I have a customer that is thinking about putting in Kitchenaid appliances in their higher end kitchen that I have the contract to remodel in the spring and they asked my opinion of them. I am going to go by the supply house and look at the stuff as I have no experience with them. Do any of you have thoughts or experience on KitchenAid?
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Replies
resto,
Only on dishwashers. When our house was built in 1978 we installed a top of the line Kitchen Aid dishwasher. It lasted almost 25 years before finally rusting through a the top and started leaking. Never had a single problem with it. replaced it with another Kitchenaid and have been pretty satisfied but .....
Tell you clients to take some of their most often used dishes and pots etc, and go to an appliance store and try them in the dishwaher they plan on purchasing. We found out the hard way that a lot of the newer dishwashers are not designed for larger plates. You have to be very careful in loading them so that the spray bar does not hit items in the bottom rack.
To be honest with you, I think that most of the appliances are pretty comparable as far as reliability goes, but individual taste and the way they use them is really the test. They should look at the items they are thinking of buying and envision them in daily use.
Just my opinion,
Bill Koustenis
Advanced Automotive Machine
Waldorf Md
We have a Maytag DW that's 25+ and still going strong. (Replaced a GE/Admiral that died an early death.) Six-eight years ago repainted it from Harvest Gold to Bone to match our new (GE) stove and fridge. Maytag washer and dryer are 31 years old.
But that says nothing about the quality of current Maytag appliances.
If your view never changes you're following the wrong leader
The appliance dealer I use is a straight shooting guy. Still a salesman, but he hasn't steered me wrong yet in 15 years of doing business with him.
He thinks Kitchen aide is one of the better values you can find
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
That is what they are saying about value. The stuff they are looking at is a lot more expensive in Sub-Zero and Wolf or Viking.
I do a lot of work in some really, really high end places over here and am not impressed at all by Sub Zero. We replace these quite often and call the service techs at least every two years. All the Jet Setters have to have them, but then they can afford to just replace them every five years or so. After the last 8 years of being around the SZ's I would not have one if you gave it to me, well, maybe to resell to someone else. I called my buddy who is an appl. repairman, he rates KA at 3.5 to 4 on a scale of 5 and agrees totally with me on the SZ's. Another to stay away from now is GE. Just my 2Cents worth.Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment.
Thomas Jefferson
3rd president of US (1743 - 1826)
Thanks, that actually really helps.
Yeah, the people who are impressed by Sub-Zero are the ones who are bragging how much they just shelled out for one!If I want to impress myself, I can do it cheaper than that. I just look in the mirror and say, "Dang, you are one good looking stud!"It impresses me when I can lie with a straight face like that.;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I can only speak from our personal experience (that is, one set of appliances), but I am disappointed by the quality of our KitchenAid. Three years ago we bought a new refirigerator and range, both stainless steel. The pair cost a bit over $3,200.00 after some aggressive shopping.
The refrigerator hasn't been terrible, but the fit and finish isn't very good. Immediately after delivery, it was obvious that the lower (refrigerator) door was damaged, and had to be replaced. The corners of the stainless steel aren't well finished, but that we've learned to live with. Functionally, no problems so far.
The gas range, on the other hand, has been a real pain. This is a glass-top, sealed burner convection range (slide-in). The first issue was minor, having to do with the poor fit of the oven racks. We had the dealer replace the one that was hardest to slide, but none of them work smoothly. The first time that we tried the broiler, it would make loud popping sounds, and would fire up only occasionally. The dealer replaced the igniter on one visit, and then again on another, but the broiler has never been reliable. After the second time that we baked, we could smell gas inside the oven. The dealer came out and replaced the oven's gas valve, and about a month later, had to replace it again. Since then (over 2 years), no more trouble with the oven valve.
On a final note, we replaced the previous 14 year old appliances simply due to appearance. They were perfectly functional, and when we bought them new, were the very cheapest that we could find (and afford). We had never had to have either of them serviced from the day they were delivered...
Bob
Edited to correct punctuation...:)
Edited 12/30/2007 9:07 am ET by bobguindon
Might be worthwhile for you or your clients to head to the library and check out Consumer Reports. I'm not always convinced that their testing is the greatest, but they do offer a good comparison of features, value, things to look for, etc. And they provide frequency of repair data, which is objective and is based on a lot of feedback, rather than the opinion of one or two repairmen.
