I was determined to find bargains for our appliances, even though we were targeting high end items. It has taken me about 2 months now but I have almost completed all my needed purchases and all of this on eBay.
First step was to visit a few showrooms and figure out exactly what models we wanted. I wanted to get a couple of different options for each appliance so that I would have some flexibility on eBay. We ended up going with the following:
- Sub zero 601R/S stainless steel door refrigerator, we really liked this unit at our last house - great storage space, shallow depth, standup retrieval of items, crisper drawers.
- Sub zero 601F/O overlay freezer - Replaces the freezer in our garage and brings it into the kitchen. The overlay panel will hide it somewhat.
- Kitchenaid KUCC151LSS stainless steel trash compactor - we never thought we would need one of these until we had it at our last house. We pay by the can for trash removal here and this really mashes it down.
- Sub zero 424/S wine cooler - we already have a 250 bottle wine cooler but wanted a small one in our island to hold a few select bottles during parties. This cooler has two cooling zones for red and white.
- Thermador SJ302ZS double oven - stainless steel, it was a very high end appliance that was discontinued because it cost too much, we got a great deal on it. Convection/microwave top oven which eliminated us having to put a microwave somewhere else and a lower convection oven. 30" size.
- Miele Incognito G863SCVI Plus dishwasher - super quiet, love the adjustable cutlery rack on top. Our previous house had an Asko which ran great but Miele is even better from a quiet and functionality of the various racks. We could have settled for the model below this one (no water softener which we did not need) but a deal came up on this one.
- Wolf RT364G gas rangetop - our last house had a Wolf 36" gas range and oven. We found the oven very hard to get the right temperature, always +/- 10 degrees. The new version of the range is dual fuel which has gas top and electric bottom with very precise electronic control for the oven - much better. However, we liked the idea of having a cabinet under the cooktop to hold all of our kitchen cooking tools and having two separate ovens.
Our deals happened all over the place. Here is a summary:
-Sub zero 601R/S purchased from a person in Florida who abandoned their renovation project. Paid $2400 plus $800 to ship to CA. It is about 3 years old but brand new in box, not a single scratch and Sub Zero starts the warranty from when we will install and activate it so that is still good. We had to figure out how to ship it cheaply. I eventually found the quickest way to figure this out is to call a couple of local appliance stores near where you buy from and ask them who they use. They usually have done the research to figure out who is cheapest. Here were some folks that I liked:
eFreightline.com (priced $228 to ship my wine cooler from WI to CA versus best other bid was $394)
Anyfreight.com - broker who can get multiple shipper quotes. I used them to ship my Subzero freezer from Atlanta for $400. 508-425-7134
Freight Dynamics 800-883-8777, used to pick up Subzero in Florida, they palletized it for $170 and shipped for $700. Anyfreight had a better ship rate but could not palletize it. I worked with Cori 763-235-2266. This was FAST, about 1 week to get it, arrived on Fedex freight truck.
Complete Freight Systems - Catherine Anglea canglea@completefreight.biz 812-265-1245. Used them to ship double oven from TX to CA, were $279, super cheap and efficient. They were recommended by HighEnd Appliance 512-663-9103
- Sub Zero 601F/O: also eBay, this one was $2900 and $400 to ship from Atlanta. It had been hit in front by a forklift which bent a couple of the frame parts and the sub zero trim panel. I ordered the fixup parts for $200, including the stainless steel trim around the door which was scratched but the seller refunded to me. The hardest thing to fix was the back sheet metal which sub zero does not sell as a replacement part. I drilled out the pop rivets and took the piece to a local sheet metal shop (HVAC type sheet metal, plenty in the Yellow Pages) who made me an exact replica for $80! I bought a pop rivet gun at Home Depot and resecured it all. Looks like new now.
- Kitchenaid Trash Compactor - This was a showroom demo model that I bought on eBay from San Diego. They shipped it for me with their shipper who scratched the handle. The seller was a flake and did not offer to help resolve the scratched handle. I bought a new handle from Kitchenaid for $50.
- Thermador oven bought on eBay from Texas, was in a warehouse never used for 2 years. Paid $2750 and it had an MSRP of about $8k. They packed it up really well in a crate and it had just a slight ding in back when it arrived, I was able to knock the ding out and it is hidden anyway behind the cabinet. I was hoping to find a Miele double oven but I had a deal on eBay and it fell apart after someone else offered $1K more than me after the transaction. Too bad.
- Miele dishwasher I bought a brand new unit from someone on eBay that did not use it for their project. I unfortunately had a bad experience with shipping via Fedex but the seller did not pack it up very well. He simply left it in the original cardboard box. It was banged up in all corners and the stainless door and trim. If I were to replace all the banged up parts the tally would have been $1300 or so, almost what I paid for it. Fortunately Fedex refunded me for the damage. I bought two side panels to fix the worst of it and will live with a few not so visible dings. I would not recommend shipping any appiances by Fedex or UPS. I have had nothing but bad experiences with having heavy bulky objects dinged up.
- I'm still trying to get my Wolf rangetop on eBay and since I have some time will keep looking. I might instead buy a Viking rangetop with the sealed burners. It has the very nice vari-sim feature allowing super low simmer heat while providing the full 15,000 BTU high end.
- I also bought two Insinkerator Pro SS disposals for each sink. I found both on eBay for about half price. I like the pro model as it runs quieter and is heavier duty.
- As for hood, I'm also still looking for this and thinking of the Wolf Pro Wall Hood 36". I like the ability in these to put a 1200 CFM internal blower versus the more elegant Cooktop Wall Hood that has a narrower chimney. This one only has a 600 cfm blower. We tend to do a lot of cooking in a wok and the higher CFM is better. Anything more would probably be overkill and need to be installed externally which I think may be more exposed to the elements and might break down sooner. I might also get the Viking Pro Series 18" High and 27" depth to match a Viking range. I also note that at our last house we had a 42" hood over a 36" stove so it overlapped a little on each side. I'm not sure this was really necessary.
