I need a new fridge, what brands should I avoid?

[mommyoffive]

I know a few people had some fridge horror stories, so can you tell me what brands those are so I can avoid them? 

The actual fridge works fine on ours, but over the last few years plastic chunks have been breaking off from the shelfs.  Well now the entire bottom shelf is not attached to anything.  Plus you can't open the drawers because of this shelf that isn't attached. 

If you have a good fridge and have a link to it, that would be great. 

[Kassia]

Avoid Samsung

[Elizabeth86]

48 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Avoid Samsung

This is what I've heard with appliances across the board, samsung stinks. I've had the same GE fridge for 15 years now. 🤷

[Selkie]

Hated our Samsungs, love our GE's.

[catz]

LG fridge was a nightmare for us.  
 

Currently love my whirlpool.  

[Katy]

I bought a suite full of Samsung, afterwards I was told it was a mistake.  Apparently when they're fine, they're fine, but if there's an issue the parts are really difficult.

[Selkie]

Here's the link for the GE fridge that we have. We have two of them, one in slate (my favorite) and one in stainless.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-27-8-cu-ft-French-Door-Refrigerator-with-Ice-Maker-Fingerprint-Resistant-Slate-ENERGY-STAR/1000048163

[mommyoffive]

46 minutes ago, FuzzyCatz said:

LG fridge was a nightmare for us.  
 

Currently love my whirlpool.  

I had to look what I have now.  We have an LG and have had it for almost 15 years and no problems except this.   But I will put it on the no list.   I just read that about LG too somewhere else. 

Man I am looking at fridges now and there are so many brands that I have never heard of. 

[matrips]

I would buy one made in the US. Whirlpool or GE usually, but still have to check.  For Kenmore- look at the serial number to see who actually manufactured it. https://appliancedates.com/index.html

The foreign ones like Samsung have issues and then it’s hard to get the parts and find a repair person.  

We ended up with a GE.  Love the space. We bought a filter for under the sink so we did not get a fridge water thing.  It does have an ice maker though.  No electronics.  We tried to keep it basic.

Edited February 10, 2021 by matrips
To correct some info

[matrips]

Edited February 10, 2021 by matrips
This is the fridge we got last year.

[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, matrips said:

I would buy one made in the US. You have to look at the model/serial number for that.  Google for a chart.  I brought that to the Sears outlet with me.  Not all brands are made in the same place.

The foreign ones like Samsung have issues and then it’s hard to get the parts and find a repair person.  

We ended up with a GE.  Love the space. We bought a filter for under the sink so we did not get a fridge water thing.  It does have an ice maker though.  No electronics.  We tried to keep it basic.

Thanks for the tip.  Yeah all the electronics look cool, but that is just more stuff to break.  I doubt that I would use any of it either.  We don't have an ice maker or filter hooked up to ours now.  I don't think we would do that. 

[matrips]

Lol!  As I look at our tag, it says made in Mexico!  🤷‍♀️

[mommyoffive]

Just now, matrips said:

Lol!  As I look at our tag, it says made in Mexico!  🤷‍♀️

I was just going to ask why it had 2 different cities on there.  Good thing to know though. 

[Janeway]

Avoid Samsung.

[Carol in Cal.]

Avoid water handling, and if you want quiet, ice making.

[4atHome]

X

Edited February 24, 2021 by 4atHome

[Pawz4me]

We bought a Whirlpool fridge back during the summer. I think it was July but could have been August. So we've only had it for a few months but so far I've been very happy with it. It's a basic freezer on top fridge, no bells or whistles. One complaint that seems to be common for all new refrigerators is that they're noisy. Ours makes more noise than our old fridge, and a far different variety of noises. But it's not as loud as many reviewers (of all fridges) had me believing it would be.

In defense of Samsung appliances--When we bought this house (five years ago next month) it had a Samsung range, microwave and dishwasher. All seemed to be fairly new. The dishwasher kicked the bucket about four years ago, but the range and microwave work fine, and I really like both of them.

ETA: We did encounter a delay in getting the fridge that cost us a week or two. But I kind of think it was due to Lowe's losing track of it more than a supply issue.

Edited February 10, 2021 by Pawz4me

[cintinative]

a few years ago when we bought our fridge, I called our appliance repair group and asked what brands they would avoid. They said to avoid Samsung and (I think) LG.  We ended up with a whirlpool and it has been fine.

There tend to be more issues when you have water/ice in the door. If that is a negotiable, you *might* have less repairs if you avoid that.

[Roadrunner]

I have a Samsung. It has been a nightmare icing with it. We are buying GE. 

