"I've been reading about the LG fridge class action issue. I know the effected models are from 2014-2017 - has quality and support improved?"

Based on its reader surveys, NO brand of French door refrigerator received a rating greater than 3 out of 5. LG refrigerators received a 3. As a class, bottom-freezer refrigerators were much more reliable.

"The LG fridge listed above is appealing because it's spec'd as 26.5 cu. ft, compared to the 22-23 that's typical of other 36" counter depth French door models."

Carefully review the specs and installation instructions of any refrigerator claiming to be "counter-depth." In some cases it refers to the entire refrigerator but generally just to the refrigerator cabinet. The LG LRFLC2706S cabinet is 24-7/8” deep -- usually a "counter depth" cabinet is 24" -- but is 29-1/4” deep with door (but without handles), 31-5/8” deep with handles, and requires 2" air space behind the refrigerator.

We're pretty set on the French door, both for the capacity in counter depth and the style. We are avoiding the door ice dispenser to hopefully avoid some issues. We'll have an under sink filter, and I've seen some fridge models that have an interior water dispenser, which would be a nice to have, but not needed feature.

It seems to me like a big question is factory support, for repair time/parts, responsiveness, and warranty claims, since appliances aren't made like they used to be. Have seen some posts over the last few years of continuing poor responsiveness from LG, even since the class action settlement, so I might end up ruling them out.

I did get a call back from my appliance repair guy. He said he refuses service on LG fridges these days. And he doesn't get many calls about GE. Just one point of anecdotal information there, but something for me to consider.

Thank you for pointing out the detailed dimensions of the LG fridge! We'll be sure to confirm all dimensions while comparing models

Another question in this process, regarding warming drawer location - under the wall oven, or under the cooktop? If under the cooktop, could potentially do cooktop - shallow utensil drawer - warming drawer - storage drawer. Or cooktop - warming drawer - larger storage drawer.

Current rendering is below...please ignore the countertop, backsplash, and hood! Those are just placeholders, and the fridge in the pic is standard depth. The wall oven dimensions are correct, but ours will be a full double 30" oven. The designer just modified the dimensions of an existing "oven" asset in their software. We're also considering deleting the cabinets next to the hood, and do open/floating shelves.

It's an L-shaped kitchen with island. The door to the right is to butler's pantry, sink is out of frame to the right.

I'd like to keep my commonly used pots/pans under the cooktop, then larger/less frequently used pots/pans will go in the drawers on the other side of the pantry door.

Going below the cooktop will depend on required clearances, but seems like that would be the more practical location as far as the warming drawer itself is concerned - just the tradeoff of pot/pan space under the cooktop. And could go with a panel ready model for a clean look.

After buying a portable induction cooktop -- to try induction -- and subsequently buying an induction range, I vastly prefer knobs over digital controls (e.g., Frigidaire FPIC3677RF).

I’m in Oklahoma and our salesperson told us LG refrigerators were difficult to get parts for. This may be why your service repair person doesn’t work on them. She also showed us the difference in the 500 and 800 Bosch DWs I looked at- it was the third rack on top and on the 800 it could be completely flattened. This is useful for me since I have a baby and could use the flattened area for things like bottle parts and Sippy cup lids. This may not be a big deal to you, and there may be other differences. Good luck! I don’t have my appliances yet, so I cannot speak to them personally yet.

wdcccruiser - I actually found an old post of yours mentioning that cooktop earlier today too, I think that model is the top of the list now, would definitely prefer knobs!

Janet - thanks for the input on the Bosch models! We'll probably end up going for the 800 series, since it's such a marginal price difference.

I think our biggest questions now are fridge and oven selections.

Are there any particular oven features that are worth the money? We definitely want true/euro convection. I see some advertise air sous vide, air fry, and dehydration - do those features work well? What about the slider/glide racks vs traditional racks? Is the blue enamel chipping still a thing? 

I do have an immersion sous vide and a standalone air fryer already, but wouldn't mind getting rid of redundant gadgets

STAY AWAY from LG. Junk appliances. LG stands for LOW GRADE!