GRM Consumer Reports: Dishwashers

The Jenn-Air that came with my house shat itself today. Pump is gone. Other stuff has been broken for years and I am done fixing it. Time for a new one. The 40yr old "dishwasher" said it has to match the other stuff and it better get here fast because she has other E36 M3 to do than clean dishes by hand. That means it has to have stainless trim and I need to buy it on my way home (I'm traveling for work...)

So... fire away: What brand/model has a stainless look, fits a standard "under counter hole" and does not suck or break the bank?

Kenmore always rates pretty high on the "cheap/does not suck" scale.

1988RedT2 wrote: Kenmore always rates pretty high on the "cheap/does not suck" scale.

I second that. Stay away from the really pricey brands. They don't clean any better and they break more regularly.

avoid Maytag.

Get one of the new, deeper, quiet ones. They really are much quieter and have much more room in them.

They basically took the pump off the bottom and moved it to the back for more depth and more quiet.

Our LG has been very good except for some plastic tray holders that keep breaking and they keep sending us new ones for free.

My kitchen is LG and Haier. No complaints on either.

Craigslist has been my go-to for dishwashers. Most people get rid of perfect good ones for $50 because they are changing colors in the kitchen or something simple (the soap-release catch) breaks and can be repaired for under $10.

I'm very happy with my GE. Lowes for under $300 and it has 3 spray arms. The post office often has 10% off coupons in the change of address kits. Just ask at the counter. Previous GE was bought new, ran for 10 years and is still going strong in my previous home.

When you pull out the old one, save the sound damping pad(if it has one) and double wrap the replacement.

We were very happy with an entry level Bosch.

It wasn't the cheapest but it wasn't outrageous either. $5-600ish a couple years ago.

In my opinion (and just my opinion) Samsung and LG products look good and have good features, BUT...the products do not seem to be built to be repaired which translates into a short lifespan.

jrw1621 wrote: In my opinion (and just my opinion) Samsung and LG products look good and have good features, BUT...the products do not seem to be built to be repaired which translates into a short lifespan.

I agree.

If you're a "today" buyer, I wouldn't fault you for stopping by Lowe's on the way home from work and buying the one that pushes your buttons. In my experience Lowe's will knock 10% off for anybody, all you have to do is ask. No coupon required.

I've had pretty good luck with GE, and Lowe's carries 'em.

Based on advice here in another appliance thread, we(just yesterday) found a local appliance store - because they apparently have better quality units, even compared to the same brands from big-box stores - and ordered new appliances.

We went with the Bosch dishwasher even though it was $200 more than their other brand, but it also came with a 5-year warranty on several items(including the control board) vs. 1-year on the other. Supposedly quieter too, and has a built-in drip tray. Should it ever spring a leak, there's a sensor in the tray to shut the unit down & prevent flooding.

And we supported another local business in the process.

bludroptop wrote: We were very happy with an entry level Bosch.

A few years ago, my mother bought a high end stainless Bosch. I don't know if it cleans any better, but holy crap is it quiet. Like "stand next to it and barely notice it's running" quiet. Amazing.

I bought an entry level stainless Bosch at Lowes a few years ago from the close-out area for 50% off. It's nice, but not as quiet as the one my mother bought. I bought another stainless machine for my own house at the same time for about the same from (~$350 ea). Whirlpool, I think. It cleans well enough, but isn't as quiet as either Bosch. Sound matters to me as my house is small so my bedroom is only 20' or so from the dishwasher and I usually run it as I'm going to bed.

My only advice is to stay away from GE. I bought a whole set of appliances from craigslist, which came with a 3 year old GE dishwasher. After discovering that the top rack doesn't clean worth a E36 M3 (and leaves soap residue in any glass that's more than 3" tall) I thought there must be something wrong. Well I took the whole damn thing apart checking for clogs and put new o-rings around everything so it wouldn't have anywhere to lose pressure on it's way to the top two sprayers, and it still sucks. I looked around online and found a whole bunch of people that say their top rack doesn't clean worth a E36 M3 on their brand new GE dishwasher, so I guess it's just a E36 M3ty design.

Guy here at work bought a Bosch on sale at Sears and he says it is great, and so quiet you can't even tell it's on.

I can only suggest that you get one with a plastic tub, but I think they all are today. The metal tubs will eventually rot out on you. And get one with a simple control. Fancy controls are just one more thing to go bad.

1988RedT2 wrote: Kenmore always rates pretty high on the "cheap/does not suck" scale.

Kenmore appliances are just rebadged. If you go to a real appliance store with a Kenmore part number, they can tell you what it is and they can often get you the same appliance with the name brand for less than the Kenmore.

Find a local scratch and dent kinda place. I'm redoing my kitchen and have been pricing appliances out and there is a lot to save by going this route. Being a cash buyer willing to take home your own order will get you the best price.

Ended up with a Whirlpool. Stainless facade, not too expensive (on sale too), big inside, in-stock and in my truck in under 10 minutes... cheaply made like all the others in the "under $500" category. It is running now. Guess I'll see if it is any good in about an hour.

My dishwasher is "free". Just can't piss her off or the dishes don't get clean.

We bought a Bosch 2 years ago. Mainly because it was really quiet. Read that 4 dB difference was noticeable to the human ear and I think that is probably true. We got one on sale that was highly rated by Consumer Reports for about $800. I can say that it doesn't hold as much as the 12 year old Whirlpool it replaced, but if we aren't in the kitchen we don't even know it is on. Previous model we had to turn up the TV in the living room if the dw was running (although it was the quietest model when purchased). There are only 2 of us so we went from running the dw 2x a week to 3x a week, but we both agree that it was worth the extra cost for the reduction in noise.

I installed an Electrolux for my folks last year. Holy hell is that thing nice. My dad tends to overspend on stuff like that, so I really can't imagine what it cost. But, I've never had dishwasher envy before. It feels nice, and no kidding, you can be sitting on top of it and you wouldn't know it was on unless you could feel the steam coming out.

Then I came home to my crappy low-end Frigidaire and got a little sad (until I realized I don't actually care all that much about dishwashers).

Ranger50 wrote: My dishwasher is "free". Just can't piss her off or the dishes don't get clean.

Just see what happens when you try to ditch your current dishwasher for a shiny new model. You'll find out your dishwasher is not "free."

1 dB is noticeable to the human ear. It's in the definition of dB. 3 dB is a doubling (or halfing) of the power.

Another vote for Bosch. We went with an entry/mid-level model and it isn't "silent" but it's not noisy either. We're quite happy with it.

We bought a Frigidaire Gallery when we redid the kitchen a few years ago. You can't tell it's running, even when you're standing beside it.