Beware of new LG French door refrigerators.

[Seasoned Oak]

ELectronics,tvs, ipads, phones, are very well built and dependable. As a rule i dont get extended warranties on them and never got burned so far.
Appliances are a whole different animal. Rarely does any of them last a year without some repairs. One exception is my kenmore front loading washer purchase in 2000,made in germany. Lasted until this year. 13 years is a pretty good run for an appliance.

 

[arngnick]

I had a GE normal style fridge bought brand new 4 years ago...Well it went this year forcing me to buy a new one. I ended up with the Samsung French door since they made the largest 33" model. I love it so far but against my normal buying practices they did talk me into the 5 year extended warranty for $150. It covers spoiled food, repairs, and power surges so it will be well worth it if I have a problem.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I just fired up this guy last night.



On it's warmest setting it's holding 43F inside. I need to do some cosmetic work on it this winter and maybe get to the Kelvinator next to it.

Next year they are coming out with all new energy use regulations for refrigerators. We'll be replacing our main one as it's old enough to be branded Montgomery Wards and uses around 100 Kwh/month. Supposedly the new ones will be required to use 1/3 the power.

Matt

 

[arngnick]

I just fired up this guy last night.



On it's warmest setting it's holding 43F inside. I need to do some cosmetic work on it this winter and maybe get to the Kelvinator next to it.

Next year they are coming out with all new energy use regulations for refrigerators. We'll be replacing our main one as it's old enough to be branded Montgomery Wards and uses around 100 Kwh/month. Supposedly the new ones will be required to use 1/3 the power.

Matt

Story of my life...buy a new one and ones that are twice as efficient come out.

 

[Dave A.]

Maybe the mfrs are sending a message. 'Okay you want energy efficiency fine, we'll give you all the energy efficiency you want, but forget about reliability.'

 

[firefighterjake]

I would never take out an extended warranty. Now I do. I have my Panasonic plasma 55" (55VT50) which I bought in 2011 as it was a CNET top of the line picture recommendation. Well, at 23 months it crapped out and it is now at the repair service. Seems the Y board and or power supply crap out at 24 months on average. Didn't find out until I checked all the reviews two years later and this is a major problem. They are still selling these 2011 models at over $2k because it has such a great picture. The warranty was $300 and it was worth every penny. BTW, I called up and they are still waiting for parts, almost a week later.

Bottom line is that no matter how good something is they are so complex now, and so shoddily built, that you have to factor getting the extended warranty as part of the cost of home appliances and entertainment equip.

Got a 50 or 52 inch Panasonic plasma . . . considerably less expensive than the one you mentioned though . . . got it years ago . . . so far no issues . . . but sadly the way things are built today and with the changes that come along in electronics it almost seems as though it's "cheaper" to simply upgrade with new stuff unless you have the warranty.

 

[NortheastAl]

Got a 50 or 52 inch Panasonic plasma . . . considerably less expensive than the one you mentioned though . . . got it years ago . . . so far no issues . . . but sadly the way things are built today and with the changes that come along in electronics it almost seems as though it's "cheaper" to simply upgrade with new stuff unless you have the warranty.

Exactly. My son got a 60" LG plasma at Costco for less than $900 a year ago and has had no problems. And Costco give you a two year warranty for free. I guess everything is becoming disposable.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Agreed. When that monitor top came out it cost $300, or more expensive than a brand new Model T ($260). People would think you were crazy for buying a $15-20K refrigerator now. Well, maybe it would be understandable if it made you a sandwich and then cleaned the kitchen.

Matt

 

[jharkin]

Part of it is shoddy build, but a lot of it I think is that between efficiency requirements, rules like RoHS and building everything as compact as possible and to sell as cheap as possible the engineers just can't design them to be reliable. They know its not a consumer priority in this throwaway society.

They could design them to be rock solid, but then your TV would weight 500 lb and cost 5 grand. Nobody would buy it.


Kinda like certain German luxury cars that fall apart when the warranty expires... They know their clientele lease and value looks and flashy features over longevity, so that's what they deliver.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

They get he parts mass produced at very low cost .Its cheaper for them to keep replacing parts till they get a good one,than to up the quality of all the parts.

