Consumer Reports: Which appliance brands are the most reliable?

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- When you buy a major appliance for your kitchen or laundry room, you want it to be the start of a long, beautiful relationship. So it's important to choose trustworthy appliances and to that end, Consumer Reports is revealing the most reliable brands.

"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," said Sarah Morrow of Consumer Reports.

That could explain why your old stove or washing machine is still going strong, while your brand new shiny appliances are in for yet another repair.

Fixing newer appliances can be 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," said Morrow.

The scores are an average of the ratings for all types of that brand's appliances and CR found 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," said Morrow.

Consumer Reports also reported which brands to NOT do well and list includes some very big, high-end names.

When it comes to appliances, another question is 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 one percent in CR's survey got stuck with a repair bill that cost $500 dollars or more.

To read this full story from Consumer Reports, CLICK HERE.