Dishwasher horror and success stories please.
 

Tell me about your $1,000 dishwashers that blew up after a year and you didn't get the extended warranty and your $200 diswashers that are 20 years old and still going strong. Tell me your extended warranty success stories and failures. We need a workhorse and we need to know what to avoid and what to embrace. Please share. We're pretty already decided but we wanna make sure we're not headed for lemonville to we thought we'd turn to the best knowledge-base in the world for a third opinion (plus any recipes for cute animals we can steam in it greatly appreciated)......

Why do brides wear white?

Bosch

you know the germans make good stuff

We have a Kenmore Elite that's been going strong for just over 4 years now.

Maytag 10 years old no problems [knock on wood]

Consumer Reports. Not just to identify the best value. To also learn what is more important for selecting a dishwasher.

I have a Bosch too but mine was made in Turkey.

and your personal experience is.......?

Because you want the dishwasher to match the refrigerator.

Bosch

you know the turks make good stuff

No, we don't, as it happens. We want it to match the cooker/stove/oven/whatever the fuck you people call the hot-making thing that isn't a microwave.... which is black.

Spray Paint !!!

Oh Do Yellow happy face !!!!

Or Let Beest have at the face with his paint ball gun for a Modern Art master Piece !!!

Bosch is outta the price range.

Ok, we picked a Maytag Stainless Steel interior, steam clean setting, nylon racks, good energy rating etc.... $381 for a $500-$700 (depends on the store) appliance (July 4 sale -best time to buy domestic appliances). We're still debating the $100 5 yr extended warranty....

Pros (of the extended warranty)

• dishwashers aren't very easy to fix compared to -say- dryers
• that's pretty cheap as extended warranties go -20% of average retail
• less than one call-out charge plus minimal repair costs
• Covers damage from power surges from day 1, a big problem around here (but not for us so far....)

Cons

• We never had a problem with the old dishwasher that would have been covered by this warranty (main problem is old age)
• There's a 1 yr manuafacturer's warranty. Our experience/opinion is that if it lasts a year, it'll last long enough...
• Money is pretty tight right now

Your further thoughts, please.....

I don't have one that works...the one in my house now is used to store pans and lids... but consumer reports is the first place I would go to research buying a new one.

I was raised on Consumer Reports...it's the bible for my atheist (consumerist) family.

OK, so let's assume we did that, and that we'd also like to hear the opinions of people whose judgement/opinions on other topics are known to us and have been evaluated by us....

well yeah...just sayin

sheesh

I know, but I kinda made it clear that we just want the "stories" now......

You really police your threads....:D

You just earned yourself points on your Dwellar Licence.....

aw man

So does that replace going on report?

Here's my dishwasher horror story:

It was a dark and stormy night; the dishes were stacked to the ceiling, covering every level surface — except for occasional intervals, when they were checked by a violent piles of cutlery which swept up the sink (for it is in the kitchen that our scene lies), rattling along the cupboards, and fiercely agitating the scanty jet of phosphate free detergent laced water of the spinning jets that struggled against the grease, starch, and dried avocado.

Seriously though. We've had a Frigidaire Gallery dishwasher, very cheap and inexpensive too. I've had to replace a few things in it over the past 8 years, a couple of hoses, a small valve, one of the dishracks. All very easy to get parts, relatively inexpensive and easy to fix by myself. I think they are about $300 new. I got no complaints.

This is the fella, the black one is a few bucks more.

It's quiet too.

Personally, I never get extended warranties, and have never had opportunity to regret this. But I suppose there's always a chance...

[insurance insider]The sales persons who pick up the commission on the extended warranties highly recommend them. The underwriters who pick up the money and the "risk" on extended warranties love them. Money for old rope is what they call them. I never buy them.[/insurance insider]

Never have dishwasher failures (except when the guy who replaced the garbage disposal did not properly reconnect the dishwasher hose).

Apartment dwellar.

Apts seem to use GE dishwashers (well, the last four that have had dishwashers, anyway.

They must, therefore be cheap and sturdy. I've never had a significant dishwasher problem. And if I do, it's solved with a phone call and no money out of pocket for me.

