I think you need to narrow down your needs/wants before you get specific with brand. Do you want a 36 or 42 incher? Do you want a french door unit?

Hi all,
I am also new to the site, we just decided to remodel the kitchen and i just found the site. But all the info I have read has been so helpful, its a great resource!

I have the exact same question and funny enough the only appliance I have made a choice about is the Miele DW.

I am going to have to wait on the fridge until after the remodel, just because of budget, but I am wondering whether or not to build the cabinets to accept the large subzero height and depth. I asked the salesman about the price difference and he said, the double compressors (1 for fridge 1 for freeze) is a big selling point. That way if the freeze goes out the fridge still works. I think there is a french company that does 2 compressors too. Also, the insulation keeps food colder and therefore lasts longer, he said if the power goes out the subzero can keep food cold between 12-15 DAYS-without power! Wow, I mean you can't open the door alot, but still that's pretty awesome! The total built it look is only available with Thermador and subzero basically, others do it, but the frame shows.
All of that being said, still don't know if I want to do the Jenn-Air french door that accepts panels or shell out the big bucks for the sub zero and get the complete built in look. Price difference is almost $5000, yikes!

I would love to hear what sub zero owners think too...

Look at it this way. Lets say you throw an SZ party and invite 12 Guest. 4 of the 12 will be able to discuss their SZ problems----Consumer Reports failure rate for the SZ's is 28%.
Let's say next month, You have another party, and again invite 12 guests but all of them have Fridges that are built by the Whirpool company.
Any of your guest that want to talk about Whirlpool Fridge problems are gonna be lonely---cause there will only be one of them--Consumer Reports failure rate for Whilpool built fridges is 7% or one out of 12.

Jenn-air was frequently rated as #1 by Consumer Reports. Right now , it does seem to be a bit of a problem to find
repair percentages of the different Whirlpool made Fridges,--Kitchenaid, Maytag, Jenn-air----etc separately.

From post on this side , it does seem that Maytag seems to have it's share of Fridge problems,(Remember that 7% failure rate is all the Whirlpool Friges thrown together and averaged out. My own suspicion is Jenn-air (Only their Fridges), are less than a 7% failure, with maytag being more than 7%
Hopefully you have a large appliance store near you where you can look at all the Fridges that are on your short list. Fortunately I was able to do that, as I posted in a different post. I was leaning toward the SZ "Cause it was the one to own", walked a little farther in the store, came across the Jenn-air. To me it looked much more modern, better lighting inside, separare adjustable temps
for the Meat and Veggie Chrispers etc etc.
Then I hit the net and checked reliability ratings---What A shock, so bought the Jenn-air and really been happy with it--48inch side by side built in.
Now to be fair to SZ---they did get dinged by Consumer Reports for not having some of the conveniences of lesser priced Fridges---Their new designs, I believe have caught up with the competition--as far as conveniences go.Still sad to report, that Consumer Reports still says they are the most repair prone Fridge.
On thing I like about the Jenn-air was it variable speed compressor, the thing isnt like most of them, speeding away at 100 mph(on) then come to a dead stop (off)etcetc, The Jenn-air adjust the speed to the cooling needs of the Fridge at any particular time.
Anyway, continue to check the post here, and I have said and a couple other posters You can buy a one month on-line Consumer Reports subscription--for 5 bucks--it might be the best 5 bucks you ever spent--but don't forget all the other great info out there. AJ Madison, as well as other internet sales outlets often have a part of their site devoted to buyers reviews of thier products and these can be great sources of info too!!!!

Good Luck

Gary

there have been several recent posts inquiring about sub-zeros. try doing a search at the bottom of the appliances forum. i love my sub-zero. look for the "energy star" rated models.

If you want the total built in looks like a cabinet look, in addition to SZ and Thermador, there is the Liebherr, Miele, Gaggenau, and Bosch. But Antss is right--decide what you want before limiting yourself to a brand.

Dodge _ i commend you on your math, however your interpretation of the data is horrible. Consumer reports ONLY HAS DATA FROM THEIR SUBSCRIBERS, and does not represent the greater number of units in the marketplace. This is especially true of "luxury" brands like sub zero and miele which CR reader's tend to eschew as a whole.

My supper club has 12 families in it. Almost all have sub zero fridges. 1 has a kitchen aid. Only one of that group has had a failure. It was one of mine ( I currently have 4) and it was a blown control board from an electrical storm. This is no fault of the manufacturers. So if you were to incorrectly interpret this real world data incorrectly you could infer that only 8% have problems or maybe it's only 6% since the sample size is increased from multiple ownership.

Texaco - your sales weasel is blowing smoke at you. There is no way any domestic fridge is gonna keep stuff edible two weeks with no power. We had an outage this week for 50 straight hours. My SZ fridge was still cool but in the mid 40's, we went in once. The ice had started to melt and the ice cream was pretty soft. That was 2 days, 2 more and stuff is/was sure to be a science experiment.

Fori - I could be wrong but I don't think Liebherr's unit allow total concealment, either a piece of trim is showing or the toekick grill has to be left exposed. The SZ 700 series and the BSH/Miele cousins are the only fully integrated options in the U.S.

I have a new 48BI series Sub. What features do the other brands have?

I have a water filter, air filter, Soft close 3 drawer setup on the fridge side. The shelves are all easily accesible by DW due to the top shelf being reasonable height. The Miele, Thermador were beyond reach for DW.

Keeps vegtables and fruit way beyond my Kitchen Aid and the fridge side is cold with out drying food and the freezer side is really frozen. The only thing the Miele had was lights down the side. The actual inside dimensions were less and is was 15-20% more.

Thanks all!

