Gang,
I'm in need of a new stove, and holy heck -- it's not pretty out there. I had a trouble-prone Wolf removed and replaced with a top-of-the-line Thermador (PRL366JG). The Thermador had four problems that two different techs couldn't fix: the XLO burners don't ignite reliably, the main oven doesn't ignite fast enough (so a propane smell builds over time), it has an absurdly loud cooling fan (sounds like a gaming PC), and one of the valves was misaligned in a way they couldn't repair.
The appliance sales people all say that Wolf and Thermador are the top brands, but a quick bit of googling reveals that many actual owners just hate them. Of course, you can find haters for anything on the internet, but this is different -- it seems to be the majority viewpoint for recent models. I've read equally harrowing tales of woe from owners of Viking, DCS, American Range, BlueStar, etc. It's not just the high end, either: look at Amazon reviews for GE, KitchenAid, etc and there's just a world of hurt out there.
My needs are not complicated: at least one burner that goes very high, at least one burner that goes very low, an infrared broiler (pretty common now), and no stupid electronic controls -- just plain old knobs. Oh, and it has to actually work. Is that so much to ask?
So, the question: do any of you own a recent vintage range (stove + oven) that you're happy with? Or have any war stories to share?
I'm in need of a new stove, and holy heck -- it's not pretty out there. I had a trouble-prone Wolf removed and replaced with a top-of-the-line Thermador (PRL366JG). The Thermador had four problems that two different techs couldn't fix: the XLO burners don't ignite reliably, the main oven doesn't ignite fast enough (so a propane smell builds over time), it has an absurdly loud cooling fan (sounds like a gaming PC), and one of the valves was misaligned in a way they couldn't repair.
The appliance sales people all say that Wolf and Thermador are the top brands, but a quick bit of googling reveals that many actual owners just hate them. Of course, you can find haters for anything on the internet, but this is different -- it seems to be the majority viewpoint for recent models. I've read equally harrowing tales of woe from owners of Viking, DCS, American Range, BlueStar, etc. It's not just the high end, either: look at Amazon reviews for GE, KitchenAid, etc and there's just a world of hurt out there.
My needs are not complicated: at least one burner that goes very high, at least one burner that goes very low, an infrared broiler (pretty common now), and no stupid electronic controls -- just plain old knobs. Oh, and it has to actually work. Is that so much to ask?
So, the question: do any of you own a recent vintage range (stove + oven) that you're happy with? Or have any war stories to share?