Sub-Zero Refrigerators

When we decided to renovate our home in 2003, we had limited space for a kitchen in our small urban home. With space being at a premium, we decided a big boxy-style fridge would just not work, so we looked into buying a Sub-Zero. We cook a lot, and buy lots of produce at our local farmer's market, along with many condiments for making lots of styles of food. We needed a fridge that was not big, but not small either. We ended up buying a used 550 off of a refrigerator repairman for $2,000. He had refurbished it and the price included a 1 year warranty. My husband built a cabinet especially for it, custom door panels, side panels, and matching cabinet above. It looked great, just what we needed. We loved the shelves, the two egg trays on the door, the deli drawer and the ice maker.

We found the vegetable/fruit drawers too shallow, and ended up with lots of vegetables on the shelves above and below the drawers, which cut into space for everything else. The specs say the 550, 36" wide, bottom freezer drawer, has 15.7 cu.ft. of refrigerator space and 6.4 cu. ft. of freezer space, for a total of 22.1cu. ft. That is a reasonable amount of space, and not different than the old side-by-side GE we used to have. In 2008, the ice maker stopped working, and the same repairman who sold us the unit came back and installed a new WATER VALVE for $38.00 parts, $70.00 Trip charge, and $180 for labor. With tax it came to $291.00. Great, ice maker working again, all is good. But there were other annoyances with the refrigerator that we just chalked up to buying a used unit - one was mold. It seemed to creep in from the back of the refrigerator, landing on jar lids, inside corners of shelves, inside the dairy cubbies on the door.

No sooner would you do a full clean up and wipe down the whole thing with diluted Clorox and it would be back. Then there was the pan under the unit, annoying to get to, but we needed to check it every so often, as we were afraid it would fill up and wreck our kitchen hardwood floors. Then the cleaning of the upper grill, always catching dust, which looked bad, and the coils inside the upper area had to be cleaned too. This would be fine if you had cleaning help to do this but sometimes a two earner couple with kids cannot stay on top of these things. Then in 2015 the refrigerator is noisier than usual for a couple of weeks, and one day there is water flowing all over the wood floor in front of the unit, causing the wood to cup, just awful. Water spots appear on the drywall of the ceiling of the room below the kitchen.

The ice maker isn't working, and the ice cream is melted in the freezer drawer, obviously something has gone wrong with the freezer, so we call the guy we bought it from, but he never calls back, so I look for another repairman who will work on Sub-zeros in our area (not too hard to find as we live in a very urban setting in a major US city). The new repairman comes out, looks it over and says the Evaporator needs charging, and that there seems to be a leak in the freezer system. The total estimate to fix is $1,200, with a 3 month warranty on the work. As we are very busy and can't really deal with changing out the refrigerator at the time, we agree to have him do the work. He is there almost a whole day with his equipment consisting of a tank and long hoses, but in the end the 550 is up and running, including the ice maker.

We spend weeks tearing up the damaged floor, searching out boards to match the 100-year old original floor, new finish, etc, and do the best we can to make it look okay, although it was impossible to repair it to how it used to be, and to this day we see the "mistakes" in the floor thanks to the 550 Subzero leak. The downstairs ceiling also has to be "down" while the ceiling is repainted. It’s August 2017 now. The icemaker once again is not working. The mold is back in the refrigerator area. The white paint that we had repaired on the shelves is once again coming off, with the black metal showing through. We still stuff the vegetables in, but love the egg trays for our farm fresh eggs. But it is time to throw in the towel. And here is why I would never buy a Subzero again - the refrigerator doesn't really work well when you store actual food in it. Like a family-sized amount of food.

