Wolf appliances , bad experience

bells20022001

19 years ago

My husband and I built a new home and bought all high end Wolf/Subzero appliances. Within the first week, the infamous broken ice maker needed repair, and the fan on the oven. The ice-maker needed at least 3 repairs in 4 yrs, at approx 3 yrs the fridge condensor(sp)went bad,after 4 yrs the microwave over motor needed to be replaced and after the 5 years, the gas cook-top sprung a major leak and almost killed me, and if the fan wasnt on, wouldve blew up my kitchen. The explosion and bang, literally blew the burners off the stove. After the stove top incident, I phoned the gas company, they came out and said to no way repair, but replace. Wolf wants to charge me and said the unit is 5 yrs old, sooo if you want to not only replace your stove top, but get a new house every five years... you only need a wolf appliance. I recommend looking at consumers reports for future purchases on new appliances. They have a "history/repair" section. After the purchase I found Wolf was rated the worse for needed repairs.. they are no longer list wolf with this mag. Good luck and beware to all!

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Comments (7)

breezy_2
19 years ago
Question...Is it Propane or natural gas?
kat_ofhb
19 years ago
I can only guess there are other factors at work here. One question, not to be prying but you just registered today and you have owned these appliances for around 5 years now? I will assume that due to these problems feel compelled to warn others.
At any rate, sorry to hear of the misfortune.
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beth4
19 years ago
I noticed the same thing....registered just today, for this post.

Count me as a happy, ecstatic, delighted S/Z & Wolf owner --refrigerator and range. For nearly 3 years.

I know that there are lemons that occasionally pop up, no matter how high the overall quality and general consistency of the brand. It's too bad that all of the lemons ended up in your kitchen.
villandry
19 years ago
@Bells - Wolf had a problem with the mantle design back then. The orifices closest to the element would collapse and caused a delayed ignition. I believe the new mantles are stainless steel..which they should have been in the first place.

Wolf stoves are good but not great. A lot of high-end appliances have what I call the "Matt Lauer" syndrome. Meaning they look good, but that's about it. Especially gas cooktops/stoves. The technology really hasn't changed in the last 80 years. All Wolf is doing to wrapping it up in stainless steel and slapping some pretty knobs in the front and, of course, placing a nice price tag on it.

Anyway, I had a Dynasty stove($5,500) do the same thing. It literally blew the front door straight open and knock several spice containers out of a cabinet next to the stove. There are inherent risks with gas and that's why I am going induction/electric the next time around. Not to mention efficiency.

Cheers
jcthorne
19 years ago
Our Monogram rangetop has been the best performing cooktop I have ever owned. It's performance is head and shoulders above the standard grade consumer gas cooktops I have had over the years before it. Not, just the same old burners packaged in SS. Not by a long shot.

Monogram service has been extreamly professional and curtious the very few times I have needed them over the last 3 years. Could not be more pleased with our kitchen full of Monogram semi-professional appliances.
elljays
19 years ago
Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck. We've been thrilled with our Subzero fridge...no icemaker problems at all. We've also been thrilled with our Wolf cooktop and Wolf oven. We're also happy with our Monogram Advantium...it's great too. Fortunately, we haven't needed a single repair on anything, although it's only been 1 1/2 years.
For what it's worth, I wouldn't rely on Consumer Reports for any appliance reliability information. They test very few high-end appliances. As far as their other information, we took their advice and bought a Toyota Sienna back in 2004. It was their highest rated van, and it's been nothing but trouble for us. Sorry, that had nothing to do with appliances, but I take Consumer Reports' advice with a grain of salt.
kat_ofhb
19 years ago
^I can't help but stray from the main topic but look what CR just did to Toyota! This time, I think it might be true.