Dishwasher Recommendations

[khaoskat]

Need recommendations for a new dishwasher, ours died last weekend, and there are so many choices/options.

Leaning towards a Kenmore right now...but not so sure.

 

[mrsstats]

We have a Bosch. Bought about 1 year ago from Sears. No problems with it but it is a little smaller inside than my previous Kenmore.

 

[Rendar]

Kenmore Elite Dishwashers are rated #'s 1 2 3 and 4 in consumer reports right now. There are also some fantastic sales on them for the July 4th Holiday.

 

[momto3gr8boys]

We have a Miele. I like it..it's very quiet and does a great job. I also like the third row for silverware as opposed to the basket. The only downside is that it seems like the cycle takes longer than my kenmore did.

 

[LJSquishy]

It really depends on your budget. All of the highly rated Consumer Reports dishwashers are pretty expensive. We just bought a new dishwasher on Friday to be delivered on Wednesday.

We didn't really have a set budget, but we knew we couldn't spend $800+ on one. We decided on the LG LDS5040ST model on sale for $499 everywhere right now. It surprisingly has a 4-star average review on just about every website and no one seems to complain about anything specific. I figured people would either say it doesn't clean the dishes, or it doesn't dry the dishes -- but I haven't seen a review that complains about the dishes being wet so it must do at least a decent job. Our current dishwasher is a piece of junk Fridgidaire (the super cheap model) that is a huge frustration. It also no longer advances in the cycle on its own so we have to turn the dial midway through to get it to finish. LOL We figured anything would be better than the one we currently have.

Bosch dishwashers are rated very high, but not all of the models rate highly. Consumer Reports didn't rate the LG model we purchased, and the other LG models were lower down on the list but there were also not any $500 dishwashers listed with decent reviews so the list is really subjective. If you can spend $800-$1600 on a dishwasher, you should probably check out Consumer Reports. If not, I would just browse reviews on websites. Home Depot/Lowes are having some great sales right now for the 4th of July. My dishwasher was $200 off (+ free delivery and haul away of old one), and the model one step up from what we got was $300 off.

 

[jthelman]

Keep in mind that Kenmore is not a manufacturer. They actually just rebrand.

Its a smart deal. They basically find the top brand from places like consumer reports, and rebadge them as Kenmore. The impression is that they always make the top appliances, and they do, sorta.

It's definitely a good place to start looking as Sears tends to be very competitive in price - I think they will deliver too?

When you see a Kenmore you really like, see if you can find the actual manufacturer (GE/Whirlpool, etc), then you can go apples to apples for comparison.

John

 

[disneymomto5]

I have had many disappointing dishwashers in my day, however, 2 years ago we bought a Kenmore Ultra Wash with stainless steel interior and it is by far the BEST dishwasher I have ever had. Keep in mind I didn't have an endless budget so if I had maybe I would've bought something else, but I seriously find that it's quiet and washes the best of any I have personally had. I would not hesitate to buy another.

 

[tvguy]

Keep in mind that Kenmore is not a manufacturer. They actually just rebrand.

Its a smart deal. They basically find the top brand from places like consumer reports, and rebadge them as Kenmore. The impression is that they always make the top appliances, and they do, sorta.

It's definitely a good place to start looking as Sears tends to be very competitive in price - I think they will deliver too?

When you see a Kenmore you really like, see if you can find the actual manufacturer (GE/Whirlpool, etc), then you can go apples to apples for comparison.

John

The salesmen at Sears in my experience usually tell you who made each of their appliances. And their parts catalog cross references to the original manufacturers parts numbers.

Sears used to be a lot easier, until about 30 years ago all their appliances were made by Whirlpool. Actually, my mom's 1978 washer and dryer say "Kenmore by Whirlpool" on the front.

We have had a Bosch dishwasher for the past 15 years.......so it's been a good unit, but not sure they make them like they did 15 years ago. It replaced a 10 year old Maytag that leaked and took out our kitchen floor.

 

[khaoskat]

We didn't really have a set budget, but we knew we couldn't spend $800+ on one. We decided on the LG LDS5040ST model on sale for $499 everywhere right now.

That is one of the models we are looking at, I did find a site that had some negative reviews of it, along the lines that even the short wash cycle was taking 1 1/2 hours to complete.

The other we are looking at is one of the Kenmore Elites, it is around $750, plus we have a $50 off coupon..making it only about $200 more than the LG.

