If you look closely enough you will find bad reviews for any brand, including KitchenAid.

I wouldn't feel buyer's remorse at all. Normally I'm not a big fan of buying appliance packages, I like to pick and choose from each manufacturer. But there are advantages to a package, and you can save a lot of money if you get a brand with good rebates (which Thermador is). If you're going to get a package, I think Thermador is one of the best choices, definitely better than KitchenAid (and I say this as a KitchenAid fan).

Going through the products... the columns are really nice, come out of the same factory as really high end brands like Miele and Gaggenau, and have gotten lots of good reviews on this forum. The fact that people regularly compare them to SubZero says a lot about their quality.

The wall ovens are nice bakers, and have been out for 10 years now, so are proven, unlike many other brands which seem to keep coming out with new ones every 2 or 3 years. They had some electronics issues early on, but they've had a lot of time to work out the bugs.

The microwave is just a rebadged Panasonic. Fine, but nothing special. Not really worth the money unless the matching look is really important to you, or you're getting it for the rebate.

As for gas cooktops, Thermador is actually my personal favorite. The Star burners are probably the best out there in terms of range. They're more powerful than almost all the other sealed burners on the market, but they also go way lower. Now, do be aware that the to get that super low simmer, the burners will cycle on and off automatically at the lowest "xlo" setting. The noise of this really annoys some people, but when I tried it, I didn't mind at all. The quality of the simmer far outweighed any additional noise from the ignition, in my view.

For dishwashers, Thermador is just rebadged Bosch. Bosch has a good track record for reliability and washability, and the design has been perfected over many years. There isn't really anything better about the Thermador branded units compared to the Bosch though, other than matching looks with the rest of the Thermador line. Overall I'd say if someone was just buying a dishwasher alone, Thermador is a waste of money, but since you're getting it for free as part of the package, it's a no brainer, and it's quite a nice unit.

When you say a 42" built in columns, you mean 24"+18?"

If so, make sure you've seen these units, 42" sounds big but there isn't a ton of space in them especially on the freezer side and especially if you have a dispenser.

Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate you taking the time to help me. Yes, a 24" and 18" column and i opted for no dispenser. I was concerned about the electronics so the fact that they had time to work out the bugs is a good thing. I have a Bosch dishwasher now and love it. The details that were provided here on feedback are excellent - thank you!

I have a Thermador 30" all fridge and 18" all freezer with ice maker, installed in 2009. I have never had a problem with either. Be warned though that the freezer doesn't hold much. The cubic footage reported is misleading. We freeze very little and still find the lack of space frustrating, so if you're a big freezer user, you may want to find room for the 24" model.. I have a GE Monogram 48" refrigerator freezer at the beach house and it's amazing how much more I can store in that 18" freezer, even with the water/ice dispenser. I think it's because the GE is built in and the Thermador is integrated, making it considerably shallower.

Having said that, we are installing the Thermadors in our new beach house. We freeze even less at the beach so I think we'll be ok.

We have had 30" fridge and 24" freezer columns for almost 10 years. Only problems to date have been icemaker (replaced), and the stupid electric movable top shelf in the fridge which we never used (gears stripped out). Overall, great temp control, nice layout, true twin compressors, great integrated look. We're about to renovate lake house and will likely choose them again rather than pay the $2-3K additional for SZ.

We're just over a year into our Thermador 36" single door fridge/freezer with no problems at all. It seems to keep fruit and vegetables fresh for a crazy long time, but then it replaced a bare bones 15 cf 1980s Kenmore, so maybe my baseline wasn't great. The unit is telling me I need to replace my second water filter, which, given the cost and how little ice we use, seems a bit extravagant, so I'm wondering what will happen if I just ignore it for awhile.

I went with Thermador over Miele (same mechanicals, I understand) because Thermador has gallon storage in the door. We have a Miele dishwasher, however, and the stainless is much easier to keep clean, so I might second guess my decision based on ease of cleaning.