Recommend me a dishwasher for under $500

My current dishwasher is a piece of crap. It's a not-too-old GE something, and it's probably got more features than any dishwasher I've ever had, unfortunately cleaning dishes isn't one of them. You pretty much have to wash them before putting them in, and somehow cups and glasses in the top rack end up dirtier after the thing runs. I don't really care about features, I just want it to work, and would prefer it not sound like a hovercraft. Color isn't terribly important either (though my wife might have a different opinion about that). Any suggestions?

Get one with a vagina. Mine is well over 40 years old and while the vagina doesn't work as often as it should... the dishes are berkeleying clean.

~kidding~ Happy anniversary honey!

I am very interested in this as well. Ours is a Whirlpool that probably didn't cost the homebuilder very much and we have the same problem with it. I'll tell you that it wasn't as bad before they changed all the detergent formulas, but now it is just worthless. My folks have some Bosch whizbang machine that does an amazing job and is nearly silent,but I think that was a 800 dollar thing.

I sold them for a few years. GE was the worst, followed by may tag, then Whirlpool. Most of us agreed the Bosch models were the best. Bosch are quiet, efficient, and work well. No surprise that they are expensive to buy compared to the competition.

They don't have a built in garbage disposal, using filters instead. No heated dry either, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I would look for a close-out Bosch unit. Sears usually has a few in stock marked down to very good prices. Oh, and a couple of the higher end Kenmore units are Bosch. They're the ones with the filter in the bottom.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Get one with a vagina. Mine is well over 40 years old and while the vagina doesn't work as often as it should... the dishes are berkeleying clean. ~kidding~ Happy anniversary honey!

The title says < $ 500. Where did you find her?

<$500 is probably why the vagina doesn"t work well, most vaginas i've seen run on money.

In reply to Trucke:
To get one that works like that, for that price, it will likely come from China.

I replaced our dishwasher and refrigerator about 2yrs ago, about a year into this house. Fridge started peeing on the floor semi-regularly & the dishwasher sounded like a freight train.

Best Buy had a deal with 1.5yrs 0% interest, so we did both and paid $ every month for about a year. Dishwasher was a Bosch 50dba Silence Plus. Black and quieter than a church mouse, I really was concerned it didn't work! I think we managed about $500 or so on it. The sales lady was super knowledgeable & explained why the Bosch was so much better, wish I could remember the reasons lol.

EDIT: just found the receipt, $444 plus tax, about 2yrs ago.

I have heard good things from a friend about the Bosch. I would lean toward that when it's time for our's, which may be sooner rather than later. We have a Roper right now that works great, but is about 15 years old and the rack is rusting away. So far, it has lasted about 3x longer than any other I've ever had.

Our thermador is 13 years old and still works fine. It was actually made by Bosch and was a close out so we paid $200.

I actually ended up getting one from craigslist. It's a 1 year old Bosch. The previous owners loved it, but they bought a new high end refrigerator, and when they bought it the place was running a deal where you get the matching dishwasher free if you buy the fridge. I know, story sounds kind of fishy, but these people were really genuine, and were clearly not hurting for the $300 (was $650 new). They said they were originally just going to sell the new one, but figured it would be easier to sell a used mid level Bosch, and help someone out that couldn't afford a new one, than it would be to sell a brand new high end dishwasher on craigslist. I'll install it today and give my full report.

Obligatory hotlinked photo:

This thread is pertinent to my current requirements. I have hated my Maytag for quite some time, and it only gets worse as it gets older. Once a month, spend an hour mining all the residue and gunk out of the spray bars and strainer, and it works okish for a while.

Sad thing- I wanted a Bosch, ex wanted the Maytag...

Here's the old dishwasher. RIP you piece of E36 M3. If you ever see another one of these, do humanity a favor and throw it in the nearest river.

We've got a Thermador, made by Bosch. Recently had the brother and SIL here for a family gathering. SIL asked bro "do your hear the dishwasher?" "No." "Exactly."

My friend with the Bosch says it's so quiet that he has started to chew out a kid for not putting the dishes on when the thing was already running.

I have another friend that imported one of those Fillipina dishwashers with the V option. It worked really well for a few years, then efficiency started dropping off and he eventually supplemented it with a standard store-bought model.

Phosphates have been regulated out of dish soaps in most places. The low/no phosphates suck at cleaning food off dishes. I add about a 1/3 of a cup of TSP to each load, with the regular liquid dishwasher soap. Makes even crappy rental dishwashers do a half way decent job.

A 4.5 lb box lasts 9+ months.

Seriously, the first time I fired up our Bosch I stopped it twice because I thought something was wrong. I mean it is THAT quiet. I'll never buy another brand.

We bought an entry level Bosch for our last home but left it when we moved.

When it came time to replace our current d/w, there was no question...

I sprung for a higer priced 44 dBA model this time (if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody gonna be happy).

It is so quiet that it has a little red light that projects onto the floor when it is running - so you don't open it during the middle of the cycle.

I just bought a dishwasher in the Sub $500 range. I wanted a Bosch, but could not find one in my price range. I was using Amex Points, so that limited me to Home Depot only. It also HAD to have more delay-wash options than 4 hours...wifey spec.

After reading every review out there, you will determine that they all suck and last only a week. Nothing has 100% positive reviews. BUT, filtering a bit more, you will find more positive reviews for certain models. I went with a Maytag Model # MDBH949PAM. The basic reason was that the chassis, motor, pump, etc is the same for all of their Home Depot models, the price goes up as you add options. I didn't want many options, but I didn't want lower-spec on the important bits either, so Maytag was more attractive. They also claim to have the most powerful motor with better cleaning performance, and the reviews seemed to back that up. I'd rather have clean dishes without a lot of pre-washing than bells and whistles.

1 months in and the dishwasher is working great. I only used $50 Craigslist dishwashers in the past, so this thing seems really quiet and awesome to me. We will see how long it goes before giving me an issue.

If you can wait, surf CL religiously for someone who remodeled a kitchen and wants to get rid of a year-old Bosch unit. THAT is the best deal going.

One load of dishes down, here's my review thus far:

Before installing it, I could tell that this unit was built WAY better than the one I took out. The insulation pad was a higher quality, the entire thing was made from stainless steel, and all the fitting and everything just appeared to be better and sturdier.

It's quiet, but not that much quieter than my old one (which was pretty quiet). I can hear it running. Since there's no display on the front, the red light is useful for knowing when the drying cycle is over. The dishes came out nice and clean, even the tall glasses on the top rack. I'm pleased.

Oh, and since the last dishwasher sucked, I would always use the longest and most hardcore settting, hoping that the top rack would be clean (and it still wouldn't). The new one on the normal setting takes almost half the time as the old one did on the most hardcore setting, so the operating time has gone down drastically.

The one you bought looks very simillar to mine. we love it. make sure you clean the filter in the botton periodicaly or it won't clean as well. we also had an issue that the detergent door would not open, and some looking online suggested putting the detergent tablets directly in the bottom. looks like you got a great deal BTW.

Should have read more carefully, you got used Bosch. That WAS good advice (that you already took. Doh!)

pinchvalve wrote: Should have read more carefully, you got used Bosch. That WAS good advice (that you already took. Doh!)

Haha! Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I did!