The whole system is designed around air circulation, meaning you have to only store shallow items on the top and bottom shelves of the refrigerator section. So I did a calculation of the actual area of storage in this unit, 36: wide, 24' deep, 84" high fridge/freezer. When you measure the actual space that jars and food items will fit onto the shelves, excluding the lips and the brackets, etc, the actual area for storage is: 12.4 cu ft. Fridge and 4.5 Freezer for a grand total of 16.9 cu ft. of space. It’s just not an adequate amount of storage space for the average family. Who can be constantly concerned that the items on the bottom shelf won't block the "airflow?" It's a refrigerator, for goodness sakes. I'm glad I did not spend an arm and a leg to learn the truth about Sub-zero. I hope to find a real refrigerator, one than can look after itself.

We've only had our wine cooler for 3-1/2 years. It was not inexpensive... $7000 or so. I would have expected many years of good service. So, the bottom unit just failed... called in a local service company to repair. It's past the 2 year warranty, and it's not a covered 5 year warranty item. $275 to fix. Three weeks later, the top unit failed. Waiting to hear what this will cost me. Oh, and the only authorized Sub-Zero service company for South Florida is in Miami, over 80 miles away. Very disappointed. I have other Sub-Zero appliances, which I'm questioning now, expecting them to die soon. I will not consider Sub-Zero again, nor will I ever recommend to friends and colleagues.

This is the second time my Sub-Zero failed. The last time it was the compressor for over $800. I won't make that mistake again. I can buy a new fridge for much less. My ice maker has been frozen for two years. I am tired of using a hair dry to melt the ice blockage.

Sub zero built in refrigerator - Would not recommend these pieces of junk to my worst enemy. Have had two service calls at over 600.00 each and the parts were still under warranty. The drain hose freezes constantly and has to be thawed, a design defect for sure. I'm ready to take it to the dump where it belongs and get a fridge for less than I pay for servicing this one. I know where they get the zero in their name from. I would give them a zero star if it was available.

I am very dissatisfied with this product! We bought a Sub-Zero when we built our home less than two years ago. The ice jams up nearly weekly, the freezer ices up and the dispenser leaks! We paid several thousand dollars for this because we wanted an high-end kitchen. What a mistake! Before this, we had a Kenmore for 20 years and never had a problem. Don't buy this product!

Sub-Zero 501 F - Freezer is an absolute piece of junk. The compressor had to be replaced twice. Had to throw away a lot of food. I have had service work done four times on it to make ice. The water line to ice maker freezes after 3 weeks & I have to thaw the whole thing again and again. What a nuisance. I have had to buy a counter top ice maker & use trays & buy ice to deal with the situation. My inexpensive refrigerator with freezer in the basement works better. I have a $100,000 kitchen & am stuck with SZ garbage freezer & a like kind of refrigerator. IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUR SANITY, DO NOT BUY A SUB-ZERO ANYTHING. What power consumption. The units run day & night--NONSTOP.

It looks pretty good and cools great but within 3-4 yrs. we had to have compressor replaced. Since it was under warranty that was covered but we had to pay over $200 for service man's work. Not pleased w/ stainless steel exterior - no such thing as "no fingerprints". I got this as showroom display & that price was still too much for the quality. NO I would not buy this brand again.

Sub-Zero refrigerators are made of high quality materials but suffer, as do many modern appliances, from poorly conceived computerization. Our freezer hasn't consistently gotten cold enough to make ice for 5 years. We've had to get ice from our cheap basement refrigerator. Multiple parts and $1000's in repairs have not permanently resolved the problem.

I've had my Subzero model 550 since 1994, when we remodeled the kitchen in our antique home. A 24" deep space between our cabinets and wall, with brick chimney behind, created the perfect slide-in location for our cabinet-maker to frame the 36" space for it. My repair records show numerous visits to fix and ultimately replace the ice maker, unfreeze the water line, replace the fan motor, and even to change the freezer light bulbs when they froze and broke off while trying to replace them. In the past few years, I've seen condensation and mildew appear in the dairy compartments where I store butter and cream cheese, and the magnetic door gaskets have developed mildew in their accordion folds. The icemaker compartment has been freezing the ice into solid blocks, indicating a leak in the line.

