We purchased a top freezer refrigerator by Frigidaire over 15 years ago (it is a spare in the garage) and it is still going strong and is used everyday for extra drinks, bottled water, frozen stuff, etc

One cannot evaluate the reliability of an appliance product purchased today compared to years ago. Appliances made today are more energy efficient, lighter weight to save on materials and shipping costs, and have lower profit margins for manufacturers so there are many cost saving steps taken during design/production. Internet reviews are not always helpful. When millions of appliances are sold in the US every year even a small percentage of unhappy customers means there are many negative online reviews. The millions of people who are mostly happy don't post to announce they are happy. Appliance repair as a career isn't lucrative so younger people with families who have that skill and are capable look for something that pays more. If you want a good call center for customer support you'll need to pay much more for a Miele product. They answer every call and return calls when they say they will but they don't sell refrigerators under about $7000 in the US. No manufacturer can staff a competent call center while selling $1000-2000 refrigerators. I'm not a pessimist, just a realist.

My best advice is to buy something with the budget assumption that it will need to be replaced in 7-10 years and be happy if you get lucky and it lasts longer. Consider an extended warranty if you would be upset that there was an expensive repair in the first 5 years.

What Stan Z said.

Also, have you seen the results of the most recent membership survey at Consumer Reports? Members who bought top-freezer fridges since 2010 reported that all brands of top freezers models without ice makers were equally reliable. Of the 46,000 buyers, about 1 in 7 reported needing a repair or having serious problems regardless of brand. Different story when you put an icemaker into a top-freezer model, but you want super simple, so that isn't a concern here.

Yes, I read consumer reports and checked out some appliance repair blogs. Thank you all for replying.