Nicole, my expectations for refrigerator longevity would certainly be over a year. And I am shocked over the Samsung lawsuit, and the claims that apparently Samsung is not standing behind their product, I had thought they were a better company than that.

Whirlpool French Door with drawer and freezer under drawer…ice and water in door…bought new when I built house in 2013….love it! I had a friend who worked on all brands of applianes and he said Whirlpool has the least problems…hope he was correct!

This "news" is that a speculative class action lawsuit was filed. Contingent fee personal "injury" lawsuits are filed in far too large numbers every day. This isn't news a problem has been determined to exist, it's news that a gold digger has found another potential place to dig. It's a form of an extorsion racket that costs consumers, not the defendants.

Most other countries don't have this same problem because contingent fee arrangements are often not permitted and the prevailing party in a lawsuit must be reimbursed for costs by the losing party. It's an approach we should have in the US but never will because the so-called Trial Lawyers, a nice name for a legalized blood suckers, pay big bucks to politicians of both parties.

I have a KitchenAid topfreezer, 25 years, no repairs. It was put to garage-fridge duty 17+ years ago. The ice maker was transplanted to my parents', see below, probably 10-ish years ago.

My parents' KitchenAid(/Whirlpool) topfreezer is 27 years. One repair, the ice maker head mechanism went bad, see above.

The GE SxS that came with my house, 17+ years. Several repairs (which I can DIY). Main control board went bad, freezer fan not working, replaced board and fan. Ice maker water valve went bad, replaced valve assembly. Ice dispenser flapper door mechanism rusted to the point it seized, replaced it. Figured out that leaving the dispenser light on continuously generates enough heat (it's a little incandescent bulb) to ward-off condensation so no more problem with that, other than changing the bulb more than usual (in 2013 for a fresh start, and again in 2020).

A family friend contacted me recently regards to no water flow to either the ice maker or drinking water on her 2015 Whirlpool SxS. She said "Fix it, whatever it takes, I'm not buying a new refrigerator." I found that the water filter housing had gone bad, problem with the internal valves in the ports on it that mate to the filter. I replaced the housing, a whopping $72.26 part cost. The typical consumer would condemn the whole thing and buy a new refrigerator and fuss on GardenWeb/Houzz about how refrigerators nowadays are junk. :-)

In July 1971 I bought a brand new Sears Coldspot 18.2 cubic foot refrigerator (Tawny Gold). In 1990 I had it re-enameled a different color. Circa 1992 it had its first and only repair - the motor for the freezer was failing. (At least, I think that's what it was - I know it had to do with the freezer). That refrigerator is now in the garage and still going strong.

Currently in our kitchen is a Bosch 800 series French door refrigerator, which we love.

We renovated our tiny kitchen in 2016 and got a Bosch counter depth refrigerator in their 800 series. It's the only refrigerator I've ever seen where I thought, "That's gorgeous." It's white and has a sheet of glass over the door, no handle, very simple and elegant. An unexpected bonus is how it reflects the the window across the room. It's small, but big enough for the two of us. One feature that I would like in a refrigerator, which I've never seen, would be shelves that are mirrored on the bottom, so you could see the reflection of what's in back on the shelf below.

"The typical consumer would condemn the whole thing and buy a new refrigerator...."

Not for no reason. I think the "typical consumer" doesn't know and doesn't want to know how to repair household appliances. The choice then becomes 1) pay someone to try to repair it, if that offers a potential economical resolution, or buy another one. Different approaches can solve the problem, no one morally superior to another.

“I had a friend who worked on all brands of applianes and he said Whirlpool has the least problems…hope he was correct!”

How I WISH that had been the case with our Whirlpool washer. It died after just 4 years, and I was beyond angry. However, the lack of quality’s definitely not specific to Whirlpool. It’s all over the place. These days you choose something that fits your needs without getting stuck on a certain brand. Then you cross all fingers and toes.