Three days ago, the dedicated circuit breaker on the fridge tripped off when the icemaker died. Authorized service technician removed underside panel to observe evidence of long-standing leakage from the freezer, with rust, mold, etc. I was told the unit was not worth repairing - "beyond its lifespan." While this was a big expense at $3,000 22 years ago, it's not one I'll repeat at $10,000 today. As others have mentioned, there are counter-depth models that will fit the space, albeit with some need to situate a decorative item on top where the compressor was located. The Subzero was 84" tall and all others (French-door, freezer on bottom) run about 70" tall. The technician laughingly offered me a $500 coupon which I declined. Now my issue is negotiating the purchase and installation of a new unit with a business who can competently hook it up and remove the Subzero.

I purchased a new house with a new Sub-Zero 48" built in counter depth refrigerator with matching cabinet fronts installed. I had routine maintenance but to no avail. I have so many bills that total well over $10,000. Every time I had an issue it cost over $1,000. I also have a Sub-Zero at a beach condo. Same thing with that unit. I gave up fixing the ice maker and was forced to buy ice trays and make my own ice. How sad! I have two GE refrigerators one at each place, and they save the day when the Sub-Zero fails. I have never had a service call on either GE. That tells you all you need to know. Sub-Zero's have a reputation but we need to warn people that reputation was never earned! Don't buy a Sub-Zero. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!

I guess I have been one of the lucky ones if you want to call it that. I have had problems over the years but no big expenses. Both the refrigerator and freezer controls went bad at different times at about 7 years. I ordered and replaced them myself. I always had problems with refrigerator freezing. Can't tell you how many times I had to thaw that out. This is a poorly designed unit and I probably put up with it for too long. Finally the freezer failed. I think it was the defrost timer. Not wanting to put any more money or time into it I decided to replaced.

OK so now the big complaint. A replacement Sub-Zero is over $10,000!!! A crazy amount to pay for a refrigerator that has few of the feature a $3K counter depth has. Unfortunately I had cabinets custom built for the Sub-Zero - 35 1/2" width and no 36" nonbuilt-in counter depth refrigerator will fit my opening. So I opted to have the cabinet rebuilt, spend the $3K for a Samsung 4 door highly rated counter depth.

You could actually spend less - around $2K and still get more features than the 10K+ Sub-Zero. You have to be a little nuts, maybe a built-in fanatic, or you have money to throw away to buy a Sub-Zero. Don't waste your money, plan a 36" counter depth into you kitchen design - 36-inch opening. You won't be sorry. Buy a much better-designed unit with many more features than a $10K+ Sub-Zero. Even if you had to replace it several times you would still be ahead of the cost of the Sub-Zero.

Bought a new Pro 48... the top of the line with glass doors on front. Not even a year, total failure do nothing but throw away thousands of dollars in food. Spend $17,000 on a fridge and the best they can do is "possibly fit you in next week... possibly!" Do yourself a favor don't even consider Sub-Zero. They are not set up to be customer-friendly nor they at a min. honor they warranties.

Useless pieces of crap. So poorly designed no one can repair them. I sadly jokingly tongue in cheekily call ours the 10000 dollar ice box because I rely on the working side freezer compressor to create enough ice to place in the refrigerator side to keep my meat cool. If it were not for the dual compressor design I would have long ago shoved this 685 piece of crap up Sub-Zero ** and I literally live less than one-half mile from their main headquarters in Madison Wisconsin.

WARNING!!! Don't buy this junk! It's not worth the money! Warning!!! Do you know that SUB ZERO need to be cleaned every "3-6 months"? For a refrigerator costing this kind of money, it is UNACCEPTABLE to have so many problems and issues. My first unit was purchased in late 2011. It took over 12 service calls and being persistent for Sub Zero to recognize and admit that there was a design flaw and replace it with a new one. After just three months the new one is making a popping noise. I had 3 service call and the technician can't find out where the noise is coming from. I've had Samsung and LG for over 12 years without cleaning and servicing that still runs great. SUB ZERO should be ashamed of the crap they put out.

