8 years ago, bought 22 cubic foot Kenmore with freezer on top, ice maker deleted. The ice maker just took up too much room and we rarely ever use ice. It fits our needs perfectly and is still going strong. We paid under $1000.
We’re looking for a new fridge, too. I’m surprised at the prices given the reliability and longevity issues. H would like to pass on the ice/water on the door, but I love crushed ice and don’t know how irritating it would be to go back to big cubes from inside. I’m also still partial to white (other appliances are newer and white) but those are a little limited. I’m tired of the side by side and hope I like the French doors if we go that route.
I still like my GE Monogram, French door, no,water/ice on outside.
I also prefer white appliances. They just work better on our kitchen. We also need counter depth due to fridge placement.
I do like the French Door design. Happy others are happy with their GE fridges, but i seriously doubt I can get DH to even consider another GE.
We ordered the Samsung 28 cu ft French door on top and bottom (RF28K9070SR) which Plesser’s has on sale for $2209 out the door. Includes a $50 delivery charge that is rebatable so it comes out to $2159. About $400-$500 less than at Best Buy or Home Depot even with their Labor Day sales. Will get it tomorrow morning, took about 2 weeks from order to arrival but a few days was lost because of Labor Day. This is a model that first came out in 2016 so it is not the most current showcase models that are prevalent with a Samsung and LG.
Just took a quick look at Home Depot. I decided I definitely don’t want the drawer, would love to not have the ice maker in the door but with three kids (water bottles for school every day, sports practice…) we really like the in door water option, don’t want the door in door option and would love to get the black stainless but with our oven being regular stainless I guess we have no choice. We may buy a dishwasher at the same time but are definitely not getting a new oven as we have a built in double wall oven and it wold be too expensive to replace since it works fine.
I found a few that looked nice but then I made the mistake of looking at the reviews online again - Samsung and LG have good ratings by the magazines and websites but terrible on the user reviews. Talked to my mom and she has one Kenmore and one Samsung and is happy with both. I am afraid to do Kenmore since Sears is going out of business and her Samsung is less than a year old so she is only going by the fact that she likes the layout.
It is pouring rain here today so I guess I am going to do a little more research then maybe head out to Lowes and Best Buy tonight or tomorrow (the sales go on for a few more days.)
My first advice is to determine the dimensions you have to work with. My second recommendation is, if possible push back the wall behind the refrigerator to allow a full depth refrigerator to function as a counter depth unit.
@sherpa I wish I could do that because I would love more fridge space but the fridge backs up to the dining room so I can’t move any walls.
We have a beautiful 5 year old Samsung french door that has given us lots of trouble the last year and a half. The coils behind the back wall freeze up and impede the fan. We have to unplug and defrost it with a hair dryer every other month. It seems to be a very common problem and there was a class action suit at one point. I love the look of the Samsungs, but never again.
After torturous research, we have ordered a counter depth GE Monogram with an inside water dispenser. The reviews were…less bad. 
Fingers crossed!
@momtogkc - What are the exact dimensions you’re constrained by?
@momtogkc Earlier you mentioned Consumer Reports. They also rate brands from most to least reliable. I would go with the most reliable brand and select the model you like within their line. I would also go low-tech; the more “features,” the more problems.
@sherpa - I need counter depth, 37 inches wide or less, 71.5 high (according to DH - I need to go double check his measurements just to be sure)
@chercheur - We are trying to stay away from extra features. I hate the new computer screen on the door thing not only because we would never use it but also because I know it would be broken quickly - we have terrible luck with technology!
My 3 son’s, that is what I have , well, the 2014 model. Mine sits between cabinets and looks built in
Check out the counter depth GEs; they will fit your dimensions. If you don’t want the water in the door (we didn’t either), you can get an inside water dispenser. We really wanted that because here in the south, the tap water never gets cold enough to drink.
Also, don’t be afraid of displays that show the water through the door. Across brands, most could be ordered with/without that option.
Ajmadison.com has a helpful tool where you can search refrigerators by size and features. I’d start there.
Finally bought the new refrigerator today. It was a hard decision because no matter how much research I did I could not find one with good reviews. I was a little bit constrained in my choices because I wanted counter depth and it didn’t seem like there were as many choices. My final list came to Kenmore, GE, LG and Samsung even though every one had problems.
I made my final choice based on the fact that I will most likely have problems with any fridge I pick so I wanted to buy somewhere with great customer service - I decided to go with Costco. I settled on an LG that has that see through door and no drawer. It’s not exactly what I wanted (did not want the see through door or the door in door options) but little by little I kept ruling the other ones out for different reasons. This one did seem to have the most fridge space and they have a new, very narrow ice maker so it takes up less space in the fridge. (for those of you still looking, Consumer Reports lists actual usable space vs what the manufacturer lists as usable space which was a big help.) My biggest worry is that there is a class action suit against LG right now for something that can go wrong with the compressor but I’m hoping by using Costco and being the Square Trade extra warranty we will be OK.
This is the final pick -
Nice! Aren’t you glad that’s over?!
@chercheur Yes and no - so happy to be done with the research but still hate to spend almost $3,000 on something I didn’t really want in the first place! :))
They aren’t cheap, but I believe LG makes great refrigerators. I expect you’ll be happy with your decision.
Choosing a counter depth restricted your options immensely. French doors do not need the same space to open, btw. Glad its over. I liked the comment that made a comparison to purse buying- so individual.