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Kitchenaid vs. Maytag vs. Whirlpool.

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  • Oct 15th, 2013 12:05 pm
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Sep 25, 2006
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Whitby
I would personally run, don't walk, run from KitchenAid major appliances and never look back. We had nothing but nightmares and repair after repair on our dishwasher. The fridge would mysteriously defrost and then come back down to temperature like nothing happened. Parts are expensive as heck and Whirlpool is difficult to deal with. I complained many times about the fact we needed repeated repairs, and they shrugged their shoulders and recommended repair people.

Here's a blog post of mine describing the quality of workmanship of KitchenAid/Whirlpool products:

http://estomach.blogspot.ca/2011/09/kit ... -rant.html
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Oct 22, 2007
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Mississauga
adams7 wrote: I've had a Maytag washer, dryer and dishwasher 23 years, zero problems on all 3 items, they are low-end models. The dishwasher now requires manual cleaning of plugged water spray jets a couple of times a year, but it went the first 20 years without any maintenance at all.
In a previous house I had a KitchenAid dishwasher for 11 years and it was very reliable and worked well.

My conclusion is that both Maytag and KitchenAid are good and I would buy these brands again.
Thank you for your feedback.
Dr Butcher wrote: I would personally run, don't walk, run from KitchenAid major appliances and never look back. We had nothing but nightmares and repair after repair on our dishwasher.
Thanks for sharing your experience and link to your blog which I did read.

In the end I'm still at a loss since the reviews that I've read are mostly positive yet I do get the review that shares a really bad experience. I checked many other brands in the same price range and it seems to all be the same, mostly good with a couple really bad experiences which leads me to believe there is a quality control issue with most manufactures.

In the end, I think I'm going to go with all Kitchenaid and maybe opt for extended warranty. The exception will be the microwave which I will most likely be Panasonic.

Now to pick the specific models, order them for a later delivery and then plan the kitchen reno which I will do myself.
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Mar 26, 2009
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Hamilton
Actually I checked and we have 5 burners in our dual oven KitchenAid stove. Not sure if I will ever use the thing... we shall see.
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Nov 8, 2005
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Maymybonneliveforever wrote: According to consumers report, Kitchenaid and Jenn Air have the best reliability and in regards to bottom line etc, it's Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchenaid, Jenn Air.
Not sure what you're looking at on consumer reports, but when I just looked now, Kitchenaid is one of the 'most prone to repair' brands..... ?
adamm
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Apr 17, 2012
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Vancouver
I have the same gas range. I really like it, been using it for 2 years and no problems. You'll need a high CFM range hood for that many high power burners.
Maymybonneliveforever wrote: Thanks for the feedback, this is the oven we were thinking of getting. http://www.sears.ca/product/kitchenaid- ... KDRS467VSS
Employee discount is the exact reason for choosing these brands. Pricing would be around 50% off of list and on any item they carry, all brand new, not refurbished and full warranty including free delivery. This maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity that I'm thinking of taking advantage of. I would have posted this deal on this forum but it's invitation only and my wife is getting the invitation.
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Oct 22, 2007
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adamm wrote: Not sure what you're looking at on consumer reports, but when I just looked now, Kitchenaid is one of the 'most prone to repair' brands..... ?
I was a hard copy that I was looking at, not online so I can't post the link. Having done more research, the reviews are like night and day on most appliances. It amazes me how many people rave about a specific appliance and other can say the exact opposite stated, it's the worse appliance they ever purchased. With that said it's difficult to base a purchase on those results.
callee wrote: I have the same gas range. I really like it, been using it for 2 years and no problems. You'll need a high CFM range hood for that many high power burners.
The range top puts out approximately 90,000 btu's so I figured I needed a 900 cfm range hood with possibly a make up air to meet code. Then I came across this Kitchenaid hood which is a 600 cfm which is rated for 108k btu which doesn't need make up air, is quieter then the 900 cfm so it seemed to solve two problems except for the price tag of $1200.00. Effectively handles the output caused by high heat cooking techniques on multiple burners, allowing installation over virtually any cooking surface.[IMG]http://www.kitchenaid.com/digitalassets ... 5X1290.jpg[/IMG]
108K BTU Threshold
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Jun 6, 2008
356 posts
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I've had 3 kitchen aid dishwashers, for each of 3 houses, all without any incident. I love my current one, cant hear a thing even when right above it, it is so quiet I have to touch the door to feel the water sloshing to see if I turned it it on. No issues with them at all.
Will be buying another one soon for our cottage.
Also, have a kitchenaid built in over and microwave that i love ( even though I welded an aluminum foil liner to the bottom of it the first time I used it. As it turns out, there is a reason to read those manuals :)
I also have a KA french door fridge, that replaced another kitchenaid fridge (that still works fine except for the ice maker - now its a christmas /beer fridge) .