"I think the "typical consumer" doesn't know and doesn't want to know how to repair household appliances."

I know I don't - I'm happy to admit it's one of the things in the world that I'm happy to pay someone more skilled in that area to do. I am not ashamed to say I don't want to learn how to do everything well.

This is the very complicated procedure to replace the filter housing. (Note: It's easier to push the tubes into the housing ports before putting the locking clips into place.)

Minor repairs such this are always better than replacing the appliance. I've known of people who throw out washing machines for a $15 part that takes less than 20 mins to replace. That's similar to junking a car for a flat tire, bad battery, or broken belt. IMO.

My Whirlpool french door fridge lasted all of 2.5 years til I had to do a $500 repair. It cost $2000 to begin with. Ridiculous. I would like to write to the CEO and have him reimburse me.

"Minor repairs such this are always better than replacing the appliance."

You're giving a sermon, but the room is empty. Do as you wish and others with a different orientation will do things as they see fit. As before, there's no moral high ground concerning preferences and attitudes about such things.

dadoes, those of us who are older do know that most appliances made many years did last longer without repair. nothing rosey-posey about it. Also, you contradicted yourself in your next post by saying you have a fridge that lasted 25 years without repair : )

I believe that most appliances which have fewer bells and whistles last longer because there's less things to break. My brother had an old, used fridge with a top freezer in his garage to hold drinks, etc, and he must have used it 30+ years without repair, to my knowledge. I don't know how old it was, but the top corners were rounded, and it still kept soft drinks ice cold !

This post jinxed me!! 😡My Frigidaire of only 20 months, just malfunctioned, after reading this😢 It has a h1 code, I do have an extended warranty, but I am sure it will be a few days before Lowes finds someone to take care of it.

@G...I'm so sorry. I looked up a code H1 = Thermistor = $36 on Amazon. It looks like a pluck 'n chuck part, a quick repair! Anything having to do with adding freon, special gauges, coils...and I just buy a new frig.

"Minor repairs such this are always better than replacing the appliance. I've known of people who throw out washing machines for a $15 part that takes less than 20 mins to replace."

But it's not $15 and 15 minutes -- it's finding the problem, finding the solution, finding the part, and doing the replacement. Or it's a repairman at $80 an hour (and often a half day off work), or you risk a) not finding the right problem, b) not finding the right solution, or c) improperly doing the replacement. Assuming you even have the strength to move the machines around yourself.

I'd be mad if they died under 10, annoyed but accepting of 10-15, figure I'm on borrowed time after that.

While any brand can have specimens that fail early or last forever, one thing to consider with high end brands is that people are willing to spend more on repairs for them to keep them running. At this point I've easily spent a couple thousand on my Sub Zero's over the past four years, most recently replacing the sealed system of the fridge. And I know at least the compressor was replaced before. Freezer ices up and needs to be taken apart and blow-dried every few months. If they were normal units they'd be out at the curb, but replacement would be involved, probably the start of a total kitchen remodel. Contrast that with my dishwasher of the same vintage which is acting up, and a quick check to see if the pump is jammed was about as far as I went with diagnostics on that one and now I'm shopping.

In approx. 2004 I bought a used Side-By-Side Kenmore (manufacture year was 2000). The asking price by the sellers for the used appliance was $800. Then a few years ago, an appliance fix-it guy charged about $400 for installing a new part, which got it to run again when it broke down. It's still running.

The reason I like the Kenmore, is because for my needs it has the most roomy freezer-section of all fridges i've seen of that size. I think its 25 cu.ft. (I don't need an icemaker, so I just removed the contraption within the recesses of the freezer section, and that added alot more space. Thus, I don't have to run a separate freezer which adds to the electric bill. (i live alone, so really don't need a whole separate freezer, thus my SBS is handy). Granted, though, SBS's tend to be narrow in the freezer section, barring perhaps a "Wide-by-side" which didn't seem to have caught on.

