In all honesty, Viking does seem to have improved quality...but I still don't know that I would buy one over a sub-zero. Buy the Sub. If you can't justify the money, the Monogram units aren't bad.

Thanks, that's good to know. I've been a little scared off by many of the posts about Viking refrigerators. It's hard to swallow spending $2.5k more on the Sub (because of the discounts I'm getting on the Viking). But I definitely don't like the idea of dealing with the stress of constant repairs.

Are there any other brands I should consider? Our kitchen has other high-end appliances, so I think it's in my interest to replace with a high-end refrigerator. The other refrigerators I've seen that look like they might be good are:

• Thermador 48"
• Sub-zero 48"
• Jenn-Air 48"

I noticed that there's also a Samsung built-in refrigerator. We had a Samsung in our previous house and loved it, but my current home is more expensive so I worry whether it's a bad idea to get for resale value purposes - thoughts?

Thanks,
PB

Also look at Thermador, Bosch or Liebherr. You could actually do two 24" Thermador columns.

The thermador 48" is a OEMd by kitchenaid for them. It's being phased out as well.

the jennair and kitchenaid are the same unit, the jennair gets a little dressed up interior and different handles for the most part.Neither are bad units.

The Samsung 48" is about 2 years old now. It doesn't sell well and has limited distribution. Plus their service isn't anything to right home about. You are essentially rolling the dice with that one.

Miele is another good option, a little less expensive than SZ. We've had our 36" bottom freezer since last fall, no issues. Great lighting, very heavy duty hinges and looks great!

Very happy with the Sub-Zero. Yes it's more than the Viking but will it be a $2500 savings if it breaks all the time? I have to admit though our friends put a 48" Viking in their remodel 4 years ago and have not had any problems.

I have a 10 yr old Viking, and I've had a $500 repair, several years ago - for a circuit board. Other than that, I has performed well.

As an engineer I can tell you that many of the parts - in all the refrigerators, come from just a few vendors - it's not like Viking / Subzero / Miele / etc make the parts for their appliances - they buy as much from 3rd party vendors as possible.

Miele actually does make the vast majority of part for their appliances, just not for the fridges.