$10K Piece of Junk. I was inspired to write this review after my Sub-Zero, appropriate name as on a scale from 10 to 0, 0 would be too high a ranking, refrigerator failed for the umpteenth time. I would never buy this brand again.

I purchased the Sub-Zero (along with other Wolf Products) from a local dealer in Atlanta (Guy Gunter Home). From the very beginning the ice maker has never worked. The best part is after Guy Gunter installed the refrigerator, they have refused to service it. Their justification is it produced ice for one day and then quit... Not a faulty product but a "service issue". Sterling has been servicing the system (on my 3rd repair call since November just for the fridge water doesn't work now). Stay away from Guy Gunter Home and there are some issues with quality at Sub-Zero. This is the 3rd house I have had Sub-Zero/Wolf appliances and the first 2 experiences were great. I am definitely disappointed. We are having other issues with the Wolf ovens...

I read the reviews on this refrigerator before buying, and didn't take them serious. But please take this SERIOUS! Love the fridges, but the ice dispenser sucks!!! You better have a great back for bending; cause you'll be picking up more ice on the floor than falls in your glass!

Extremely 10x in the disappoint level of these products. First delivery, fridge was broken. Took over 2 weeks to get another unit. Second delivery, fridge had a broken main computer panel. Had to call for service tech. Each time new holes drilled in our custom kitchen cabinets. If things couldn't get worse, freezer does not produce an even acceptable amount of ice for a unit and price paid. I get about 2 cups of ice every 24 hours. Guess I will have to buy ice at the grocery store each week for the rest of my life. Sub-Zero reply, "Well it's just not an ice producer." If I had known that (living in Atlanta, as hot as it is most of the year) I would have never considered this product. I'm missing my Kitchenaid right now.

May I continue. The freezer and fridge don't square up at the center line or at the sides of the built-in cabinets. We are told by the Sub-Zero installers that we have to decide which is the lesser of the evils. Do we want the center seam to line up or the sides or the center alignment? We are told by installers that we can't have it all. I have not even been able to use these appliances and I already regret every second I have owned them. Buyer beware. Wishing I had my Kitchenaid back. Never had a problem. Best wishes to all who dare to purchase a Sub-Zero product. Also, buyer beware/caution to ask your local dealer to reveal all issues with Sub-Zero product. I didn't and now I whole heartily regret it.

There are many things we like about our Sub-Zero, but the interior filtered water server is so slow that we must keep the refrigerator door open for an entire minute to fill one 6-ounce glass of water. We bought it new in May 2014 and it has been slow like this from day 1. It is inefficient and environmentally unsound. The extra cost for this feature and the plumbing for it was a waste. Purchased from Kitchen Solutions in the Bronx.

Sub zero 6 burner gas range - I am very disappointed with my stove. This stove is absolutely not one to be used on a daily basis. I have had multiple problems with it back and forth. I feel as if I was given a defective range. I tried turning my oven on and I heard a pop. My oven light still works but the red light above the oven knob is flashing. When I turn the oven light on it makes a buzzing noise. My subzero 6 burner gas range smells like gas now when I turn the oven and after using my burners and turning them off it smells like a gas leak.

I am so disappointed in this stove. It is advertised as a commercial stove and that it is highly used by chefs in the restaurant business but I have not had any good experience with it! From the beginning I have had to call for service to be done and I have only had it a little bit over a year. The amount of repairs that have done are outrageous. I feel like I was sold a faulty appliance. The first time I had to repair it our oven light would not stop blinking for no reason. Fortunately the appliance company that has come to fix it has been very nice but I am getting so upset that I need to keep calling to get service done on it.

My mom that bought a $500 dollar stove has had no issues with her in the 16 years she has had it. Another time I had to call for service repairs, I apparently "spilled liquid too hot that melted the wires and it caused the burners not to start!" How can this be a commercial stove and how can restaurants be using this stove to cook when they spill so many liquids and their stove works perfectly fine!!! I am so unsatisfied with the outcome of this stove and I do not recommend this stove! I feel cheated from my money and would go back and return it if I could.