Plus, as everyone knows, digital refrigerators are supposed to break down much quicker. My fridge is from the era directly prior to digital.

I'm also attaching a photo I took of the ice-maker-area of my SBS freezer-door.

In my attachment, you can see some organizers I attached for extra space. Comes in handy!

@foodonastump...It's just been 2 months since I purchased two new dishwashers. One was to replace a GE Monogram, the other still worked it was just so noisy I figured I'd keep it as a spare in case ones in the rentals broke down. The new GE Profile dishwasher is really quiet. 42dcb

We just replaced our old freezer which was 44 years old...got it when we were first married. I have a feeling the new one won't last as long. But then again, I don't expect to be around in 44 year either.

Manufacturers can’t make money if they only sell new appliances every 40 years😂

^Good point, Rachel! The days of the bored Maytag repair guy are long gone.

Eh, not really. Brands that develop a market reputation for poor quality can't be sold either.

Elmer, I totally agree!

It depends on how you describe quality. Performance? Fit and finish? Reliability? It's easy to think of examples where products are considered desirable and command high price tags for the former two, despite sorely lacking in the last.

^^^^^ Any examples?

I recently sold my house. It had the original dishwasher and range with double oven that were installed forty years ago. They still worked well.

The fridge however, had been replaced twice, the last replacement was only 2 years ago. So, the original fridge lasted about twenty-five years, the replacement lasted twelve years, and the last replacement is still going strong.

BTW, all appliances were GE, including the forty-year-old dishwasher and range.

A side by side refrigerator from GE cost $704 in 1972. According to the inflation calculator I used, that means the same refrigerator would cost just under 5k today.

A quick Google search shows most GE, side by side refrigerators going for under 2k.

People seem to have decided they want to buy a lot more stuff than what they had in the 70s, bigger houses, more cars, more meals out, more clothes, mores household stuff, bigger vacations, and spend less money on these goods. The result is lower quality at a lower price point.

I have only had two - first one lasted 17 years, current one is about 15.

"Any examples?"

Viking. Sold for looks. Lackluster performance considering the "professional" schtick. Questionable reliability. (My cooktop has been reliable, but that's just one data point.)

Bluestar. A cult favorite sold for exceptional burner performance, not for hot doors, sharp edges, countless service issues.

Any fridge where we pay more for the ice maker and dispenser(s) which are known weak links.

Moving on from appliances: Land Rover. Good performance but notorious for sketchy reliability. Also a high priced luxury brand.

Corvette. World class performance and mid life crisis appeal for a relatively reasonable, but still well above average price. But again, low on reliability ratings.

Food, I misunderstood your initial comment. I thoughtnyou were suggesting some goods had fit/finish and performance, but lacked reliability. I apologize. I agree with you. Lots of things are sold for the fantasy of how they perform and not the reality.

I'm not sure that you misunderstood anything. That's exactly what I was saying. Products with poor reliability are not only sold, but in some cases people pay top dollar for them despite their known reliability issues. So the question I posed was what defines "quality." It's not always reliability or life expectancy, though it can be.

Speaking of GE, I paid $2800 for this last one that lasted 4 years. I own another GE refrigerator that's 15 years old. I believe the newer appliances are built with planned obsolescence....no matter what the brand. JMO

Food, I find it impossible to look at a product without considering reliability. Performance and looks mean nothing if you have reliability problems. As a rule, I am unimpressed with the looks and performance of unreliable brands, except for old Jaguars ;-)

The Frigidaire repairman just left. He has a part on order. It's just out of the box....and already needs a repair. I own two more counter depth/sidexside Frigidairs just like THIS one and one without ice & water on the door. Never had a problem with the two older ones.

^^ Maybe they need to rename that new model brand as : Frigidare

For a new refrigerator, I expect to last 10 or 15 years.

Is anyone actually talking to the salesmen? They will tell you five is a target number!!!

