Guess I'll be hand-washing dishes....

[Winchester]

Yeah, it could have been. I don't know if it would have actually started a fire or anything, but it was troubling. Thanks, Kathy.

Fire scares me to death. There is no way we could ever get all six cats out of the house in a hurry. We know that. I think it's my biggest fear with the cats.

 

[Winchester]

Was dishwasher-hunting. Went to Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, and three local appliance dealers.

I like the Bosch that I saw at Lowes. That being said, then I read that a woman was replacing her kitchen floor because the float got stuck and the water kept coming in and, of course, overflowed. Wrecked her floor. That is a common problem with Bosch. Also, supposedly, when the Bosch needs repair work, the only way to work on the thing is to pull it out and turn it upside-down for repairs. And it has no automatic food grinder, so it would have to be cleaned out every 3-4 weeks. (I texted Rick that and he came back with an "Oh, isn't that just ducky") Oh, and if the installation isn't "just so" dirty dishwater can back up inside the dishwasher and it smells just lovely inside. However, the Bosch has three racks, with a silverware rack on the top. Which just means that people aren't happy with the way the silverware does not get cleaned properly up on that third rack. Bosch uses condensation drying instead of a heated drying cycle. Plastics do not dry well. I don't have a lot of plastics. But it is VERY quiet, so quiet that it has a light that shines on the floor that tells you that it's still running. When the light goes out, it's finished.

So onto the Kitchen Aid. I'll be honest. I don't really like the way it looks. But a few people said they really like their KAs. Others? Not so much. The KA is unreliable, the KA doesn't clean well, it doesn't dry well. They don't make KAs like they used to. If I heard that once yesterday, I heard it ten times. One lady who was just shopping for a washer at one of the local places saw that I was looking at a KA and made it a point to tell me that. She has one. She hates it. And she wanted me to hate it, too, I guess, just on principle. The KA was Consumer Reports top-rated dishwasher, much to the chagrin of people who made it a point to tell CR that they were insane. It's also over $1,000.

The Kenmore Elites are nice. Really. They have everything I want in a dishwasher. But you have that control panel issue that bothers me. I don't want a fire in the house. That's the only thing that truly bothers me, which is a big issue for me. Even our repair person told me to stay away from them. He likes Kitchen Aid. Go figure.

Looked at the GE line at our local appliance dealer in town. (He also carries Bosch and KA). I didn't really like the way they look. And the Profile, at $1,400, is expensive; at least I think so. I did spend the money on a GE Profile range about five years ago and I like my stove. But again, they don't clean well, they don't dry well, etc, etc. 

I think everybody has had a lemon! No matter what brand I looked at yesterday, somebody had a problem with it. So I'm just as confused as I was when I started out yesterday morning. I think that, at this point, it's a toss-up between a Bosch and a Kitchen Aid. If it weren't for that control panel problem, I'd go with a Kenmore Elite again. But then again, if it wasn't for that control panel problem, I wouldn't be looking for a new dishwasher!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I think I already said this, but will say again. Have you looked at a Maytag? We put this one here in 2002 when we built the house. It runs like a charm, never any problems.

 

[jcat]

That's scary. I'm very paranoid about dishwashers catching fire. One time my parents were visiting and I turned on the (4-year-old) dishwasher and ran to the bakery before they got up. I was only gone a couple of minutes, and when I got back the dishwasher was on fire. If I'd been out longer they could have died of smoke inhalation. Since then I've never left an appliance running when I'm going out, sleeping, etc..

I swear that appliances have a self-destruct mechanism nowadays.

I really hate washing dishes by hand and find it unhygienic. Ours is run every other day (two people, one cat). If I lived alone I'd probably get an apartment-sized one.

 

[Winchester]

I hadn't looked at Maytag. When I was at the local appliance store (the repair man has been to our house before to repair that same dishwasher and our washer), the people there tried to sell me a GE. He told me right out that if I went with Bosch, then I would have to find another repair man....they won't even look at them. He also warned me away from Whirlpool, Kenmore....and Maytag. Those three are tops on their list of frequently-repaired dishwasher models. I do know people who have Maytags, though, and they really like them.

I'm glad you got back from the bakery in time, Tricia! My biggest fear is fire. I know I'd never get all six cats out of the house quickly. And it scares me to death.

 

[denice]

Maytag used to be the best appliances around.  I remember my mother-in-law always bought Maytag even though they cost a little more.  My mother-in-law was very careful with money, many  would say scrooge like with money, and she paid that extra for Maytag.   At some point Maytag quit manufacturing here in the U.S. and shipped all manufacturing to Mexico.  They then really had nothing to do with the manufacturing, they were basically doing what Kenmore does just buying appliances and putting their name on them.  Whirlpool bought the name a few years back.  It's really too bad, Maytag used to be a really good appliance line.  I still remember the ads about the Maytag repairman being lonely because the appliances never broke down.