 

[NortheastAl]

They get he parts mass produced at very low cost .Its cheaper for them to keep replacing parts till they get a good one,than to up the quality of all the parts.

Kind of like they do with cars. GM at one point could change out 10 automatic transmissions on a Chevy in the 90s and still be in profit on the vehicle. The the transmissions were built in Mexico. They didn't even bother to tear down the defective ones to see what was wrong.

 

[jharkin]

They didn't even bother to tear down the defective ones to see what was wrong.

Automatics are so complex these days that a lot of companies are doing that now, the dealer just does a swap and the trans goes back to get rebuilt at the factory.

 

[save$]

If you search the interweb hard enough it seems you can find very similar problems with almost all brands, can't you?

I fear the day when my fridge gives it up. It's 10 years old now...a GE profile. I've got friends with GE, Samsung, LG and whatever else and it seems to me that hardly anybody around me has been able to just go out, buy a fridge and be happy. They've all had something go wrong. Worst being damaged flooring from a Samsung that sprung a leak or defrosted (I don't recall).

I may just upgrade to a 1940's or 1950's unit when the time comes. Who needs in-the-door water anyway?

Who you say, My wife! That and the in door ice maker that uses up all the room in the side by side freezer so much that we had to get a small freezer to go with it. As for wanting to keep the older model. Get yourself a Kill-A-Watt and ck the electricity consumption. I had a frig not 10 yrs old that was sucking power. I gave it away. I now have this newer one that has a lot of plastic drawers that have all broken and had to be replaced with the same cheap quality. This is one appliance to get the extended warranty on. Ck to see if your state is currently offering energy rebates for appliance upgrades. That can save a whole lot of money. Our state had it. It was intended to last 3 years with its funding, but I was told it ran out in 8 months.

 

[NortheastAl]

Automatics are so complex these days that a lot of companies are doing that now, the dealer just does a swap and the trans goes back to get rebuilt at the factory.

No, I meant that it was sent back to GM, and they didn't do the teardown to figure what was wrong, they just replaced them. They were never rebuilt at that point.

 

[Dix]

Exactly. My son got a 60" LG plasma at Costco for less than $900 a year ago and has had no problems. And Costco give you a two year warranty for free. I guess everything is becoming disposable.

Check that. That TV might come with a 2 year from LG, some of them do.

 

[NortheastAl]

Check that. That TV might come with a 2 year from LG, some of them do.

If it does, Costco adds an additional year to make it three then.

 

[Dix]

If it does, Costco adds an additional year to make it three then.

True, but they are telling you 2 years, when it runs concurrent with the manufacturers warranty (maybe). Some thing to watch out for, be it electronics, appliances, etc.

 

[NortheastAl]

True, but they are telling you 2 years, when it runs concurrent with the manufacturers warranty (maybe). Some thing to watch out for, be it electronics, appliances, etc.

I understand that, but they do extend the warranty one year after all manufacturers warranties have ended. I got a JVC LED for the bedroom and they added one additional year on that. I think it has it on their website. They also offer the Square Deal extended warranties if you desire longer terms.

 

[Dix]

I understand that, but they do extend the warranty one year after all manufacturers warranties have ended. I got a JVC LED for the bedroom and they added one additional year on that. I think it has it on their website. They also offer the Square Deal extended warranties if you desire longer terms.

Gotta watch the under writer companies on the extended. Last time I looked, NEW was the under writer for Costco.

NEW is Best Buy.

Interesting, isn't it?

 

[NortheastAl]

Really? Yeah, that is interesting. I guess companies have to diversify.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Kind of like they do with cars. GM at one point could change out 10 automatic transmissions on a Chevy in the 90s and still be in profit on the vehicle. The the transmissions were built in Mexico. They didn't even bother to tear down the defective ones to see what was wrong.

Must be in cars your referring to. Iv been driving GM trucks for 35 years and never had a tranny problem. Current wood hauler is a 95 HD GM Tk.

 

[NortheastAl]

Must be in cars your referring to. Iv been driving GM trucks for 35 years and never had a tranny problem. Current wood hauler is a 95 HD GM Tk.

This was in reference to the Chevy Lumina.