Appliance Shopping

Whatever you do, do NOT buy LG brand! Not only are they super expensive, but the parts have to be shipped from China or Japan (unless San Fransisco has it) and very few techs are trained to repair them. Good luck!

I would purchase the best I could afford at the time. You get what you pay for.

I have Kitchen Aid appliances in my kitchen and I LOVE them. I have the higher end ones.

We bought from Best Buy and got a fair deal, great service and I'd buy from them again in a heartbeat.

I'd check out a local used appliance shop. Often, these places take the broken stuff, repair it with quality parts, and sell them for a very low price WITH a warranty! I've gotten plenty of washers and dryers from local places like this...and they often deliver for free.

Best of luck!

Costco usually only carries the higher end products. Hmm. When we bought our last appliance I did most of my research online & ordered it and had it in my home, installed in less than a week. Appliances are really expensive to maintain inventory for - and there are so many variables. Is a laundromat not an option? You can get 97 loads done at one time so you can get a week's worth of laundry done in one morning or afternoon...

With any major appliance, I would definitely wait for the model I really wanted. Especially if you did research to get the best data on models, don't cave in. You'll be living with this expensive appliance for years to come; why not get what you really want for the long term instead of buying what's on the show floor right now just to save a few days or, yes, weeks? Try not to let your frustration with not being able to walk away with a certain model get the better of you; remember, better to get a good quality appliance than the available one of lesser quality. The first time you need a repair on that lesser model you may wish you had waited.

Just last week our new fridge arrived, and yesterday our new oven arrived. We had to wait nearly two weeks for the oven because NO one -- out of three major appliance chains -- keeps 24-inch wall ovens in stock; these are no longer used much and are only available as special orders from the manufacturers. So we were forced to wait (or redo our entire kitchen --not happening!). It was worth it. With the fridge, we bought the floor model but had we wanted a spanking-new-from-the-manufacturer model of the exact same fridge, we would have had to wait too. Appliance companies always have to order the actual goods (other than floor models IF they are for sale) from their own warehouses or from the manufacturers, and if their own warehouses are backed up, you still have to wait even if the item is technically considered to be "in stock now."

With appliances I think the key is to replace before the old ones break the point they are unuseable. I don't know if that's the case for you with your washer. But we got lucky: Some wise former owner of our house wrote the installation dates on all the appliances and that has really helped us know things like: "This thing is 20 years old--it still works but it's way past the average life of this kind of thing, so it's time for a new one before this one keels over!"

By the way -- we bought from HH Gregg. Our first experience with them and both sale and delivery were just fine. Sears turned me off immediately because the salesman seemed very lackadaisical, as if he didn't really care whether we bought there or not. The HH Gregg salesperson (yes, all are on commission) was totally helpful over three different visits and never pressured us but did seem to care about what we were seeking!

Lowes can get anything on their floor next day. Home Depot may be the same..

I buy appliances at Sears. They have lots of brands, you can negotiate price, they have good help and they have awesome financing plans.

We buy appliances at Lowe's. They have fantastic warranty, delivery, and return policies. We had just moved into our house and had 3 adults and a baby eating out of a dorm-sized fridge/freezer. We found a nice unit we liked for a great price (all appliances were on sale plus 10% off that brand) and they delivered it the next day (which just happened to be the 4th of July)!!!

Have you looked at Daniels? We've always found their choices to be very good and IN STOCK! (The scratch & dent site is awesome also.)

We have bought appliances at Lowe's and Home Depot while they weren't in stock we have had them delivered next business day without a problem.

From someone who has made a rash purchase and is currently looking at the refrigerator they hate... please do your research and buy what you want. You will regret it if you don't