Kitchen

[Fressa]

My Maytag dishwasher broke after 17 years of use. Now my head is spinning with what's out there, prices, sparse warranties and mixed reviews. I'm hoping some of you have recently purchased a dishwasher in the last few years to guide me thru this maze. I have been limping along with all of my appliances trying to get two more years of life out of them before replacing them. The stove is on shaky ground but the dishwasher was our surprise this month. I have these wood panels that fit over the door so I want to use them on whatever built in that I buy. That limits my choices but makes it a bit tricky with the door installation. If I don't use the door panels then I prefer white appliances over black because I've got the white counter tops but then I have a black face on the stove. I think that looks awful. It's a mess..... I've come to the conclusion that buying an appliance is worse than buying a car. I just need a dishwasher with the basics but that really does do a good job of cleaning the dishes. I'm a big fan of Consumer Reports and have checked out what they recommend on line. Again the reviews are mixed and most of them are more than what I want to spend for a one year warranty. I'm hoping that you can help me with what you purchased and where and how it has performed for your needs. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for taking your time in answering my question.

[terrier3]

I have a Bosch with a stainless interior.

Not top of the line, but quiet and effective.

It cost about $500-$600 five years ago.

It is Energy Star rated too.

[dsky]

I went through the same thing a couple of years ago, our 20 year old dishwasher broke and I was searching for what would be the best model, then my husband just went to Home Depot and bought the Adora, stainless steel one and I love it. I think it was around $750 or so. It is so quiet you don't even know it is running.

[suzyQ3]

We had bought a Bosch because it was touted to be very quiet, and our kitchen is open to our family room. We hated it. We had problems with the control panel. And then just very soon after our warranty expired, it started making a sound that indicated a major problem.

We dumped it and bought a Kenmore Elite (top of the line) last year and never looked back -- rated very highly by CR, btw. Talk about quiet. Now we have that plus a well-functioning, well-designed appliance.

[Abrowneyegirl]

You sound over-whelmed. Relax. After some recent life experience with new appliances we have found that we spend more time researching than owning. The reality is no matter what you buy or what you spend it is not going to last like years ago.

We spent lots of time reading CR and other reviews before spending thousands on new HE washer and dryers- top of the line CR top recommendation. We have spent over a thousand $ on repairs in the last 5 years. Next problem and they will be out the door. The service tech tell me the only reason we have not had more problems is that we hardly use them. !!!! it is just DH and I and most of our clothes are dry cleaned.

My BFF is holding the current record of an 8 year old dishwasher. She was recently told after her service call do not bother spending the $$ to repair again, it is at the end of its life expectancy!!!. another top of the appliance and they love it, but it is dying quickly.

Buy what fits your needs and budget, this is NOT a long term commitment.

[fthunt]

Maytag - NO - it's not the same company your Mother/Grandmother had. (but 17 years is impressive - mine lasted only a couple of years)

Whirlpool - YES It has more selections than you'll ever need - I use NORMAL setting and this machine has been trouble-free for ten years at least. New Whirlpool washer has been excellent too - and my appliance store owner suggested I replace with Whirlpool products.

[GCR18]

There have been a number of similar threads since Christmas. May be worth doing a search and reading them. I have a bottom of the line Amana dishwasher. Other than being noisier than I would like, it gets everything clean. I don't prewash anything, just stick it in.

[Havarti]

I also have a Bosch with a stainless interior. Mine is also not top of the line, but quiet and effective. The thing that bothers me the most and that I did not know when I purchased it is that it does not have a heated dry cycle. It is probably all in my head but I just think the dishes are cleaner if they have that heated cycle at the end. I would not buy this dishwasher again, even though Bosch is considered to be an excellent brand. I would likely buy Kenmore or Whirlpool - without all the fancy extras. I figure the more stuff they have the more can go wrong. Simple and easy is the way I prefer.

[suzyQ3]

On 3/9/2014 Havarti said:

I also have a Bosch with a stainless interior. Mine is also not top of the line, but quiet and effective. The thing that bothers me the most and that I did not know when I purchased it is that it does not have a heated dry cycle. It is probably all in my head but I just think the dishes are cleaner if they have that heated cycle at the end. I would not buy this dishwasher again, even though Bosch is considered to be an excellent brand. I would likely buy Kenmore or Whirlpool - without all the fancy extras. I figure the more stuff they have the more can go wrong. Simple and easy is the way I prefer.

Havarti, as much our Bosch was a bust for us, I actually liked the way it dried the dishes without a heater. It uses what they call "condensation drying."

If I happen to have opened the dishwasher right at the end of the cycle, wow, there was most definitely heat coming from it and the dishes were dry.

Plastic containers were sometimes not very dry, but that happens sometimes happens with dryers that have conventional heating. And since there was no heating element, I loved being able to put plastic on the bottom rack if I needed to.

But still, we had too much trouble with it. Our Kenmore is such a pleasure after that experience. Yes, it was rate highly by CR, and I know that doesn't necessarily translate into our ending up happy, but in this case, it most definitely did.

[forrestwolf]

I bought my house 8 years ago, and it was only 5 years old then, and I bought LG front load washer/dryer.......not one moment of prolems, and I had to have new TV"s.......again, LG, which is made by Zenith, that I grew up with, and never a blink from the TV, only the satellite.........Then, last January, 2013, finally decided to upgrade my kitchen appliances to at least what I owned previously, and even made a higher upgrade, and did not hesitate with LG.........I never hear the dishwasher, except for the final drain, and it also uses the condensation heat to dry, but has several options in cycles, and a sanitizer mode for extra hot water and better drying, and you can configure the racks to best fit what you need for each load, and the top rack will lower, to make the top rack taller, and you can even put your smart phone on the symbol on the side of the door, and the problem, if any arise, will be analyzed and display on your smart phone.......Of no value to me, I still use my old flip phone.......... I am enjoying my stove with double oven that is convection and infared broiler......and my above the stove microwave with hood/turbo hood, that can be extended to directly cover the front eyes on my stove.........I do not regret any of my LG choices at this time, and some, as stated are 8 years old, and I feel I am ahead of the game with some of the issues that many have stated at times on here.........