Okay, update from me, the OP. I went to the showroom. It looks like for maximum fridge space the 36BI SZ wins. It has 15.9 cu ft inside and the 36 in Thermador (which I really liked with FD on top and bottom freezer) only has 14.7 or so....I need as much fridge as possible with a family of 6. The height thing is an issue too. My kids will never be able to get juice/milk out themselves in the tall Thermador. (Not to mention how much my 5ft MIL will complain about it ;)

I am concerned about the service record, but will get the extended warranty from the store I guess...

The dealer still wants me to go look at the Thermador 36, so I will, but am leaning towards the SZ...

All I can relate is the failure rate of SZs owned by my Mother-In-Law and she's had to have two repairs in the past ten years or so.

But were they SZ's "fault?" Perhaps, perhaps not - when you have dual compressors, you double your chance of something going wrong.

But the amount of food that SZ owners I've talked to have had to throw out due to freezer burn and other fridge issues is zero.

By comparison I've got a 16 year-old Kenmore that hasn't even broken, but I also need to throw out anything that sits in the freezer over two months or so or it's ice crystal city.

I can't say much about the Thermador except there seem to have been many here with problems with their products.

Finally, with situtations like amirm's above, there's no excuse for something like "incorrect drawers" and this sounds like a dealer failure even if SZ didn't come forward and correct the issue - something I'm surprised that they wouldn't do.

I have the 42 inch SZ sxs and I LOVE it! I have had it two years without any problems. It keeps food edible so much longer that I rarely have to throw food away.

It is one of my favorite things about my kitchen remodel.

Well, hopefully our inputs were helpful to you.What I would do next, is find out what company will be doing the extended warranty work. Check with all your neighbors or any sources you can to find,as to just how good their service is: How fast do they respond (actually getting someone to your house), Did they have the correct part in the truck to do the repair, or did they have to order it, and how long did that take?
While an extended warranty could save you money, it could "Lock you into" dealing with a service company that is no where near the best, in your area, for your SZ, anyway good luck,and in a year or so, (like the other user did here) give us a progress report. I think most of of us here, found that poster's info , very helpful!!

Gary

loved my SZ when it worked. unfortunately it didn't a lot of the time.

I could certainly be wrong but from the sound of your post you sound like someone who has "aspired" to have a SubZero fridge not necessarily for a functional reason but to have the brand. It sounds as if you're going all out - two Miele dishwashers, etc. - so why not just go for the SZ? If you think about all the people who have been keeping their food chilled without investing in SZ, there has to be something people "value" about SZ other than it's functional ability to keep food chilled or frozen that would make them pay the premimum price. Could be appearance, appeal of saying you have the brand, etc. In any case if you want one and want to spend the $ go for it. It seems you can count on repairs with any brand these days - kind of like luxury auto brands. Just because you spend alot doesn't mean it will be trouble free.

I made the mistake of initially getting the 36" bottom freezer SZ because it had more sq feet. The problem is, much of the freezer space is difficult to access, and the door swing is so far nobody could walk past and I worried I was going to break the door off its hinge. I hated it and food was always slipping behind the back shelf and I had to remove the bottom freezer compartment to retrieve it. Luckily, the compressor failed and I exchanged it for the 36" side-by-side. I thought I'd never own a SxS again, but being 36" rather than 30" makes all the difference. I love it. If I had room for 42" I would get it. I will never buy another freezer on bottom again.

If you have room for a 42 maybe you can squeeze another 6 in and get the 48. Talk about room 10 ft in freezer and 18.9 in fridge lots of room. We do not have another freezer so we like the simplicity of having it all together.

Would you have a recommended price for me to ask for a 2000 year model 650F subzero refrigerator in excellent condition?

Gator, are you going to bump up every fridge thread no matter how old or how irrelevant? You have a separate thread, and that's the best way to get a unique question answered.

I probably wouldn't buy a 9-10 year old fridge of any brand, so I'd be looking at donating them. Habitat for Humanity's Restore might love to have them.

Sub zero refrigeration is superior by far. It has an air cleaning system built in that really does keep food fresher. I have used 3 different brands in the last three years and Subzero kept food 50% longer and fit more food - better ergonomics. I have also been using them for 20+ years with no major problems.

I’ve been looking at narrow fridges to maximize the limited counter space in a small pied-a-terre kitchen renovation. I would spend the extra $$$ again on a Sub-zero except I don’t like that there’s only one door for both fridge and freezer (not separate doors for each). And in looking at current prices I question whether SZ’s ability to preserve food longer can ever justify its price tag over the Liebherr. Food preservation is not all that vital if we consume quickly what we buy. Problem with us americans is we buy, hoard, and throw away a lot. Because we can. And maybe that paradigm needs to change.

I have had homes for twenty five years, some with SZ some with other brands. I did install SZ and Wolf when we remodeled our current house about ten years ago and BOY AM I SORRY I DID. The product quality has plummeted and these appliances have been nothing but a pain. The 'customer service' line has occasionally been sympathetic, but not really helpful. Everything that has failed are expensive electronic parts that cost THOUSANDS to replace and , gee, these have a one year warranty.

I hope you did not go with the Sub Zero. I hope you know that they only enable ONE COMPANY in your city to do service - all warranty service on these appliances. There is no unique functionality in a Sub Zero. Keep looking and you will find a better option.

Bosch, Meile

Well, all of these reviews are our own subjective experiences, but based upon those I couldn't disagree with you more.

I had one failure in a SZ and it was an electronics glitch likely due to a power surge (it didn't come back properly after a power failure); no issues with any of my Wolf appliances.

SZ also has a full two year "everything" warranty (three years if installed by a Sub-Zero certified installer), and a full five year sealed system warranty.

Sub-Zero Residential Limited Warranty

Sub-Zero Residential Limited Warranty - With Factory Certified Installation