Question:
I am in the market for a refrigerator. My parents bought a Maytag 20.7top freezer refrigerator couple of years ago (~$800). I like it a lot,it's fairly quite, runs a lot less than the 20 year old side by sidethey had, and it look and feels very nice (the inside and everything).

Whirlpool seem to get good ratings on refrigerators, are there bigdifferences between the two? It's a little less expensive than theMaytag, but I liked the maytag's overall look and feel. I haven'tlooked at the whirlpool detailed enough for a good comparison.

Who makes the Maytag refrigerators? The only trouble my parents hadwere in the beginning, one screw in the frezer compartment was losen,it was making a rattling noise. the service guy came and screwed it,and it worked fine from that point on.

Answer: for what it's worth: just bought a GE fridge, and absolutely love it. Why?has freezer on bottom, and you pull it out like a drawer. Has a built inBrita filter thingie and you have a little faucet and the filtered watercomes out. Has a rack for pop cans and a rack for laying a wine bottle(both of these are removable) The drawers are all interchangeable andslide in and out with ease. So do the shelves on the side of the fridgefor your condiments. I am thrilled with my fridge - wasn't cheap, though.

Consumer Reports gave Topmount Maytag models very good ratings. I purchaseda Topmount Maytag, EnergyStar Model about 1-1/2 years ago. It is a qualitymodel! It has wonderful features and doesn't force a consumer to purchasean ice maker if one is not desired, comes as an option if wanted. Mostmodels have the ice maker as a standard feature. I wanted the room in thefreezer, and had no use for an automatic ice maker since I use bottledwater. I did consider a side-by-side but they are not as energy efficient astopmount models.

The Side-by-Sides generally were not well rated by Consumer Reports. One ofthe newest Maytags, the one with the fancy zigzag type door, the highestpriced model, was considered to be one of the worst models on the market.Price is not always an indication of value nor is a particular brand name.

Whirlpool is generally a good brand, have owned them in the past and waspleased. IMO, nobody builds quality appliances today. For anyoneconsidering the purchase of a refrigerator, first check the EnergyStar sitefor suggested models, then check out Consumer Reports for specific modelratings.

I did check Sears for refrigerators. My experience: Model for model, mylocal Maytag dealer who provides delivery, instillation, and removal of theold appliance, offered a better deal and much faster delivery.