Dishwasher recs

We just finished building, I have a Bosch 800 series that extremely quiet it was important for me because we have an open floor concept, I’m extremely happy with it.

Bosch, always and forever. The third rack for flatware is a game changer

I like Bosch dishwashers. They've always worked for me. One thing I want to suggest is that you take a plate from your china set to make sure they fit and don't block the sprayer arm. It's also an idea to take in commonly used pots and/or glassware. You don't want to get a dishwasher home and then discover that your plates don't fit!

I've had Bosch and Miele in the past and liked both. When we replaced a Bosch a couple of years ago, I looked at Bosch, Miele and Thermador before deciding on a Cove (Sub-zero). The main reasons were the baskets on the Cove were much sturdier with more flexible options and the 5 year full warranty. The d/w we replaced was a Bosch only last 7 years. The one prior to that was still going strong almost 20 years later.

I was recently president a luxury home appliance store for a year and a half after my employer acquired the company. I have many thoughts on this topic from the perspective of customer satisfaction, as well as frequency and handling of warranty issues by the manufacturers + other service needs.

I would never buy a GE, Samsung, LG, Amana, or Frigidaire dishwasher. I would be disinclined to have a KitchenAid, Whirlpool, or Maytag but wouldn’t absolutely rule them out (I would not buy a the first generation of a new model from any of them, though). Miele, Cove, Bosch, and Asko would be my contenders. Cove is great, and service from Sub-Zero is top-notch. The only reason I didn't go with a Cove was I felt the internal racks/configurations in Miele better suited our particular needs. Asko is also excellent, but as a smaller European brand, can be a little difficult to get service for. We don't have a factory-authorized Asko servicer nearby, so I eliminated them (though it's rare they need service). Bosch build quality just didn't feel as good as Cove and Miele, so I ultimately cut them too.

For what it’s worth, we just had to get a new dishwasher a couple months ago and I picked the Miele G 7766 SCVi SF. It's more than I would have spent before I worked in the industry, but no regrets and every day, I think it’s worth it. Soooooo much better than the KitchenAid it replaced.

In most appliance categories, there are great units at a variety of price points. However, with dishwashers, that really didn’t seem to hold true. Build quality, reliability, and performance all really suffer at the lower end. It’s not just bells and whistles.

Whatever you choose - BE SURE there is a factory-authorized warranty service provider in your area. Hopefully nothing will go wrong, but if it does, and it should be covered under warranty but there's no provider in your area, it will become a total cluster and you will be incredibly frustrated.. That advice holds true for ALL appliances, not just dishwashers.

We love our Kitchen Aid one. We had a Bosch and I hated it - the racks were weird so certain things didn't load right.

When it finally died and we started looking for a new one, we really wanted that third upper rack. The KitchenAid one has a deeper third rack so we can put small bowls (think prep bowl size) up there, and it has a long rack for laying knives in. Now if I can get DH to remember to put the knives in sharp side down LOL

It runs fairly quiet - I hear the water swooshing more than the motor itself. The only thing it didn't have that I really wanted was the silverware rack on the door instead of taking up space on the bottom rack. 

We were shopping in a time just post shut-downs so we had to take what was available if we wanted take home that day, so all they had was stainless steel (all my other appliances are white) but now I have an excuse to shop for new range & fridge one day!

Check with your credit card. Our card doubles the warranty up to an extra year.

We bought a lower end Bosch model. Our dishes (including the bigger dinner plates) fit nicely. My only complaints is that there is no display on the door so you can't tell how much time is left. I didn't even check to see if the higher end model had that. I just didn't really care too much about having a fancy dishwasher, but I wish I had thought of looking for a door display.

ETA - I looked it up. The higher end models have "timelight". It shines the remaining time on to the floor. Ours doesn't have that feature and only shines a red light on the floor when it is running.

My first, low-priced Whirlpool dishwasher lasted for 27 years. My second, mid-priced Whirlpool dishwasher has been going strong for 14+ years now with no sign of trouble. I’m sticking with Whirlpool.

We have the Cafe line of GE and love it! It is so quiet!! Going on 6 years and no issues at all.