Avoid the automobile as they are not as reliable as the bicycle too. If
the icemaker craps out (and eventually it will), the refrigerator
functions as always, just no ice. At some points in life, you have to
decide if the convenience of automatic ice outweighs the eventual failure
of the mechanism and a $100 or so repair. I'm willing to pay. Make the
choice as you see fit for your needs.

It if has tits or wheels, sooner or later, you got problems. I have had
fridges where the ice maker lasted longer than the fridge. And vice versa.
Ice makers aren't rocket surgery, particularly for anyone who listens to
alt.home.repair and who owns a pair of pliers, screwdriver, hammer, and
adjustable wrench.

If one can't install a new ice maker and save the $100 a repairman wants,
they need to UNSUBSCRIBE to this newsgroup, as they are too stupid to be
here.

In my life, there were up and down phases when an ice maker was important,
and when it turned into a solid block of ice that needed to be blasted out
every three months or so. Seemed to have some unexplainable link to
economic times in my life and whether there was cheap beer or single malt
scotch in the fridge.

Steve