[Lanny]

I will not speak to which brand you should buy or avoid, but I will speak to the advantages of buying one with the fewest possible frills.   Many years ago in TX, the salesman told me that if I bought a refrigerator with an ice maker, to use one simple and common example, that would double or triple the probability of the refrigerator needing repairs.  Each feature adds complexity and complexity increases the possibility of failure.  We have a Samsung Washing Machine which my wife loves. We have Samsung TV sets.  We have a Whirlpool basic model refrigerator which I won in a raffle. It has been in service for approximately 16 years now and before that we had another basic model Whirlpool refrigerator that was in service for us for many years, before we gave it to someone.  Good luck with whatever you decide to buy!

[Spryte]

Don’t buy LG!

We have a kid with VOC issues, so remodeling is a nightmare for us.  He can’t be around the materials.  So we bought a house that was turn key, perfect for us.  Oh my goodness, can’t believe we found it, kind of perfect.  No remodeling!  Yay for kid!  In the first year, water line on back of fridge sprang a small leak. A $4 part.  Ruined the continuous hardwood flooring on main level.  Water mitigation had to rip out walls.  We had to have new floors, paint, you name it.  Ten of thousands of dollars.  Our insurance co was amazing, knew we had a kid with special needs and put us all up in a hotel for weeks and weeks.  Kid could not enter house while all this was going on.  Just a disaster.

So, yeh, no more LG for us.  Ever.

ETA: on the up side, we installed smart flooring that actually filters VOCs, isn’t that cool?!

Edited February 10, 2021 by Spryte

[BlsdMama]

Weird thing - I got an unbelievable deal on a Samsung about two years ago. It was a brand I would have avoided but the deal was that good. So... I love my fridge.  Love. But it’s so much bigger than my other one and it’s not a side by side, so I’m not sure brand would have mattered. 

[BlsdMama]

Also, oddly Samsung has a couple on this year’s Consumer Reports are rated 5/5 for expected reliability, so perhaps they are becoming a more dependable brand. 

[SanDiegoMom]

I would avoid LG and honestly french door. They are the most popular, but have like 30 percent more fails I think I have read?  We have had two french door fridges that failed within five years. The second was a Linear Compressor LG and I think it runs around 2800?  Who has the money to buy a new fridge for that much every few years? 

We replaced both with a side by side GE.  (two different houses).  I think the size is awful honestly (side by side is so narrow!) but we also really had to have water and ice machine, so we couldn't do a basic model. 

[mommyoffive]

56 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom said:

I would avoid LG and honestly french door. They are the most popular, but have like 30 percent more fails I think I have read?  We have had two french door fridges that failed within five years. The second was a Linear Compressor LG and I think it runs around 2800?  Who has the money to buy a new fridge for that much every few years? 

We replaced both with a side by side GE.  (two different houses).  I think the size is awful honestly (side by side is so narrow!) but we also really had to have water and ice machine, so we couldn't do a basic model. 

Why not french door?   They  have 30% more fails or LG does? 

[SanDiegoMom]

Just now, mommyoffive said:

Why not french door?   They  have 30% more fails or LG does? 

French doors do - we looked at Consumer Reports and that is what we interpreted as far as reliability.  French Doors seemed to have the most repairs needed, side by sides were next, and then the regular fridge that has the freezer on top.  

[mommyoffive]

5 minutes ago, SanDiegoMom said:

French doors do - we looked at Consumer Reports and that is what we interpreted as far as reliability.  French Doors seemed to have the most repairs needed, side by sides were next, and then the regular fridge that has the freezer on top.  

Ok thanks for that.   We currently have the freezer on the bottom kind and I like that so much.  I was thinking about French Door for no real reason at all.   Guess we will stick with the freezer on the bottom.

[mommyoffive]

Wow, ok now knowing everything I have been looking.  LG and Samsung dominate the fridge market as do french doors and side by sides.   Sigh.   And all the best deals are on Samsung and LG.

Edited February 10, 2021 by mommyoffive

[Ausmumof3]

We have a Westinghouse which is Australian made so probably not available where you are.  We’ve had similar issues with all the plastic breaking up inside though the main shelves are glass so they’re ok but all the door shelves etc are gone.

My friend had the same fridge and only got five years out of it.  
 

We thought ours was dead three years ago then we discovered that the door hinge plastic had broken and the door was sagging so it was working overtime to try to compensate for the lack of seal.  DH was able to use metal putty to repair it and keep it going.

Im really not sure how we’re meant to keep a functioning house or appliances given how often they all break.