The refrigerator needed repair after repair and the repairs were incredibly costly. The refrigerator always had condensation on the rear wall and the interior rusted. The ice maker only worked intermittently and would leak water onto the floor underneath. I do not have a receipt as I bought a new house and the Sub-Zero refrigerator came with the house.

Owned 550 Sub-Zero since 1994. Many, many repairs over the years. New compressor, evaporator, fill line for coolant, etc etc. If this had been an automobile I would have been protected under the lemon law! You can say I owned it for 24 years, but I also paid over and over again for this refrigerator... Thousands of dollars in repairs and beware of repair companies that are NOT Sub-Zero certified. Looking to replace now with KitchenAid, but not hearing good things about them either.

I am on my 3rd Sub-Zero all different models. I didn't get three because I am stupid but because of buying different homes and having them there. Each time it was a brand new home. First home, ice maker died twice and the freezer compressor died. Put fridge still operating in garage. Second home ice maker also died and the line to the ice maker leaked into freezer insulation which froze. This caused condensation on side wall which leaked on hardwood floor. Fridge moved to basement, freezer turned off. Current Sub-Zero insulation on fridge door came apart at bottom leaking water on floor. Unit 7 years old and I am currently dealing with it. Next time I move if the home has a Sub-Zero I will not buy the house.

I purchased a new Sub-Zero refrigerator 5 years 3 months ago. My extended warranty ran out three months ago. I am now told that I need a new compressor, a $1,000+ repair! This was a very expensive refrigerator to begin with and I had assumed I was buying the best and most reliable appliance. I am very upset with this Sub-Zero. I have never in the past had such troubles with my fridge. :-(

First Sub Zero had to be replaced after a few months because of the flooding on floor and issues with doors. Second one already had three compressors and two fans replaced. Ice section freezes every month. I wish I could lift this fridge and hurl it out to the dump. Calling the repairman again tomorrow. Warning -- do not purchase any of their products. You will be sorry.

We purchased our Sub-zero built-in refrigerator with the idea it would last. The interior compartments are nice and food does stay fresh. That said, I would NEVER recommend the ice maker in the door model. The ice spits out at an alarming velocity and only works about half the time. We chose the wood panel doors and they started to peel and split within 2 months of installation. The repair took weeks and the doors have started to peel/split again. We are expecting sub-zero repairman today to check for possible leaks. The refrigerator cost more than 500 to install and the leak has been there since installation! I would not choose the same model again. I have been forced to stay home waiting for numerous repairmen, made numerous calls, and complained to the dealer more than once. Ours may be a lemon, but it has been a costly mistake.

Sub zero had not been keeping food cold as apparently coils were leaking. Sounded like a new coil system was needed. Parts ran under $400, but labor was over $700. Repairman was here 2 hours. He is not a surgeon, so that is ridiculous. I guess because a new one is so expensive they know you will have old one repaired. What a deal.

We have a 36" sub zero side by side. We purchased this one to replace a 20-year-old sub zero 36" fridge over freezer drawer unit. It keeps food so fresh, it's crazy. The old unit had some issues with the ice maker and air compressor, but it was 20 years old. This new one works great. We have had it about 3 years and the only issue is that the fridge drain to the pan gets plugged and it makes the fridge very difficult to open (pressure from inside). We now know how to fix this ourselves, so we do this service about every 6 months. Do expect some repairs, but amazing appliance.

We purchased a floor model Sub-Zero refrigerator with bottom freezer. After a month we realized that it had a slow leak from somewhere (still not identified where it came from). This leak damaged brand new hardwood floors and leaked into a brand new basement requiring drywall repair and machines to dry everything out. The authorized appliance repair technician called Sub-Zero, put me on the phone with them and they authorized a new refrigerator on the spot. The leak was discovered Tuesday morning and by Thursday night I had a brand new refrigerator hooked up. I am waiting to hear back from Sub-Zero's liability department about getting my floors and repairs paid for.