I have a viking cooktop - i love too. And Whirlpool duet Washer Dryer, and I gotta say, im not entirely sold on the HE front loaders. they work ok I guess but never seem as clean. They ball and twist everything . Not a fan, Washed better with my Kenmore top loader. But they look good. And the steam feature is actually one that i use in both the washer and Dryer.

I've always lived kitchenaid, and never had negative experience. I think Kitchenaid can be positioned for resale more favourably/ a better investment for return than the others. And remember when you are reading reviews, as we all know, people that have negative experiences tend to be most vocal, and people that are happy, well, you don't hear from them. It is human nature.
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Apr 17, 2012
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Vancouver
I suggest you buy the highest CFM you can afford and highest Sone you can tolerate; I don’t think a 600 CFM is strong enough especially if you do any searing or frying. The 1000 CFM high end hoods are out of my price range so I went with a much cheaper 900 CFM from kitchenhood.ca. The only bad thing is it’s rated at 7.5 Sone at 900 CFM so it’s loud. But for me it’s not the major factor since it’s inside my spice kitchen.
Maymybonneliveforever wrote: I was a hard copy that I was looking at, not online so I can't post the link. Having done more research, the reviews are like night and day on most appliances. It amazes me how many people rave about a specific appliance and other can say the exact opposite stated, it's the worse appliance they ever purchased. With that said it's difficult to base a purchase on those results.
The range top puts out approximately 90,000 btu's so I figured I needed a 900 cfm range hood with possibly a make up air to meet code. Then I came across this Kitchenaid hood which is a 600 cfm which is rated for 108k btu which doesn't need make up air, is quieter then the 900 cfm so it seemed to solve two problems except for the price tag of $1200.00. Effectively handles the output caused by high heat cooking techniques on multiple burners, allowing installation over virtually any cooking surface.[IMG]http://www.kitchenaid.com/digitalassets ... 5X1290.jpg[/IMG]
108K BTU Threshold
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Oct 22, 2007
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Mississauga
callee wrote: I suggest you buy the highest CFM you can afford and highest Sone you can tolerate; I don’t think a 600 CFM is strong enough especially if you do any searing or frying. The 1000 CFM high end hoods are out of my price range so I went with a much cheaper 900 CFM from kitchenhood.ca. The only bad thing is it’s rated at 7.5 Sone at 900 CFM so it’s loud. But for me it’s not the major factor since it’s inside my spice kitchen.
Thanks for the reply Callee, I don't think it's a matter of what I can afford since the kitchenaid is the highest price and that seems to be my choice for a 600cfm hood. The reason I choose it was due to the 10" exhaust and a low 600cfm capacity motor having a 108 btu threshold with is a higher rating then a 900 cfm motor with a 900 btu threshold. I'm paying a premium to get a lower noise 600 frm motor to do a greater job at exhausting then a standard 900 cfm motor. I'm willing to pay a higher price for less noise less power consumption, great exhaust capababilty.
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Jan 9, 2002
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We put in Maytag across the board when we reno'd our kitchen 12 years ago.
Flat-top stove/oven - no major complaints, except one burner heats VERY slowly
Range hood - no problems.
Microwave - no problems
Bottom mount fridge/freezer - no problems
Dishwasher - has NEVER cleaned dishes well. We don't bother putting anything in the top rack anymore...everything has baked on debris when "done". Extra clean cycle, 2x rinse doesn't matter. Complained numerous times to maytag...not even a response. Clean the jets several times/year, no difference. Enough of a problem that I'll never buy another Maytag..anything.
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Dec 29, 2008
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Appliances are not built like the old days, cheaper quality and less R&D so they won't last as long as we want (I still have a 30+ year Viking fridge in the Garage). In the end everything comes down to aesthetics, price and features of course reliability is a key, but with so many manufactures, brands and models its really had to tell what is reliable and what is not. My sisters house has a Kitchen Aid fridge and Whirlpool DW (Silver), Stove is Whirlpool Gold and its been 4 years and no major problem ohh and Maytag Washer/Dryer (fingers crossed). When I was helping her choose we chose based on features/price and not brand which is why she ended up with mixed brands.