But with the LG we have a friend who will make the purchase using his Home Depot Card and Military ID, and says we would get about 19% off.

 

[khaoskat]

Keep in mind that Kenmore is not a manufacturer. They actually just rebrand.

Its a smart deal. They basically find the top brand from places like consumer reports, and rebadge them as Kenmore. The impression is that they always make the top appliances, and they do, sorta.

It's definitely a good place to start looking as Sears tends to be very competitive in price - I think they will deliver too?

When you see a Kenmore you really like, see if you can find the actual manufacturer (GE/Whirlpool, etc), then you can go apples to apples for comparison.

John

Not 100% sure, but we think it is Kitchen Aid who manufactured this one.

 

[khaoskat]

The salesmen at Sears in my experience usually tell you who made each of their appliances. And their parts catalog cross references to the original manufacturers parts numbers.

Sears used to be a lot easier, until about 30 years ago all their appliances were made by Whirlpool. Actually, my mom's 1978 washer and dryer say "Kenmore by Whirlpool" on the front.

We have had a Bosch dishwasher for the past 15 years.......so it's been a good unit, but not sure they make them like they did 15 years ago. It replaced a 10 year old Maytag that leaked and took out our kitchen floor.

We are replacing a 13-14 year old Kitchen Aid. It has been decent for the 3 years we have owned it.

Bosch is another we have looked at...

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We have a Bosch with the top rack for silverware. It is great...can't hear it running. Don't have to pre rinse at all...just scrape and load.

 

[wuzzles]

We bought a Bosch. The control panel has been replaced 3 times. The motor twice. The closing latch has been replaced once. It is less than 3 years old.

The repairs were all covered under the included warranty, but I've been out a dishwasher for up to four weeks at a time while waiting for them to try to get both a repairman and the correct parts out to the house at the same time.

Maybe I just got the one lemon of the bunch, but I can't say I would really recommend the brand.

 

[wiigirl]

Kenmore Elite Dishwashers are rated #'s 1 2 3 and 4 in consumer reports right now. There are also some fantastic sales on them for the July 4th Holiday.

We have a Kenmore Elite and absolutely love it.

 

[DVC-Don]

Bosch. It's so quiet I have to look for the red light to see if its running. 5 years and no issues.

 

[Pigeon]

We've had a Bosch for four years now and it's been great.

 

[Arielle22]

We just bought a new dishwasher on Saturday that is being delivered on Friday. We had looked at a Bosch which was highly rated by Consumer Reports.

However the salesman pointed out that it didn't have a drying cycle so that ruled it out for us. We went with a similar Maytag.

We are replacing a Kenmore that is under 5 years old. I have been very disappointed with the Kenmore and looking forward to a new dishwasher.

 

[Northernlites]

I hate my Kenmore Elite. I paid $1200 CND two years ago. Dishes don't get clean, cycles are very long and it is very very loud. I can't say anything positive about it. I believe it is the biggest waste of money I have ever spent. I really let the salesperson at Sears con me on this one.

 

[Rendar]

Not 100% sure, but we think it is Kitchen Aid who manufactured this one.

All the Kenmore and Kenmore Elite Dishwashers are currently made by Whirlpool. Whirlpool also owns Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air and Amana.

 

[lucyem]

Bought a Kenmore once. Died within a week. Took 6 months and in-fighting between 3 Sears stores to finally get it replaced. Ends up I bought it at one Sears but other two were closer. At one point repairman ordered a part and his boss canceled the repair saying it was not the right part, it was. The fireball shooting across my carpeted kitchen floor was what finally got them to agree to a new one (old house bought from old couple who had a thing for rugs in the kitchen )

I buy partially based on repairmen. Sad I know, but because we live in a rural area it makes a difference. If you buy from Lowes or similar you get the same repairman who has a reputation for milking warranties. And has been in trouble for doing so. Also my stove still only has 3 working burners thanks to him. If we buy from Sears we get their repairmen who were decent, just bad management. If we buy from a local small appliance company they service what they sell. Good repair guys who show up on time and do their work. Prices are not always the best on the initial purchase but if you have a problem they come through. I bought a Bosch washer & dryer so sadly saw a lot of them a few years back. Bought a Miele dishwasher, the cheapest they make, and it lasted 5 years and then we sold our house. Bought another one for our new house and it is 6 years old now and never had an issue.