Do you love your dishwasher?

[clairea]

There aren't many dishwasher review threads that I can find, and the last one is several months old. Our dishwasher has been recalled. We have the option of getting a repair or getting a rebate on a new dishwasher. Since the current dishwasher is 9 years old, we are leaning towards getting a new one. I can only get the rebate if I buy a GE or Kenmore dishwasher -- $150 towards Kenmore or GE, $300 towards GE Profile or GE Monogram.

I don't have strong feelings about GE, but from the recall thread it sounds like some people do. Are those the regular GE, or the Profile/Monogram (and is there really a difference)? I am not absolutely wed to getting a brand that allows me the rebate, but we will certainly take it into consideration.

I also need to stick with pretty common brands. We have Sears and Lowes for shopping, and Best Buy about 1/2 hour away, but in terms of getting service here I imagine it would be difficult to get service on any of the more unusual/European brands.

So . . . do you have a dishwasher that you love or hate? Can anyone tell me anything good about GE Profile/Monogram? I have had good experiences with Kenmore appliances so I may look at those too, but I'd like to at least consider one that is eligible for the higher rebate (even if I wind up not getting it).

[DeeK]

I have had three G.E. dishwashers. The first one came with our first house in the 80's and it was eventually recalled because of a fire hazard with the latch. We replaced that one with a KitchenAid.

The second dishwasher came with our second house. It was a G.E. Profile. The racks rotted through quickly and something went bad with the motor in less than 7 years.

I got talked into G.E. dishwasher #3 by a salesman at our repair place. It has had three repairs in less than 5 years. It required internal cleaning regularly because tiny food bits would get hung up under the screening in the rear of the wash tub. We scrape our dishes and even rinse them, but some bits of food do get by. Well, there they stay in the wash tub contaminating the "clean" dishes until you manually remove the screen (requiring a special socket wrench) and wash the gunk out. Gross to say the least. The last straw came on Friday when the dishwasher decided that some cycles needed no water. The water would pump in, pump directly out and then the machine would try to wash. Not good and probably a fire hazard (again :rolleyes: )

This morning I had a new dishwasher installed. It's a Kenmore (KitchenAid/Whirlpool) and I've run one load. So far, so good. ;) :D

But, as for G.E. anything ----steer clear! I've also had trouble with a G.E. washer (died young) and my G.E. fridge - three repairs in the first few years. Although it has been running fine after that and it's almost 14 years old.

As for the foreign made brands, our salesman at Sears said the Bosch were good, but the Asko was not. You may have trouble finding suitable service people if you live in a more rural area.

[TKay]

Shoot! I was going to recommend the Fisher/Paykel double drawer dishwasher. It's pricey, but so worth it if you ask me. I can't say it does an unbelievable job of washing the dishes--but it's good. What I love is the convenience of having two separate drawers. I can run a smallish load more often. That keeps dirty dishes off my counter or out of my sink. I always have one dirty drawer and one clean. It's so handy.
Not sure if the double drawer is an option with any of the brands you mentioned. It would be hard to pass up the rebate though. Good luck whatever you decide.

[Hammster]

I echo the types of issues Dee has had with her GE appliances. We had nothing but problems with GE laundry set. I got real good at taking the washer and dryer apart to fix them. We have a Maytag dishwasher and we won't get another one of those. We were talked into it because it had these new whizbang ceramic coated wire racks that were impervious to scratches and rusting. So, we thought, great. Well the bottom one rusted through in about a year. So, we ordered a replacement rack, under warranty, and Maytag sent us a soft vinyl coated rack! Not even the same thing. So, we are done with Maytag. Also, the motor has been replaced once and the soap dispenser latch seal had to be replaced. The seal was leaking and water would get inside the door and drip onto the kitchen floor. I'm thinking the Maytag repairman isn't so lonely any more.
Next dishwasher will be Kenmore. Stove and laundry set are Kenmore made by Whirlpool and are excellent. Fridge is 20+ y/o Whirlpool and had its thermostat replaced 15 years ago and is still running strong.
Yeesh, now I've gone and jinxed it. LOL

[Grace]

LOVE my KitchenAid! Don't even need to rinse or scrape. There's a built in "disposal". Love it.

[clairea]

Shoot! I was going to recommend the Fisher/Paykel double drawer dishwasher.

I love these, but I have a feeling they would be hard to find, much less get serviced, where I live. I had several friends in Atlanta who had them and they all loved them.

I'll probably look at Kenmore. I've always had good luck with their applicances and I would at least get something toward it. That built in disposal on the Kitchenaid sounds really attractive, though -- I can get my kids to put their dishes in the dishwasher, but can't really get them to rinse and scrape them.