[Lilaclady]

We got a new fridge delivered this weekend. Like someone mentioned upthread- it took almost 2.5 months from ordering to delivering, so hurry with placing the order. 
it is a Samsung and it has the smart display panel. My kids love , love it. It plays music, they’ve looked up recipes and make a soup from it yesterday. It is much bigger than the previous one we had and had the freezer is at the bottom. So far it’s been great for us 

[cjzimmer1]

I had a whirlpool and loved it so much when it finally died, I bought the current version of my previous fridge.  Biggest mistake ever.  They had changed the type of plastic so all the drawer fronts end up breaking off.  I even bought replacements and reinforced them before using the new ones and they still all broke (although not nearly as quickly as the original set).  The ice dispenser broke because the laser beam sensor that told the unit the ice bin was full broke.  So the machine always thought the ice was full and would never make more.  $400 to replace on a unit that only cost $1k to start with.  Good thing we never really use ice.  But the biggest complaint was that the redesigned how the water line was routed.  Instead of having it route through the fridge, they routed it outside the fridge other than about 2 feet needed to come from behind the fridge to the dispenser.  So other than the first 6 ounces of water dispensed after sitting for a few hours, everything was room temperature.  I can't for the life of me figure out why any engineer would think people would buy a fridge with a water dispenser and want room temperature water.  So now, every time I buy a fridge, I check that the water line is actually inside the fridge.  But whirlpool is now or my never again list.

I LOVE the look of the Samsung 4 door units.  I have come soooo close to purchasing one several times but the water leaking issues has deterred me every time. I see LG is now making that style but they are way outside of my budget.

I currently have an LG side by side (I happen to love side by side because it keeps things from being pushed all over the place and lost and I've never found anything from an xtra large pizza box to half a sheet pan that DOESN'T fit, but I do have the 28 cu ones).  I've had it for 2 years and don't have any problems.  It's got a door in door that I thought I'd hate but it works much better than I anticipated.  My only grip is I wish they had more space for tall items.  With big families, it would be nice to be able to put more than 2 gallons of milk or other tall stuff in at a time.

Edited February 11, 2021 by cjzimmer1

[Ali in OR]

Our french door Samsung with ice in the door is 7 or 8 years old now and we've been happy with it. I simply have to have ice in the door--non-negotiable. Ice water is my drink and I drink it all day long. My dh fixes all of our appliances and he's pretty good at it. When our ice maker stopped working last fall I thought, well, I guess we'll have to get a new fridge because I must have ice. Dh simply removed the part that actually makes the ice (after determining it wasn't a plumbing issue), ordered a new one on Amazon, put the new one in a few days later, and that was it--we had ice again. Very simple fix.

(and I love love love love love our Samsung slide in gas range. Love.)

[mommyoffive]

2 hours ago, cjzimmer1 said:

I had a whirlpool and loved it so much when it finally died, I bought the current version of my previous fridge.  Biggest mistake ever.  They had changed the type of plastic so all the drawer fronts end up breaking off.  I even bought replacements and reinforced them before using the new ones and they still all broke (although not nearly as quickly as the original set).  The ice dispenser broke because the laser beam sensor that told the unit the ice bin was full broke.  So the machine always thought the ice was full and would never make more.  $400 to replace on a unit that only cost $1k to start with.  Good thing we never really use ice.  But the biggest complaint was that the redesigned how the water line was routed.  Instead of having it route through the fridge, they routed it outside the fridge other than about 2 feet needed to come from behind the fridge to the dispenser.  So other than the first 6 ounces of water dispensed after sitting for a few hours, everything was room temperature.  I can't for the life of me figure out why any engineer would think people would buy a fridge with a water dispenser and want room temperature water.  So now, every time I buy a fridge, I check that the water line is actually inside the fridge.  But whirlpool is now or my never again list.

I LOVE the look of the Samsung 4 door units.  I have come soooo close to purchasing one several times but the water leaking issues has deterred me every time. I see LG is now making that style but they are way outside of my budget.

I currently have an LG side by side (I happen to love side by side because it keeps things from being pushed all over the place and lost and I've never found anything from an xtra large pizza box to half a sheet pan that DOESN'T fit, but I do have the 28 cu ones).  I've had it for 2 years and don't have any problems.  It's got a door in door that I thought I'd hate but it works much better than I anticipated.  My only grip is I wish they had more space for tall items.  With big families, it would be nice to be able to put more than 2 gallons of milk or other tall stuff in at a time.

Oh yeah we need to have more than 2 gallons of milk in there.  Before one of the door shelfs broke off, we could store 14 or 15 gallons in there.  We have about 10 gallons in there plus a ton of little lunch milk containers.  We go through way to much milk.   I wonder that is for all side by side. 

[matrips]

If you have a Sears outlet anywhere near you, I highly recommend going!  They must have had 100 refrigerators to look at.  All brands, styles, price points.  So easy to walk up and down and check them out.  Ours was $799 I think.  Small scratches at the bottom where we can’t see it.  Some were in bad shape.  Others looked great.  
 

I like being able to open doors and check out the layout, shelving, etc.  our regular appliance stores usually just had higher end and newer models.