I am not so sure that you can trust any appliance manufacturer these days for quality. My wife and I renovated an inherited property that was 28 years old by gutting it and replacing everything about 6 years ago including all brand new Whirlpool Gold appliances. During the first year, they were out to repair the dishwasher, the washing machine, and replaced the entire refrigerator all under warrantee. For the next two years everything worked fine. Then we sold the home and doubled out money.
We purchased a new home in January to downsize both the size of the house and the property. We have all Whirlpool appliances installed that were provided by the builder. The only thing that we purchased are Samsung Washer and Dryer from Lowes.
I am keeping my fingers crossed as to the longevity of these products.
But, the overall point is, there is something wrong with this picture as Pappy has described. This should not be so. Why can't, we, as consumers expect quality and longevity from our purchases. Like someone said earlier, their parents purchased a fridge and it lasted 30 years. Unfortunately, this is no longer true.
I can tell you this for a fact. The house that we recently purchased, although it is much more energy efficient than the one we sold, is not constructed as well. And, if a tornado, cut through here, this place is gone. The other home was concrete block. When they build the new ones, here, they are stick framed and then they put up the exterior siding. They don't put up plywood and then the exterior siding. My house is filled with foam insulation and other energy saving stuff. Yes, my electric bill is extremely low, but this house is not well built.
Ed