“Appliances today have sensors and circuit boards that control and monitor functions. So your dishwasher can sense if it needs to run longer and your dryer will stop running when your clothes are dry. But all those electronics can introduce reliability problems that weren’t common 30 years ago," explains Sara Morrow of Consumer Reports.
But that means fixing them is more complex, too. A 2016 CR survey found that only around 60 -percent of appliance repairs were completed on the first service visit!
According to CR’s 2018 surveys, some 15 to 40-percent of major appliances will develop problems or break within the first five years, depending on the product.
“This is the first year that we looked at Average Predicted Reliability to compare brands - based on how reliable they are across a range of major appliances.”
CR found that some brands are far more reliable than others. “So if you’re looking to outfit your kitchen or laundry room with appliances from a single brand, you’ll do well to consider Miele, LG, Thermador, and Bosch.”
When it comes to names that didn’t do well, Viking ranks last among the 24 brands. None of its major appliances earned more than a fair rating for predicted reliability.
In addition to Viking, you’ll want to be careful when considering Electrolux, Samsung, Jenn-Air and Dacor - while they do have some categories that score at least a good for reliability each has multiple appliance categories that earn a poor reliability rating.
Should you buy an extended warranty? CR says you have to weigh how likely the appliance is to break during the extended warranty, and whether the warranty would cost more than a repair itself. Consumer Reports’ latest refrigerator survey found that in general the average cost of an extended warranty is equal to the average repair cost and that cost is about 160-dollars. But fewer than 1% in CR’s survey got stuck with a repair bill that cost $500 or more.