 

[Winchester]

I know. It's really a shame about appliances in general. I remember that I was tickled when we bought a Maytag washer because THAT was the washer to get. And it's stood us many years. 

 

[kathyfromcanada]

Pam I can remember that when you used to buy appliances they would last for 30 years or more! Sheesh. My mother had her fridge and stove and dryer for over 35 years!! Now I've been told your lucky if you have it 10 years. What a ******** rip off

 

 

[denice]

People also routinely got appliances repaired because it was worth it.  People would pay far less to get an appliance repaired then it would cost to buy new and get many more years out of it.  Now it's just buy a new one.  I am 59 and I remember the little mom and pop repair shops that would fix small appliances like toasters and TV repair shops.  The TV repair shops also sold used TV's as well as new ones.  They would give people a few bucks off of a new TV when they traded in their old ones.  They would get them fixed up and sell them at a profit.  The person who bought the TV also got a good deal because the TV would last for years and they paid less then they would pay for a new one.  Now it's just throw things out when they quit working and go to a big box store to buy new.

 

[Winchester]

We had a fridge that easily went over 25 years. It was an old GE fridge and it kept going. Our washer is ancient by today's standards. We are such a disposable society and there's no money in keeping things anymore. Companies don't make products to last because they don't want them to last.

 

[stewball]

Can you get LG's in America? I have a German dish washer. It's a De dietrich. I got it when I was about 53 and now I'm 70 and it's still running.
Don't just look at American machines unless that's all you can get in America.
I put my washing machine on
Wednesday nights before I go to bed!

 

[Winchester]

I think we're going to get a Kitchen Aid dishwasher. I was really looking at a Bosch, but somebody told me a  story about putting in a new kitchen floor because the float got stuck and kept calling for water; the float is a definite Bosch problem.  I don't want to go there. And really, if appliances aren't going to last all that long, should I really spend $1,000 on a dishwasher every 4-5 years or go with a cheaper model? Rick and I looked very briefly while we were at Lowes yesterday afternoon; we had to get gas for the grill. He prefers one of the KA models over the Bosch, but said it's really my decision and he'll go with whatever I decide. 

We actually talked about whether we even wanted to bother with a new dishwasher. I asked Rick if we should just remove the one we have now and maybe put in another kitchen cabinet. I can always use extra space in the kitchen. To which he responded with, "You do realize that the first time we have a large family dinner without the dishwasher, you are not going to be amused." Followed by, "Six cats, Pam. We have six cats. Which means lots and lots of cat dishes." And he's right. It's only been almost two weeks and I'm already so tired of washing cat dishes, I could scream. I have to say, too, that most of our top rack of the dishwasher was always loaded primarily with cat dishes. Between their snacks and their meals, it adds up because I don't make them eat from the same plate more than once. I wouldn't do that myself. But I really do hate washing dishes; it's my least favorite task in the entire house. I'm not lazy. I'm not. But man, I hate washing dishes. Life is too short to have to wash dishes.

I think that the problem with many "official" reviews (Consumer Reports, for example) is that they run brand new models...and, of course, they're wonderful. If they would check out some of those models, once they've been used for a while -- say 3-6 months, or even 9 -12 months -- they would get a far more thorough review. I don't care what a dishwasher is like fresh out of the box, so to speak; chances are it's going to perform beautifully with no problems. What I want to know is: How does it hold up? Is it still quiet six months later? Have you had any trouble with the dishwasher after 6-12 months of daily use? How clean are the dishes after using the dishwasher for a length of time? What are the racks like after being used? And so on. And I do understand that a lot of those answers are based on how an appliance is treated. Appliances that are treated well are obviously in better shape and operate better than something that's been used hard, never cleaned, etc. And they do kind of take into consideration the amount of time that people have an appliance, to a certain extent; that's why we get survey requests from CR on various things from time to time. And the more repair-prone versus least repair-prone....all that good stuff. But appliances aren't cheap and they're not made to last any more. We need more information so that we can make good decisions about how to spend our money. I hope I've made sense.

Judy, from everything I've been reading, LG simply is not a good company. It's one of the most repair-prone companies around (Samsung is the worst), no matter what appliance one buys. And they're not easy to deal with when something goes wrong.  

 

[stewball]

Winchester

I'd better not tell my sister that. She has an LG. Thank you for telling me.