When she first got the dishwasher and the Maytag W/D she hated them saying they didn't clean very well, after looking at the way she was using the appliances I asked her to change some of her habits since these appliances are "smarter" and use less water. After changing her habits everything started to work as expected and she has no issues now. The point i'm trying to make is as you said few people review the appliance saying its great but others review it and say its horrible, sure they may have gotten a lemon but most likely the issue is with the user and not the appliance as was the case with my sister. These are house hold mom's we are talking about and sure some maybe tech savvy, but majority want something that is simple to use and works, but with new appliances there is a lot more "tech" then in older appliances which truly changes things.

The installation/delivery of the appliance matters, moved into my new house 8 months ago and already had 2 service calls on my Samsung fridge and LG dishwasher, for the fridge one of the doors was getting stuck and you had to open and close it a few times so it would close properly. Service guy came and did absolutely nothing to fix the problem (I sadly wasn't home or he would have gotten an ear full), long story short I took it upon myself to fix the problem (actually just fixed it today) because I knew what was causing it. I can't blame Samsung for the issue because the delivery guys had to take all the doors out to get in the house and I think that why the issue occurred however I will blame the service guy for his incompetence. As for the dishwasher it was the fault of the installers, they used a cheap drain hose that kinked and collapsed due to the height of the air gab loop or whatever. Still have to get that fixed, LG came to look at it but since the dishwasher is fine and was the fault of the installer. As you can see other factors may result in a bad review of the appliance that may not be the fault of the manufacture themselves.

Sure higher the band the higher the quality one expects but is it truly the case in this day and age? with cheap plastic replacing metal and companies pushing out the same product with slightly different features year after year. That and quality control, employees just don't care today as was the case with my installers and service guy and who knows what happens during assembly.

I believe everything is reliably if used correctly, sure there are cheap appliances which I do not recommend but I don't think higher end truly means "better reliability" maybe better quality parts are used but not by much IMO. You just have to find the diamond in a pile of coal
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Jun 13, 2010
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I have all whirlpool appliances. Today, I had the pump on my 3 years old whirlpool duet washer replaced. It cost about $250 to replace it. We do laundry everyday because my sister needs fresh sheets for work. I don't know if that had to do with it? I'm surprised it crapped out this early.
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Oct 22, 2007
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Casper;

Thanks for your review, it's sounds as though you didn't get an lemons and it worked out well. I believe we're going to get everything in Kitchenaid except for the microwave which will be Panasonic and we're not debating on getting the 36" Bluestar range sold throught Costco. Albiet it's not dual fuel, it's all ng.

jebise:

Thanks for the run down. Yes I agree the operator has a lot to do with a products performance as well as reliability. Having gone through many reviews, it seems they're no different than other manufactures.

tomo4lyfe:

Sorry to hear about your repair bill, that must have hurt, I'm now wondering whether extended warranty is a consideration, although I've never believed in them.
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Dec 29, 2008
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Casper wrote: We put in Maytag across the board when we reno'd our kitchen 12 years ago.
Flat-top stove/oven - no major complaints, except one burner heats VERY slowly
Range hood - no problems.
Microwave - no problems
Bottom mount fridge/freezer - no problems
Dishwasher - has NEVER cleaned dishes well. We don't bother putting anything in the top rack anymore...everything has baked on debris when "done". Extra clean cycle, 2x rinse doesn't matter. Complained numerous times to maytag...not even a response. Clean the jets several times/year, no difference. Enough of a problem that I'll never buy another Maytag..anything.
no to derail the thread, but have you tried different detergent? and liquid vs dry vs tablets?
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Jun 12, 2009
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jm1 wrote: I have a Kitchenaid French door fridge (bottom freezer) and a Kenmore-branded dishwasher (rebrand of a Whirlpool Gold dishwasher). Both about 2-3 years old. Fridge has been okay, but slight issue of uneven temperatures in the fridge (back is colder than the front of the fridge compartment), but that's not that unusual. Freezer's drain plug became frozen after about a year, but that is also not unusual for bottom freezers of any make. Easy for a DIYer to fix. MSRP for the fridge was about $2,200 if you want to compare the price point vs. quality.
Thanks for the tip. Is there a generic tutorial on how to do this for Kitchenaid fridges; mine is about 5yrs old, bottom-freezer, double door.

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