I have had good luck with small appliances from KA. I would assume their big stuff is quite good for the most part, but that might be a dangerous assumption.
I think Bosch makes very good dishwashers.
I installed a Fisher Paykel double dish drawer nearly three years a ago. It has worked very well. I think it has only four moving parts. I can change the motor without tools in less than five minutes. I took it apart just to see how it worked.
The washer portion is all hi-tech plastics, so there is no rusting.
One thing I would do differently: Instead of buying the unit that has two drawers (over and under), I would buy two single drawers and install them on both sides of the sink so I could use them without bending over as far.
The FP units really do need prewashing as the bigger food particles can get caught in the water passages.
Hi,
We purchased a slide in self cleaning KA convection gas range about 10 years ago. I love it.
I cook a lot & have had no problems with it.
The self cleaning feature does a really good job, just don't leave the grates in during the cleaning process as they will lose their shine & become difficult to slide in & out.
The oven is controled via a digital touch pad & very rarely when I have had the oven on for a long time, the touch pad does not respond. I found that hitting (figuratively) the start button several times re-sets the the pad.
Would I buy another...you bet .
I also have a number of their smaller appliances ie: stand mixer, hand mixer & food processor...all of which I am happy with...
Hope this helps
I have had good luck with the Kitchen Aid dishwashers and gas ranges that we have installed. I will not buy another GE appliance again. They simply do not last and customer service is impossible.
Just dropped in from CooksTalk. Mid-price-range appliances are usually pretty good quality and give you the best bang for the buck. Going cheaper means getting plastic parts, whereas the mid-range stuff gets you more metal. I don't think going to the high-end stuff buys you enough additional quality to make up for the very high purchase price and replacement costs. Sure every manufacturer has its lemons, but I'm very happy with my KA stuff and would recommend them to you. Unless you have a compelling need for super BTU burners, stainless steel, or have the need to deplete your bank account, you can probably skip the high end appliances.
I just finished reading the post in the tool section about many of the different brands being made by just a few companies.
This also seems to be the same thing with kitchen appliances. Whirlpool seems to be the major supplier of many including Kitchen Aid. Seems that I read somewhere that Whirlpool is owned by a German Co.
Just a part of the ever expanding global economy I guess. Some good and some bad.
Whirlpool is still American.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=WHRKitchenAid, Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef, and Roper are a few of Whirlpools subsidiaries.
http://www.whirlpool.com/custserv/other_sites.jsp
Edited 12/30/2007 12:57 pm ET by Gary
View Image
View ImageTaken from the link that you provided
That's the view I have when I look through my neighbors yard! Maytag bought Amana from Goodman(who manufactures furnaces) and then sold the company to Whirlpool.
Amana still makes all their refrigerators, but they haven't produced a microwave, other then commercial units, in some time, all Amana micros are manufactured overseas now.
Amana used to be the only manufacturer of bottom mount freezers so if you had one, no matter what brand, it came from this plant(pictured above). I believe that there are several companies that now make the bottom mount freezer.
This plant in Middle Amana, Iowa still produces several thousand refers a day.
I know quite a few guys that work there and they tell me that they manufacture a lot of refrigerators and put other names on them.
I guess you never know where the appliance that you are buying are coming from.
Maytag has also purchased JenAir so those also belong to Whirlpool.
Someone else mentioned it, what we bought 20 years ago means nothing today because they may have gone through changes.
I used to think Maytag could not be beat but I don't think that's as true as it once was.
Repairman that I know says that Maytag is definitely not as dependable as it once was.
Doug
View Image
Edited 12/31/2007 12:04 am ET by DougU
Partial correct----- Whirlpool makes the high end dw's for kitchen aide.
To the OP
Residential dw's ---- Bosch are pretty hard to beat.
Gas cook tops------ it's friggin gas, does one company burn gas better than another company, you end up paying for the name & looks------ I tell people make sure it's a sealed burner & pay attention to the finish cause yer gonna spend a lot of time cleaning it ;-)
Fridges----- sub zero's are foo foo over priced & medium quality.
