As someone who has redone a kitchen, I wouldn't think of buying used appliances where warranties might be voided, etc.

There's nothing wrong with mid-level appliances. Paying 5x as much doesn't guarantee it'll last 5x as long and perform 5x better.

I agree with getting the range that will meet your cooking skills level needs.

Recently I bought used appliances for a flip. The sellers were contractors working on a multi-million dollar home where the previous owner had rarely visited the property, now the new owners wanted a completely new kitchen design. So the appliances were top of the line, 4 years old but barely used, and selling for about 25% of the original cost. I trusted the sellers, cleaned up and installed the units, and had no problems.

I wouldn't buy a used appliance that had been in daily use if it were more than 3 years old. Unless of course that was all I could afford.

I would not buy anything with a lot of electronics which is most appliances now days. When we remodeled in 07-08, we had issues with every brand of appliances right out of the box so I don't think there is any safe time frame anymore. What if you build cabinets for a specific appliance and it dies within a year and you have to pay to redo the cabinets?

My KA built in frig (2007) had a board go bad. The boards were not available anymore because the factory was ruined in the big earthquake in Japan. Luckily due to a poster here I found out that KA had just developed a replacement board. Then some kind of fan went out. It may or may not work just right now although last night it made a horrible racket which I thought was it's death throes and when I woke up it has been working perfectly all day. Most appliances are made to last about 7 or 8 years now.

I would not consider any electric ovens, especially with blue enamel, unless you can afford to lose the money. There have been a few posters on here that found great deals on Wolf dual fuel ranges, with chippy blue interiors. My Wolf dual fuel oven lasted 4.5 years. You might get a high end appliance cheap but if you have to get them fixed, it can be very expensive.

What type of oven were you considering and how do you use your oven? You might save money there even with a new one. Do you need a built in frig? Some people have been able to recess their wall a little and use a mid priced frig and make it counter depth that way. Many appliances are sort of fixed price now but you might negotiate and save more on things like cabinets or flooring. I was lucky in my kitchen to hire a carpenter to make my cabinets and he just charged an hourly rate. I read a lot about design and designed the whole kitchen and acted as my own general contractor. My son is a plumber so that helped a lot with that expense.

There are probably threads over on the kitchen forum about ways to save money and if not you might ask the question.

How did you save?

I would avoid used products. It's a crap shoot and unless you can trust the background of a product...it's more than likely not ideal and fraught with risk.

I would keep shopping stores. Ask locals about floor models. Ask any local manufacturer showrooms if their are products changing soon and if there are deals to be had.

Hoods are often open box... they are tough to sell off and can be often found for a song. This would lower your overall price and may make that RNB possible.

Where are you located? If you are nyc metro there are a few places I can point you where you might be able to get a great deal

The problem with going used on high-end appliances is that you'll need to potentially replace them sooner. And replacing a 42" built-in fridge (if you buy that Kitchen Aid) ain't going to be cheap. If you're okay with deferring that cost a few years, then it may be worth rolling the dice. But, if the thought of having to buy a $8,000 refrigerator in 5 years (or potentially sooner) isn't palatable, then you're better off going mid-range from the outset. Less expensive initial cost and less expensive to replace.

We are in N. CA about 90 min north of Sacramento. We have 1 good (but small) appliance shop in town. We will go to Sac or the bay area for decent appliance shops.

Thanks for the feedback, folks. After reading I think part of my thought process was that, over the years, I have had incredibly good luck with appliances. I think I've had maybe 2 or 3 services calls for all appliances I've owned in the last 20 years...perhaps I am blinded by that track record.

We had both single and double electric ovens on the list. However, it does look like a range-top with single oven, convection microwave, and a warming drawer will meet our needs. If we did double oven, the microwave would be a standard micro and we would eliminate the warming drawer. As far as how we used our oven, we both cook and bake, but much more of the former. We have just a single oven now and we make it work, but my issue is usually with the semi-frequent 2nd dish that needs cooking and also warming up plates (it's a thing for me).

As far as induction, I'll take a look again, but the one time I messed with it, I wasn't a fan.

as far as the fridge, the idea of a built it is more about "we're dumping XXX$ into this thing, we want to switch from a full size bottom freezer/french door fridge to a side by side counter depth, so let's get the xtra room".

Thanks again for the feedback.

There's a new 36" Bluster range with convention oven on eBay for $2999. You can get crazy pricing on eBay - you may not get a warranty - but most of these things aren't that complicated to repair.

ya, i saw that bluestar. that's the RCS w/ 15k burners. Retail is $4000. If an RNB came up, we'd have to think about it. It did make me think about the $3500 RNB rangetop and whether it's worth it to get that and the 22k burners. I hear with wok cooking you want as much heat as you can muster...thoughts?

Watch some more videos on induction and looks cool. However, I think my attachment to the fire is romantic. I think I need to play with one again, but the look is just too modern.

We're in the bay area for a couple of days and will be able to check out some nice appliance showrooms. Will report back.

I buy used or second hand all the time and I have had good luck. But the keyword here is luck. I really do try to focus on the mechanics over the visual but it is hard to do. In general people do not sell good quality working appliances so you really need to understand how/why this appliance is coming onto the market. The best advice is make sure that you don't customize your space and to make sure that you have space such that you can change the appliance if you need to

Just had a 3 year old set of thermador columns come up from a very wealthy area. Still, $4200 used for the pair and if one fails...ugh..big money.

this fridge thing has us flummoxed. We know a standard counter-depth isn't big enough. We don't like the look of a full depth. We ran the frigidaire/electrolux stand-alones by the designer and she said we'd lose the walk-in pantry doing that.

I think the key is why are the sellers parting with these high end appliances. I know a woman who got an amazing buy on a Wolf range on eBay - new in box - wrong size ordered and never installed. I know someone else who got 3 yr old appliances from a gut job in CT - new owner didn't share the taste of the previous owner (or just like a project and spending money!). There IS risk but it might be worth it.

the story is that it is a designer who purchased them for a client and the client changed his/her mind. Designer bought them for her own house, but never installed them. Now, they are downsizing and the house they're remodeling is too small for that size fridge.

Anyway, that's the story...it's from one of the wealthiest parts of the bay area, so I could imagine the story checking out. What do you think of that "if it fails = big money" risk? I think our other option would be something like a Kitchen Aid built in through sears outlet or something...those are usually open box or refurb...