Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Kenmore appliances ????

We are going to be looking for a freezer soon. Not sure what size, chest type, maybe 15 cf? The Donald sent us money that was well spent in electrifying the shop/garage.

We have a Kenmore washer, front loader, maybe 15 years old, still working.
Kenmore electric dryer, 13 years old +/- still works great.
Kenmore Fridge, single door, top freezer, 12-13 years old, still working but probably needs replaced soon if only for efficiency purposes then I donate it to a friend who needs a better one than they have now.

With such good luck with Kenmore stuff, I'm just wondering how they are nowadays. What with the problems Sears has had the last 10 years or more, I have questions about one of their hallmark items.

Anyone with recent experience wants to chime in, feel free. Anyone know who makes them/where they are made now?

We're rural enough I don't want or need issues with any appliance needing repair. I prefer to buy good stuff once, run it till it breaks in a good long time, and then repeat. Kinda like a Toyota vehicle.

They used to be among the best on the market. None sold around here anymore as far as I know, as there are no Sears stores around. Today, it's pretty much a gamble Wife bought a new washer and dryer set, the front load LG, and she is happy with them.

We have a big Frigidaire upright freezer, and it's been a good one. I like Frigidaire appliances.

Bought a Crosley 7-8 yrs ago

18 CF (or so) upright....not frost free

Been a good one.....so far......

Yea I'm a Toyota guy.......

https://www.crosley.com/freezers.html

They are made by Whirlpool
Should be good

I worked for Kenmore for 13 years after I left johns Manville. (Before I taught school in wyoming)

You’ll be in good hands

Thats Allstate.

Interesting.

Can't find much info on the website without downloading pdfs. Time for that later.

Thanks

Italians are frugal second only to the Scots. Grin. Maybe you should think about a one year subscription to Consumer Reports. I can't remember the last time I saw a Sears service truck in Siskiyou Co. They used to come down every Wednesday, but since the Medford store died...not many folks buying Sears- Kenmore brands. We have a Sears "catalog" store in Yreka...but with no sales tax break, they are struggling. West Coast Appliance in Central Point is the volume dealer now.

Well, as it's been 30 years since you've been in one, you prolly can't tell me whether they sell them down to the local WalMart.

It's a crap shoot. Kenmore used to be so dominant, they would get new features in their appliances before the manufacturer’s own brands.

My last fridge was six years ago, it’s a Kenmore, no troubles.

Today, with as much trouble as they are in, I am very leery of a Kenmore, without knowing which manufacturer made the specific appliance. When in doubt, check Consumer Reports.

Seems home depot is carrying them. If/when I decide, I might just order through the K-falls store.

Looking into other brands now too.

Consumer Reports? Now, why would a thrifty Italian get a subscription to them.....................when he has a brother that already has one!

Kenmore was once made by Maytag back when they were bullet proof. After a while they were made by whoever they could get. I have a Kenmore washer that is 25 years old and works fine, and a Sears Coldspot fridge that was in the house when I bought it in 1992, and it was old then. It has been running as a second fridge in the basement since '92. I don't think the new ones stack up to the old ones, and I don't even know if they are a brand anymore since Sears went belly up.

To my knowledge, lots of the old Kenmore Washer/dryers were Whirlpool, back in the day. Not sure on fridges, but you likely know, Kennore didn’t MAKE anything. It was a name put on appliances built by others.

Kenmore was good quality stuff for decades, and Sears service was good, as well. Sears service is NOT good now, so I wouldn’t take the risk.

A Whirlpool, Kitchen Aid, or Frigidaire is usually decent quality these days, and parts can be obtained easily. Lots of nightmare stories about trying to get parts for LG or Samsung.

Kitchen Aid is also made by Whirlpool

I was told by an independent repairman when he replaced a circuit board on my refrigerator that all appliances made today are all about the same and he could not recommend one over the others. They all use electronics today made by the same Chinese company and that is where the failures are today. In my case the unit would not defrost and units built today do not have a defrost timer and relay like in the past, it is all in a circuit board that has to be replaced.

IF........

Speed Queen built fridges/freezers

that would be my choice !

Most run of the mill appliances are made to last 10 years give or take. Throw away and buy a new one. There are only a few of manufacturers for all appliance brands. They are like oil filters or car batteries, they are built by just a few manufacturers

We remodeled last year. Bought all Kenmore appliances, and they weren’t cheap. Wish we hadn’t now.

The stainless coating on the microwave door handle is peeling. Sharp as hell and will cut you.. It’s already been replaced twice for the same thing.

The stove almost killed us. Piss poor design. If you’re not paying attention and walk too close you can turn the gas on without even realizing it. They won’t light but the gas will come on big time. It’s happened so many times now, we’ve trained ourselves to constantly check them especially before we leave the house or go to bed.

The fridge has the freezer drawer part on the bottom. It ices up and won’t close properly on occasion. The ice machine is grinding particles of plastic into the ice. They basically told me to go fugg myself and won’t do anything about it.

Fugg sears and fugg Kenmore. They got a schit ton of cash out of me and now they say they’re going out of business so I’m pretty sure I’ll have to replace all this schit again soon because the extended warranty is pretty much useless. It’s a PITA to get them to even come out; and even if they do they find an excuse not to cover it.

The microwave door I’ve pretty much given up on and what I’m gonna do is probably sand it down to take the sharp edges off the coating then paint it. I’m sick of dealing with those people.

We just replaced ours with a Whirlpool. When I called our home appliance repairman ( a friend who lives just down the street from us) he recommended Whirlpool. His advice was to buy it from Lowes and get a less expensive model and get the 2 year extended warranty for $80. His opinion was all of them are pretty much crap now- 2-3 years of service should be expected. Buy cheap and add the warranty and we would be ahead of the game. We just replaced our washing machine which made it about 4 years, after our last one that lasted 20. When he came to look at it he said the parts would run about the same as the cost of replacing it - hence the advice of buying cheap and add the warranty - we would have gotten the parts or replacement for free.

He said he gets calls for repair with Whirlpool the least