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I still have the Panasonic microwave that I bought at Best Buy about 14 years ago. My only complaint is that the light burned out (always was on when the door is opened--and my husband kept leaving it opened) and it cannot be replaced without a service person, which would likely be more expensive than a new microwave.
There is an Abt in a suburb of Chicago where our friends bought their washing machine. They spoke highly of the store, and delivery to our area is free. My concern is having to deal with the stove manufacturer if anything were to go wrong, and the reviews for F&P suggest that things go wrong quickly.
Good to see you posting again, Rottiedogs. Viking seems to be one of those brands that was excellent but has slipped over the past couple of years with an ownership change, although my understanding is that now a new company owns it.
My husband and I visited a Ferguson's showroom this morning. It's a store that has upscale bath and kitchen items. They did not have a particularly large selection of freestanding ranges on the floor, which is fine, since there is no Ferguson's near where we will be living in Indiana. What we wanted was to be able to see some ranges and look at how they are set up. The salespeople did not seem to be particularly knowledgeable. I think that I know more from our discussions here as well as the research I've been doing. There were very few dual fuel ranges, mostly cooktops and wall ovens or under the cooktop mounted ovens.
They did have one all-gas BlueStar, so I looked at it, but for me the unsealed burners are a deal breaker. They had the 48" (I think) Thermador dual fuel. I'd probably buy another 30" Thermador if I knew that I could get it serviced when needed. I really like the burners. There was also a large Wolf. I also looked at the cooktops and ovens.
While I did not see a range that is "the one," it was helpful to look at controls. If we were to go with separate cooktop, I want the controls where they will not get splattered--so in the front not on top. I like that on the stand alone range as well. I also like the burner grids to be flush with one another so that I can easily move pots around. When we go appliance shopping in the Midwest, I'll take along my large pan to make sure that it will fit.
I was amused to see a Wolf four slice toaster, with a price of $400. Let them eat toast!
Last week my husband and I were in Mishawaka, so we stopped by an appliance store with an excellent reputation. It also has a service department, so they service the appliances they sell. In fact, they will not sell an appliance that they are not allowed to service.
I looked at a DCS. The store only had a gas one on the floor and it was the 36-inch one. (It also was sold.) I also looked at the Thermador. The one they had out is a dual fuel. It, too, was a 36-inch. The sales representative was knowledgeable--very different from the surface oriented sales person at the store in Texas. I am now leaning toward the Thermador 30-inch dual-fuel Pro Harmony Range. I really like the star burners. It also has a larger oven capacity than the 30-inch DCS. I was happy to see that Thermador has gone back to knobs rather than the electronic readouts, which I suspect may have been a major issue in the earlier generation dual-fuel ranges they produced.
The salesperson told us that DCS and Thermador have the best record for not needing service calls. If I could, I would buy the 36-inch, but I know that 1) I'm dealing with a small kitchen area, and 2) I rarely need that much oven space. It would be nice when baking three cake layers or if I wanted to bake more than three loaves of bread at a time, but I do not do that often. I also have access to a second electric range in the apartment (now dubbed guest house) over our garage. It's just a short walk across the backyard if I ever have two different items that need baking at the same time. There is a third, biggest consideration: It would cost an additional $2000. While Thermador is offering a "buy 2, get dishwasher free" deal, that will not be of use to us, as my husband and I will not have a dishwasher. Most of my china is older and would not tolerate the caustic soaps, and I'd rather have the storage space for dishes and pans. (I will be able to store specialty pans in the guest house kitchen.)
I was shocked at how much range hoods cost. While I do not need the high powered one, as my range will not have a grill or griddle, even the least expensive Thermador hood still costs a lot. (I'm also not into designer hoods as focal points.)
Now I need to think about the refrigerator. I was going to get one with the French doors on top, but I've learned from friends that these have problems because of the closing mechanism on those top doors. The seal is likely to be better with the traditional wide door.
I will need to think about location in the kitchen area. I'll be starting a kitchen remodeling thread, so I will take up that subject when I do.
Thanks, Mike. That's good to know. I was happy with the least expensive of the Thermador stove hoods years ago when I bought the first range. It was not cheap (although prices have gone up), and it was powerful enough for any job I asked it to do (like venting out smoke when I burned something and the fire detector went off). After years of the conventional hoods they install in apartments, that Thermador hood was a revelation. I will likely go that way again.
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