"Why do you hurt me when I do bad things to you?" My youngest son to his older brother
I had a dishwasher and wall oven. Both worked flawlessly. The dishwasher was the quietest I've used.
for more opinions based on kitchen experience, post this question over at CooksTalk:
forums.taunton.com/tp-cookstalk/messages
FWIW, I am outfitting my new house with all KitchenAid Architect II series appliances (DW, Fridge, double convenction ovens/microwave, cooktop).
I decided on these after considerable comparison with other semi-professional looking performance lines. I am getting a good deal on them through the builder package. I also liked the GE Monogram.
Only my personal experience. Kitchen Aid used to be the Gold standard. A couple of years ago I replaced a $200 DW with a stainless lined $675 Kitchen Aid.
After the first wash I wished I had the cheap one back.
That damn machine was never right. We even had a repair guy come out to take a look at it. He made it a little bit better but it never did the job of the little $200 model.
I was between the Bosch and the Kitchen Aid and turned the wrong way.
Bought a KitchenAid mixer about 10 years ago and dishwasher 8 years ago. Both were great.
We liked it enough to move the dishwasher once, then left it in the last house. It seemed like it may have been slightly noisier than when purchased, but not much and we never had to schedule phone calls or tv around it even though it was in the same room.
A bit over a year ago we moved and had to purchase another dishwasher and other appliances (bought foreclosure that was stripped). The KitchenAids didn't seem as nice as they used to be. More importantly, our dishes simply didn't fit well. My family goes through a lot of bowls, and it seems dishwashers are now designed around plates and glasses that are different than ours. Bosch was slightly better, but dishes still didn't fit as well as the old KitchenAide. Ended up with an Ariston dishwasher which is apparently more of a European brand. We found it at ApplianceSmart which specializes in scratch and dent and overstock so it saved us money over Bosch/KitchenAid but cost less for more features. Everything seemed very well made when I installed it and it cleans well. No problems in first year of use.
We aren't committed to our appliances matching perfectly - built in microwave is GE (scratch/dent on back of unit), refrigerator is Kenmoore (Whirlpool mfr? - also scratch dent from Sears outlet).
Our research showed that, believe it or not, stuff under the Kenmore label tended to be the best value. Their top of the line dishwashers are obviously made by KitchenAid and Bosch. Have to assume the rest is similar.
I used to swear by KA. Bought a KA dishwasher about 8 yrs ago tho' and have been unimpressed. It hasn't broken or anything, it just doesn't do a very good job of cleaning the dishes. That said, we also got a Jenn-Air fridge. We kept up the extended warranty protection for the last 5 yrs since it broke at least annualy. They finally refused to renew it. I'll probably toss the thing in the next year or so when it crashes again.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
All appliance brands go through quality cycles -- good then bad then (hopefully) good. What was a good brand when one of us bought ten years ago may be a bad brand now, especially if they redesigned the line to "cost reduce" it, or they shipped manufacturing off to China.
It's really a crapshoot.
You should look into DCS ranges. Installed one in my own home and love it. More options than Viking and 1/2 the price.
It is hard to beat Bosch in the dishwasher dept. Ours is so quiet it has a red light that shines on the floor to tell you it is on. Still find myself opening while it is running because I grew up with the type you could hear at the neighbors when it was on.
We've got a KA fridge, DW, and range. The only one I like is the range. The fridge ice maker broke 1 month after warranty expiry (will require complete replacement) and the DW has had repeated problems with a known problem with the heating circuit. I would think again about this brand.
BTW... these are 'top of the line' SS models.
Scott.
Edited 12/31/2007 1:36 am by Scott
Going to the appliance supply here in an hour or so and then lunch with the client as I am not 'working' today. This is an unusual job as I have the contract and a deposit to do the work so they could reserve a time slot (March) yet I have no idea how much it is going to cost and never bid the job. I know it will be a complete gut to higher end kitchen. They are starting with the appliances and we are going to design from there. This job is new territory for me but I have done quite a bit of work for this couple before. I am planning on subbing out most of the fine work so we will see.P.S. I have a Bosch DW in my house and love it but as I understand it she (the client) hates rinsing dishes which you must do with a Bosch.