^** Any salesman who tries to sell by making his appliances sound disposable is either stupid or setting you up for an extended warranty.

Is anyone actually talking to the salesmen? They will tell you five is a target number!!!

It seems to me that it would be a difficult feat to get salespeople all across price and quality ranges to agree on a specific life expectation number.

2019 new Whirlpool french door bottom freezer installed July 2019 with house remodel. 1/21/2022 refrigerator and freezer quit, had repaired after 10 day wait. April 26, 2022 refrigerator quit, factory repair person said the mother board was defective, 6 day wait for repair. Aug 2022 refrigerator quit again. New repair person said last repair done incorrectly 2 week repair wait. According to repair people this model has the fewest repair call! Whirlpool offered 40% off regular price or 20% off sale if purchased from them online, EXCEPT they don’t have item in right size or stainless finish to go with the rest of the kitchen appliances - all Whirlpool. So, see what you can get from manufacturer toward replacement.

OK....So I have a very "honest" salesperson. He knows ALL about every appliance and has honestly explained all the weird nuances before I make each purchase. He said 10 years is the target number. But....if that's correct then why do they only offer a 4 year EXTENDED warranty? Plus the one year manufacturers warranty = 5 years.

It also doesn't seem to help to spend more money. Higher end brands aren't delivering a longer life either. We noticed how light weight the new frigs are compared to the old tanks too.

Nicole, I was shopping for a second refrigerator for the garage one year....friend had left a mammoth vintage side by side here that I just couldn't look at any longer. He was divorcing and somehow had some kind of strange attachment to this fridge (although it did run just fine and now several years later its in the clam digging/field games equipment storage room at SILs at the beach for summer beverages)

A sales woman at a Sears Appliance was so bent on selling me an extended GE warranty, she was completely denigrating her product - the simple no frills fridge I had thought I'd buy. She was so focused on explaining all the reasons I would need that warranty (and I've never bought any of the extended), she made the refrigerator sound like a real piece of crap ;) I don't think she could hear herself and didn't have a clue what she was doing or why she lost the sale. I walked. It was such a ridiculous pressured conversation, I considered calling her manager and explaining why I hadn't made a purchase but then let it go - picked up the same GE at Home Depot.

One thing consumers can do to extend the life of the fridge regardless of brand is clean the condenser coils regularly. This will not help things such as faulty ice makers or bad PC boards. It will however extend the life of the core of the machine, it's compressor. I pull my fridge out about every 6 months or so unplug it, Take an air wand that's connected to the air compressor and give it a good blow. If you don't have a compressor, a vacuum and a soft brush will do the job.

Indeed, kevinande, I forgot to mention that, though I don't have an air-wand. I use something that looks like a elongated baby-bottle-brush that I bought long ago at Sears (since that's all their repair dept. said said they had in stock for coil-cleaning purposes). It was ridiculous, since the bristles were too wide circumference to fit between the coil layers. So I was forced to be resourceful. I trimmed the bristles, in order to narrow the circumference so that the brush should fit thru. I apply it annually (approx.) since every six months would take too much of a toll on my legs.

And Deb's pic hits the nail on the head!

FYI

The new refrigerators have a metal plate on the back, covering the coils. It is a PIA to remove the metal plate....so you can get to the coils underneath. NOW....it's twice as hard to clean the coils! You still need to do it....

While you're cleaning the coils you might as well check the defrosting drain pan too as I mentioned earlier. These drain pans will become nasty over time esp if insects, dust, or something worse like a decaying drowned mouse. If you ever wonder where that weird smell is coming from in the kitchen and can't locate the source then it could be that nasty drain pan. Just pull it out and clean it up.

Wow, the more that things change, the more they change for the worse...

I'm seeing a trend on CL where they are giving away working washers & dryers, if they are 6 years or older. If one appliance goes out....they just buy a NEW pair, thinking the other one will soon follow.