Bosch, Neff, Siemens - any difference in reliability?

[Seb101]

So Bosch, Neff and Siemens are actually identical products now. They don't even try to be subtle about it, they are using virtually identical model numbers, not to mention identical products:

NEFF KA3902I20G AMERICAN FRIDGE FREEZER
Siemens KA90IVI20G American Style Fridge Freezer
Bosch KAD90VI20G American Style Freestanding Fridge

It's odd that I see so many reviews along the lines of "Neff are crap, Siemens are the best" or "Had a Bosch that broke down 3 times in a year, now got a Neff and it's amazing". Is there any real difference in quality between the three, or is it just a case of 'your mileage may vary' will all of them?

 

[Notch7]

Bosch, Neff and Siemens are all the same company and manufacturer.

I think the badging is to cover a larger market:
Bosch = value
Neff = cooking brand
Siemens = style brand

Id like to think different badging would create different levels of reliability

 

[Seb101]

Bosch, Neff and Siemens are all the same company and manufacturer.

I think the badging is to cover a larger market:
Bosch = value
Neff = cooking brand
Siemens = style brand

Id like to think different badging would create different levels of reliability

Yes indeed - my perception also. It seems that it's always better to go for the Bosch in these cases, simply because they tend to have the most features for the price. In this fridge/freezer series the Bosch is typically priced £100 cheaper, with identical features to the Neff. The Siemens is interestingly priced the same as the Bosch, but with fewer features - it seems to be missing the water filter option that the Bosch and Neff have. Might just be market-to-market differences though.

 

[Benmar]

Similar discussion on mumsnet, personally I've always associated Bosch with BMW type reliability rather than value, and Siemens with heavy electrical equipment rather than household appliances but perhaps that's because I'm not very stylish.

 

[Seb101]

Thing is with all this stuff, including BMWs in my experience, is that the one person who gets a lemon will post about it non-stop, while the 100s of happy customers will never type a single word. It creates a very biased online view of most brands.

You always remember the bad stuff more than the good stuff.