So I bought a refrigerator (Whirlpool) in Jan. 23 with an additional 3 year warranty. My LED dome light went out a week ago and is built into the cabinet where you have to have a repair man to replace it. Repair guy just left and I asked him what this would have cost without the warranty. He said $635 (about 30% of the cost of the refrigerator) . Needless to say if I hadn't had the warranty we'd just have a dark refrigerator. Insane and sad what's happened with appliances .
Good lord, I thought I wrote this unknowingly. Have a french door dual icemaker Whirlpool that has had problems since we bought it in March 2023. Spent from July to October of last year getting the entire sealed compressor system, main board, sensors, thermostats, etc., after 11 technician visits, replaced. Just last week, our door sensor decided to join the party and go out, so now all the lights stay off and the water dispenser and top icemaker don't work at all. I have to replace the entire UI panel (about $250), and I'm doing it myself to save $200 on top of the part cost. I've had Whirlpool appliances since the 80's that have rocked. The new ones are absolute crap, and they don't make enough replacement parts to handle the repair volume. My PSA: Avoid Whirlpool right now . . . . like our run defense avoids direct tackling.
Refrigerator repair guys told me if they were buying for a family member that they weren't "tech support" for, they would tell them to buy Maytag or GE. Very few Maytag models, but the two techs I spoke with said they rarely have issues, especially with the sealed compressor system. GE models are generally more reliable and apparently (per the techs) have a better supply chain situation with parts.
