Shopping for Appliances 101

To celebrate my winfall 2 months ago, I thought I might buy a new stove and fridge. I broke the glass window in my oven, and my fridge just isn't performing that well (warm or frozen milk, nothing in between). So, it is not exactly an impulse buy.

I've been to three places recently: Trail Appliances, Sears, and a second hand place called All-Temp on Craigflower. My specs include: coil elements, self-clean, white, no ice-makers, and nothing uber-fancy.

Trail is having a sale but they don't have much to choose from. They steered me towards Whirlpool stoves because the door insulation is on the oven opening. He made this sound like an obvious place, but didn't explain why insulation on the door was worse. I left with a few model numbers, but didn't plan to go back on Friday when the sale starts.

Sears is also having a sale. They have a huge selection of appliances, but the sales guy should have quit his day job and applied to be a high school drama teacher; he was just way too animated for me. Kenmore doesn't actually make appliances. They contract it out to Frigidaire adn Whirlpool. He said Kenmore (by Frigidaire -- KF for short) are for old people and Kenmore (by Whirlpool -- KW for short) are for young people. This is because, according to him, Frigidaire has spent more time on oven/stove technology while Whirlpool has focused more time on looks. So, I settled on a KF coil element with self clean for $500+. We then took a look at fridges. There were many on sale and on clearance and I picked a KW one that had no handles on the front. Nothing fancy, but it did have glass shelves and clear drawers. With delivery, hinge switching for the fridge doors, and old appliance removal, the entire package came to $1500. Gulp. I decided to sleep on it.

Today I stopped by All-Temp because I was in the neighborhood. This place carries new and used. The new machines are clearance items from department stores, and the used machines are only top performers. These guys turned my world upside down. To my surprise, Frigidaire sucks. The computer/panel thingamagigs on their stoves are notorious for breaking and cost $400 to replace. Whirlpool is not known for their looks (vs performance) so they said. But they aren't really known for anything else. The star of the day was GE. They consistently outperform all others and oftentimes include high-end features in their mid-range models. Despite this, I almost walked home with a barely used Fridge-on-top Kenmore (by Whirlpool). The door even opened the right way but the freezer door would have to open 180 degrees in order for the drawer thingy to pull out. This is impossible in my kitchen, so I passed it by. In the next few days, they are expecting a used side-by-side Kitchen Aid fridge. I don't know the price yet, and I am not hung up on side-by-side, but it doesn't have an ice maker (which uses up half the freezer) so I am interested. Surely Kitchen Aid is good for resale!

I trust All-Temp because they are on the receiving end of good and bad appliances. They see the insides and know which models are build to last. They also have a current Consumer Report on hand. Mr Joe Sears-I-should-have-been-a-drama-teacher could care less about return rates and even less about repairing them. It is no surprise he is going to plug the models that need to move off the floor.

This just in -- Home Depot carries GE. I think I'll whip over there now!

Update: Home Depot didn't have much selection so I went to the Brick. Once I got the sales person talking and admitted to her that Mr Sears was trying to sell me a Frigidaire, she finally let her opinion show through and she agreed with A-T that Frigidaire sucks. She told me the insulation thing for the door is best on the oven itself if a self cleaning oven. The GE model she showed me had it on the door and it was barely attached. I left with the Whirlpool I saw at Trail. I got a great deal because it is an older model (newer versions have lower quality panels so score for me) and it has a dent in the drawer (which I can probably fix myself). But, it has a ceramic top which will be good for resale even though I am not a huge fan.

Check it out:
http://www.whirlpoolappliances.ca/en/Products/WERP4110SQ.html