carries dw salt, so I googled and learned that pickling salt will work, and I used a whole box of it and it still needs more, so we will get more pickling salt today and fill 'er up. So far, so good, I'm hopeful, the Smeg didn't work well right out of the gate, and we should have sent it back, but, well, inertia is a powerful force.

LakeEffect, I don't know the typical composition of pickling salt but be aware that additives in the salt, such as anti-caking agents or other minerals, can permanently damage the dishwasher's water softening unit. Your choice whether to take on that risk.

dadoes, thank you for the comment, really appreciate you chiming in. After reading a ton of articles ranging from "Never use anything but xx brand of DW salt" to "Just use rock salt", I chose pickling salt, as opposed to kosher salt or water softener system salt (rock salt was a no go, haha), specifically because pickling/canning salt has no anti-caking agents, minerals or additives, because anti-caking agents, minerals or other additives cause cloudy brine in pickled veggies, which is quite unappetizing. Hoping it works for the DW, as it's cheap and readily available in my area.

Thank you again for your comment, I remember you from the Kitchen forum ages ago, glad you are still active.

The best toaster we ever had was a Philips two-slice toaster we received as a wedding gift about 25 years ago. But when it died, about 10-15 years later, we found that Philips toasters were no longer available in Canada, or Philips had stopped making toasters. Oy.

We currently have a four-slice Cuisinart toaster, I think it was a Wirecutter recommendation, and it was cheap and works well.

Thank you to everyone who responded and offered valuable information and insights.

Since it seems that there is no longer (and hasn't been for quite a while) a generally accepted wisdom about the brand quality, my thought was since it's a bit of a crapshoot, I would prefer to buy American made. I don't want to buy American made crap though, so to speak and that is not what I was suggesting.

I did learn, thanks to this thread, that Frigidaire is owned by Electrolux; I had thought it was American. I learned that Bosch is made here-(DW) go figure.

Interestingly enough, our toaster died on Friday. I rarely use it but DH loves his toast. I started to look at wirecutter and do some research. I decided that I would just head out to Target and see if they had a simple one (with 2 slots, and a pull out tray for crumbs) . They did, i bought a Sunbeam, 19.99, made in China :( and if it lasts 5 years I will be thrilled.

Frigidaire was originally owned by General Motors (yes, the automobile company). Ford was involved with Philco for a few years. American Motors with Kelvinator. Maytag was an offshoot of an farm implement company, many appliance companies got started that way.

WCI/White Consolidated Industries (aka White Sewing Machine Company) bought the Frigidaire appliance division from GM circa 1979, then Electrolux took WCI circa 1986.

I did learn, thanks to this thread, that Frigidaire is owned by Electrolux; I had thought it was American.

As noted in one of my comments above, things are a bit more geographically fluid and less black-and-white. And either more or less red, white, and blue than one thinks, often : ) . Here's another Consumer Reports article, from 2015, "Made in America

Most Americans love the idea of buying a U.S.-made product instead of an import. But sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not",

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/05/made-in-america/index.htm

Technically, Frigidaire is the US subsidiary (headquartered in the US) of Electrolux, the Swedish multinational appliance manufacturer. So you have the rather muddled situation mentioned above about multinational ownership with US subsidiaries, and appliances designed and assembled in the US with some US and non-US parts. My Frigidaire French-door refrigerator was assembled in Mexico.

Interestingly (and not surprisingly), the US subsidiary promotes on its own website (frigidaire.com), the motto "American pride: The products you love -- designed and assembled in the U.S.A." According to that website, Charlotte, NC is "Where many of our innovative consumer products are designed. Home to our North American Headquarters, Fabric Care R&D and our North American Global Technology Center". Workers at the Kiniston, NC, facility assemble 1.322,129 dishwashers annually, and IIRC the top-freezer fridge models are assembled in the US.

I learned that Bosch is made here-(DW) go figure.

It depends on the series. The top-of-the-line Benchmark series is made in Germany. The rest are made in the US. Bosch is a German multinational corporation, but Robert Bosch LLC in the US is a wholly-owned Bosch subsidiary, with corporate headquarters in Michigan and factories in a number of states.

KitchenAid is owned by Whirlpool, and the various appliances/products are manufactured in the US, Canada (Ontario and Quebec), and China. All of the KA stand mixers are assembled in the US, but the die cast parts come from various countries.

Salonva, I did the same amount of research you did when I bought a toaster for our condo at the lake. My only requirement was that it have 2 slots big enough for an English muffin or bagel. My DH likes his toast too, and it was bought mostly with him and our kids and grandkids in mind. Did the same as you and went to Target and bought one.