I think she mentioned it’s available in a couple of weeks. However, from what I saw this weekend, that’s about as good as it gets right now.
On the warranty company, we’ve actually had great results with our dryer and dishwasher for repairs, as well as electrical and plumbing repairs. Our appliances were quite old and came with the house. We had a cash out on an old gas oven which needed numerous repairs with out-of-stock parts, which was more than enough to get a decent (but not top of the line) replacement. The best thing about the warranty company is that the parts are covered. The parts for our fridge for this repair were nearly $300 without labor. I guess it’s a YMMV thing with warranty companies.
After spending over 30 hours on repairs, warranty company calls, and shopping for the fridge, I had reached my limit! But this weekend opened my eyes. For refrigerators, I had always heard that if the compressor goes, get a new fridge, but anything else is repairable. Our issue wasn’t a compressor, and, in hindsight, we should have gone with the repair given the shortage of new appliances.
ETA: I just saw that the Cafe model we ordered now has an additional delay of 2 weeks for any orders placed today. For anyone considering purchase a new appliance, please make sure the seller gives you a real date and is not just stringing you along on delivery estimates. Also, make sure you can cancel.
At least in the Bay Area, it does appear that the smaller appliance shops (in contrast with the big box stores) seem to have slightly more availability. For example, one smaller store in Silicon Valley had a Bosch fridge we were looking at that was available to deliver in a day. However, we went with another brand, given the relative lack of rating info I could find about the Bosch.
I have the same refrigerator which I also love. (no water either) The freezer is on the small side so I have a fridge in the basement too. I do love how big the refrigerator part of the Bosch is. I can fit so much in there.
This Thermidor is another choice I have, and it can be delivered on FRIDAY. THIS FRIDAY. BUT, I think I like the Sub-Zero better, and the spacing is similar to my KA. The T
The Thermidor is $8200 (lowest they will go) plus tax and install, and so far the Sub Zero is $10,500 plus tax and install. I am planning on going to the actual store that has the SB this afternoon, and hoping they will discount it a little more.
Any opinions Thermidor vs SB? Is SB worth 2.3K more?
Thermador is an upscale Bosch. Good but I’d go with SubZero for a fridge. Thermador and Viking make good rangetops and ovens but they have been in the fridge business only relatively recently (last 20 years?).
This has been quite an education. Apparently for built in, if you need side panels (we have the side showing between upper and lower cabinets) you have to pay extra for them. 800-1k each. Thermidor doesn’t even make side panels. So we would be looking at 14ish K and that’s just too much.
I have spent so many hours on this, and now we are going to look at counter depth with carpentry above for that 13 inches.
Our new fridge (hopefully) is coming next week. Our house was never plumbed for a water line to the existing fridge, and we’ve decided to get it done to use the new fridge’s water dispenser and ice maker.
I had a plumber come over and give me an estimate of $400.
That seems a bit high to me. The water line would be a straight shot of about 8 feet from the fridge to the cold water line under the sink. The plumber would have to move the dishwasher and drill a few small holes in the cabinets to fish the water line through, but that’s about it.
Supposedly, this can be a DIY project, but I don’t tackle plumbing issues except for the most simple ones.
I know prices will vary through the country, but I’m curious if others have had a similar project and what you were charged.
I’m not too surprised after our sticker shock for installation of hot water heater. And even getting a kitchen drain cleared can cost almost $200. It can be hard to find contractors interested in small jobs, so you may not find cheaper.
Fair enough. If this didn’t involve plumbing, I’d get our handyman to do it. The only “real” plumbing involved is hooking up the shut-off valve for the fridge line to the cold-water line under the sink.
Yea that shutoff valve is important. Wish I had realized we had one when hubby was out of town and our water dispenser started a slow leak. The kids and I did make a pretty cool contraption to collect the water with duct tape, vacuum hose and garbage can.
There is nothing like a colorful portrait of Giuseppe Garibaldi greeting you while you reach into your fridge for the cream to put into your morning coffee!
LOL - I spent some time thinking about whether we could get a “skin” type thing to cover the sides of a new fridge, because of the odd space and lack of availability these days. Our space is 84Hx25.5Dx36W.
Part of our problem is we have a built-in fridge, but part of the sides show (in front of and between the upper and lower cabinets).
These days built-ins don’t have side panels, bc they are expected to be encased into a cabinet structure. Without realizing that I took my husband to see a sub-zero, bc it was available at a local outlet/scratch and dent place. Very happy he noticed and asked about sides. I just assumed they’d be available.
Sub-zero does make side-panels, but you pay big $ for them, and I have no idea how back-logged they are.
We haven’t found any less expensive built-ins available that we could order sides for (and get in the next couple weeks).
This may be our next fridge - it’s small CU FT, but is much closer to the 84 inches of the cabinets that are on either side of it. It doesn’t get great ratings, but assuming it actually fits into our space, it’s the best of the bad options we have.
We will likely wind up getting a cheap extra fridge for the basement or garage, and only plug it in when we need it. And use the money we save to professionally paint all the cabinets in our kitchen.
I’m trying to be OK with this option, but it’s been really frustrating.
One thought: have you looked at any third-party manufacturers of panels?
A few years ago, we purchased an oven from a big-box retailer. The sales manager told us that the oven had sides, but when the oven was delivered, it didn’t. I went to the store and spoke to the manager. He did show me a company that they use nationally to make panels and offered to pay for that. Instead, we agreed he would take back the new oven without sides and give us one with sides for no additional charge since he made the mistake.
I don’t remember the name of the company, but if you google something like “appliance panels”, you should get tons of hits.
Thanks. We are aware of one company that makes sides, frigodesign.com, but that route just felt a little risky to us.
The fridge I posted above will not work in the space we have (doors don’t articulate the way the sales manager thought they would). So, we are back to a counter depth fridge that will stick out from the counter and be a foot shorter than the cabinets on either side. We will put a panel on top of the fridge to fix the height issue, but there’s nothing we can do about the depth issue. I certainly tried.
I just ordered a counter-depth fridge that is much bigger inside than the ones you are looking at, and far cheaper. There should be several counter-depth ones that fit your space, and then you can panel as required to match the decor. At the prices your are looking at, I would think you could change your space to fit what you get.
Having just been through this process, there are several options, and the third-party panel companies make it more feasible.