Please keep the thoughts coming. It will be at least next week before I have a chance to go shopping.

Claire

[Beth]

I put in Kitchenaid in my last two houses and LOVED the last one. I was planningon getting one again here, but when we went looking, they had changed the racking and I didn't like the way you had to pull pieces out instead of fold them down to change the loading. I went with Bosch (with a Thermador name plate because it was over $100 cheaper). I'm still learning how to best load it. It cleans well and is quiet.

There was a Kenmore option (made by Kitchenaid) that had racking more like our Kitchenaid at the last house. If those are still available, I'd give them a hearty recommendation too.

[HejazSunKat]

I have a Bosch (SHX99A15UC) and am very happy with it. Of course it's the first dishwasher I've ever had in my entire life (and I'm 47!) so I don't know if that's just the abject gratitude talking. To say it has changed my life would probably not be an overstatement. :D It's quiet as can be and does a good job.

http://www.homeclick.com/showpage.asp?itemid=273523&cm_ven=Google&cm_cat=Model%20%23s&cm_pla=Bosch&cm_ite=SHX99A15UC&cm_typ=MPNs&cm_rnk=&cm_mid=408&cm_wid=H

[Jalapeno]

I have an LG and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

[do-lolly]

I base my dishwasher selection solely on how I can load it. I bought a Kenmore because I can get the maximum amount of dishes in it. I like my dishwasher to have the basket on the side and the rest of the prongs long, straight up and down and in a row. This allows me to stack plates on one side and then put pots, pans, and cookie sheets on the other. A lot of the dishwashers have parts in the middle and you cannot load anything in that area. That's just wasted space where dishes could go. When the prongs are bent and or short, that also limits the way, or the items that you can load. I'm sorry for the rant, but as you can see, I'm very anal retentive about dishwashers.:o

[luv2cook]

BOSCH, BAYBEE! I LOVE mine!

[Slowcooker]

Sorry, but I couldn't resist posting- I DO love my dishwasher- It's my DH, and he faithfully cleans up after me whenever I cook a meal. Hope you find one that's as good:)

[luv2cook]

It's my DH, and he faithfully cleans up after me My DH does all the stuf that I don't put in the DW...he's pretty good at it...needs a little work on the clean the sink concept, tho...

[Lrimerman]

We replaced our Dishwasher last year (or maybe the year before, can't remember). I did research on line with Consumers Report and Garden Web Forum and decided to go with the Kenmore Elite. I LOVE IT and so does DH. I ended up with the more expensive model after actually checking them out in the store. The one I got has an all stainless steel interior, but the reason I went with it is the racks are adjustable and it really improves the types and amount of stuff you can load, also the racks on the more expensive model felt much sturdier than the model down.

It does have a food disposer (that was one of my requirements, I didn't want to be emptying/cleaning yucky food bits from a trap.). It is very quiet and has some nice cycles. We have been very happy with it.

At the time it was on sale and there was a deal with installation as well as they dented it when they put it in, so they knocked off another $150 so it was very worth it.

Lisa

[Peweh]

We replaced our Dishwasher last year (or maybe the year before, can't remember). I did research on line with Consumers Report and Garden Web Forum and decided to go with the Kenmore Elite. I LOVE IT and so does DH. I ended up with the more expensive model after actually checking them out in the store. The one I got has an all stainless steel interior, but the reason I went with it is the racks are adjustable and it really improves the types and amount of stuff you can load, also the racks on the more expensive model felt much sturdier than the model down.

It does have a food disposer (that was one of my requirements, I didn't want to be emptying/cleaning yucky food bits from a trap.). It is very quiet and has some nice cycles. We have been very happy with it.

At the time it was on sale and there was a deal with installation as well as they dented it when they put it in, so they knocked off another $150 so it was very worth it.

Lisa

It sounds like I have the same one as Lisa - I love it too. It's super quiet, and is Energy Star rated. If I recall it uses just 7 gallons of water per load which was on the low end when I was shopping 3 years ago. The stainless interior was a big seller for me, I don't like how others DWs I had when renting would turn yellow on the inside after a while. My only 'wish I had' item is the silverware basket that hangs on the inside of the door, there were none of that feature with SS tub I could find when shopping.

[vbak]

I love my KitchenAid! Ten years and it keeps on going.

[BucknellAlum]

I replaced the GE that came with my house with a KitchenAid.

One piece of advice - Bring one of your plates and/or tall glasses with you to shop! Part of the reason I hated my GE was that I could not fill it properly. Because of their ill-thought out design, about 1/3 of the bottom rack was not usable for dinner size plates.

Also, the top rack could not accommodate tall water glasses. I have had DWs with adjustable racks on top, but my KitchenAid can fit everything nicely.