Doing a comparison of kitchen appliance reliability is a relatively difficult task. Each brand of appliances has different features and different price points. Most people would love to be able to find a resource that honestly lists the reliability of all makes and models in one easy to find location. Makers of appliances wouldn’t necessarily be too happy because it might portray an unfair representation of their line if they had one model with problems when other models or years are reliable.
Tools for Comparing Appliances
Because new models come out every year, it is difficult to say whether one appliance company is necessarily better than another. Comparing similar models is possible to a certain degree. There are tools that exist to get an idea of some products compared to others of similar caliber. It is difficult to say if these sources are necessarily unbiased; it is really up to your discretion whether you believe their findings.
Consumers Report
One source which has been around for decades is the Consumers Report. The information they supply is not free; you must subscribe to either their magazine or their online report. Unfortunately any one issue of the magazine may not necessarily contain the information you are looking for. Subscribing to the magazine for an extended period of time will allow you to build up a collection of issues for reference. I am relatively unfamiliar with the online version. It may contain archives which are accessible at any time of the year which would be a definite bonus.
Online Kitchen Appliance Reliability Reviews and Forums
The internet has become a huge resource for information on consumer products such as kitchen appliances. The problem lies in how to find the information and how to figure out the credibility of the information presented.
One way to look at other consumer’s experiences is by searching for reviews and forums. By searching the product name and model along with the word ‘reviews’, the search results usually have instances of other people’s opinions of the product. You may have to go through a few of the results to find exactly what you are looking for.
Review information can give you an idea of some of the problems encountered with a particular brand or model, but unfortunately there is no way to tell the credibility of the people writing in. We’ve found that most of the reviews of products are written by people who are unhappy with a product. If someone is unhappy, they will go out of their way to research whether other people are having the same problems. They will also not hesitate to share their negative experiences with others to warn of the potential problems.
That said, if you find an extraordinarily large amount of negative comments about a particular product, whether it be an oven, refridgerator, microwave or dishwasher, then you should be wary.