BK - you are just flat out wrong wrong here. SZ makes their own fridges in their own factories, and about the only thing that is of Whirlpool design is the $50 ice maker unit that 60+% of the industry uses ! They fabricate their own steel and plastic cases, source their own, copper and glass, spray their own insulation , designed their own ethelyene filter, and on and on. Whirlpool wasn't even in the fridge business until a decade after SZ was producing theirs , and the only reason Whirlpool got in it was because of a merger. and, we all know about mergers. SZ has and these units in real homes for twelve plus months already , so they kinda know what is flawed with them. These also aren't just some half baked platform off the drawing board like your Maytag example. Further , Maytag ceases to exist because they were boneheads. Their Neptune debacle blew a hole in the ship, and the Amana acquisition enlarged it. And guess who picked up the pieces folks? Yep, BK's white knight and general do gooder, Whirlpool. Happy, I know it's a tough decision for you right now with this model change especially since they are different sizes. I would go for he new design, simply because that 7xx platform is almost twenty years old now and the 36" one is not the best size anyway. Have you considered one of the 36" ers from one of the Miele, Gaggenau, Thermador cousins? They are all top quality and roughly the same price as that 736. Available now and first of the year no changes, proven platform with nice features, and they integrate very smoothly.

I don't know anything about repair bills but we've been very, very happy with our Thermador columns. We installed them 11 years ago in the home we just moved from and we've had them at the beach for 4 years. Both are the older models. I will say I prefer the SZ 18" freezer layout to the Thermador. I love the Thermador 30" fridge column.

Just came from the wolf/subzero manufacturer store in Salt lake City. They are running behind about 14-20 months and in some cases longer. Our renovation will take 7-8 months and frankly I don’t care how reliable the brand it, I can not go that long without appliances. I will probably lean on the thermadore for refrigeration/wall ovens and range top . Keep my fiskal paykal dishwasher it is reliable, my first one lasted 18 years and my newer one going strong after three. Conveinent two drawers for smaller frequent loads. For the butler pantry I will probably go with Big chill refrigerator/ dishwasher the reviews are strong enouth to support the purchase

My rangetop preference would be bluestar->thermador->wolf. I would never buy a 48" range. I just got rid of a 48" wolf that came with the house. The second oven is quite tiny. I would see if you could do a double wall oven instead. Unless you know you'll use the griddle constantly, I'd consider a 36" instead and throw a griddle on it when you need one. The ventilation requirements for 48" are huge - the hood really should be 54" wide, which means a blower of 1200-1400 cfm, and associated make-up air. The bluestar burners are by far the best. I think Miele makes the best ovens. Thermador ovens really are Bosch with nicer aesthetics and a few thousand more dollars. The functional differences are quite minor. Wolf ovens still have complaints about enamel cracking. I don't think they do anything special or better than brands that cost much less. I would suggest 24+30 columns instead of 18+36. 36" all fridge is huge. An 18" freezer is very narrow and rather inconvenient. Consider Fisher Paykel as a sub-zero alternative. Thousands less, and lead time is measured in weeks instead of years (yes, sub-zero is still often 18 months). I hated the bosch/thermador/meile/gaggenau column freezer - the icemaker is enormous and takes up a ton of the interior space.