Our 8 year old LG made Kenmore bottom Freezer fridge is going out. Cost to repair seems to be minimum $400. I don't think it makes sense when the life expectancy may only be another year or two. Our current fridge's freezer compartment is suddenly not getting cold enough. I've tried the easy fixes but it seems to be a compressor or control board issue. Our local, trusted appliance repair place won't work on LG. The current fridge had ice and water in door and was big and nice, but if I have to give up the fancy to get more dependable I'm willing to give up the ice and water in door, etc.

Can anyone give their best advice on where they would be looking to purchase their new one? Maybe big box store? Somewhere else?

Also, what brands and types of fridges would you buy (or never buy)?

When I bought my Kenmore appliances about 26 years ago they were maid by whirlpool. I have had one refrigerator(26y) in my rental for 9 years. They are all still working. I bought another Kenmore made by Whirlpool frig 11 years ago for my home and have had no problems. Unfortunately they are no longer made by Whirlpool. If I had to buy a new appliance today I would go with Whirlpool but that is no guarantee that they haven't gotten lower quality.

I buy the cheapest 18cuft fridge from lowes. Free delivery. 10% off coupon.

Appliances are not made to last or repair like they used to be. Too many plastic parts, too many bells and whistles (electronics) that are easily fried, hard to diagnosis and expensive to replace. Get the cheapest, simplest appliance that meets your needs and plan to replace it after 5 years if it breaks down.

The up/down is the most reliable because the fewest moving parts, they have ice makers too, the steel rack models cost just under 500, the glass shelf version is about 550.

Hit submit too fast, the coils are mostly aluminum so try to avoid off shore equipment - it has already been exposed to salt for 6 months the so the refrigeration is sure to rot out...

Let's see if this makes it through the filter...

It used to be that Kenmore was Kenmore, and Whirlpool was Whirlpool, and Frigidaire was Frigidaire... now, a large number of appliances are made by the same people, but just have a different brand name stuck on them.

www.appliance411.com/purchase/make.shtml

I agree with others. All the brands are low quality now.

I would stay away from LG and samsung for the parts and price.

Buy the lowest you can find, made in USA. Maybe hard to determine where the flimsy parts are made.

Cross out Asian imports.

Thanks all. I couldn't get someone (Sears) out to look at it until Tuesday. I don't think I'll get by that long. It is such a shame and such a big waste. The one we have is beautiful and feels so much better than most of the crap we looked at this evening at Lowe's. They admitted that with the new fridges today you might be lucky to have it last 5 to 7 years.

Get a spare Refrigerator on Craigslist for $50 - use it until the original gets FIXED