My dishwasher horror story:

A student share-house. Four students. Each one owned a four-person dining set.

The horror? We did not have a dishwasher.

It was bad. Very bad.

On one occasion, everything was dirty. The sink was buried under dirty dishes and inaccessible. We piled the dishes onto the kitchen table, but still more dishes remained. In the end we had to pile things on the floor so we could get to the sink to start washing.

Good times, good times...

No, wait, that bit sucked.

So nobody's dishwasher expired after the manuacturer's warranty ran out? No extended warranty for us, then. But we'll blame you if it happens to us......

I have a Whirlpool Quiet Wash Plus. It was very inexpensive. I'm betting it's around ten years old at this point. Did not get the extended warranty - never do in fact. I would like for it to break so I could get a new stainless steel to match my fridge and range. It's not cooperating so far. I have no small animals to coax into the workings of it - I do hear hamsters will really F up your appliances.

Kenmore, going on year 12.

I call our dishwasher Jose. I don't even know his real name. Does that make me a bad person?

:lol:

We decided to replace our 10 year old GE Profile model because it had black mold in the bottom and around the gasket that we couldn't seem to get rid of and after 10 years it seemed about the right time. Also, Texas was doing some kind of energy appliance rebate program so we could get back $160 if we installed a new energy efficient model and had the old one hauled off to be destroyed or sold to Mexico or whatever they do with them.

Went to Lowes and ordered a fancy $600 Kitchenaid stainless steel model. Delivery day comes and Lowes calls saying they can't find one and it will be another 2 weeks. We say no and call Lowes national customer service line and an hour later the store manager calls saying he found one and is having it sent over right away.

I install it and it runs fine for about 6 weeks and then the soap dispense door quits opening. Request a warranty service call and the guy finds that the plug to the door solenoid is not connected tightly... Chinese kid must have been distracted at assembly plant.

Washer works fine for another 6-8 weeks and then starts shutting off after only a few minutes after startup. Call and request another service call. This guy says I should turn up the water heater temp which I do and cleans some parts and says everything should be fine now.

That night I run the machine and it quits again, of course it is Friday of a 3 day holiday weekend... I call on Tuesday and he can't come back until Thursday... He arrives and says the "computer" console is bad and needs to be replaced but he has to order it and it will take 1-2 weeks... must be a slow boat from China.

Part comes in and he installs it and it has worked fine since then but it sure doesn't say much for what everyone told us was the best model DW out there and it cost over $600!

Only if he is a member of your family.

I wouldn't recognise our dishwasher at school unless it had Mr S - our caretaker - inside it. And yes, it's a machine, Mr S is not Sheldon.

Apparently it worked perfectly for a couple of years, so perhaps it was my arrival that scrambled it.
There is something wrong every week. Right now the door catch/ mechanism seems to be bust, as there is a notice on the door warning that when opening it is very heavy. It sounds silly, but it's true - you go to open it as usual and it nearly drops out of your hands.

At least it's not leaking any more.

I've got a GE Potscrubber - 13 years old now, and running fine. Never had a problem with it, as a matter of fact.

I never buy warranties on appliances, either. What I DO have is a home warranty, which covers all appliances, electrical, and plumbing problems. I pay $37 a month for this warranty; when something (anything) goes wrong, I call them up, they give me the name/number of their local repair contractor that fixes whatever it is that's broken. The repair guy comes and I give him $60, which guarantees that the item will be fixed and/or replaced. End of story.

Two years ago, my water heater started leaking. The repair guy deemed it unfixable. Because the original was an odd size, the replacement water heater would have cost me $700, plus another who knows how much to have it installed. I got that new puppy put in for $60.

I've used that home warranty a few times for plumbing troubles, got the fan on my heat pump replaced last year, got a new motor in my dryer, and got a new ice maker for my fridge, too. It's an awesome deal, particularly for people with older homes that need frequent repairs.

So....exactly 4 years later, it dead. and no, we didn't buy the 5-year warranty.

Trying to decide between Samsung and Whirlpool as replacement, tending towards Samsung.

July 4th sale ends tomorrow, quick decisions to be made.....

Consumer Reports 2015 Buying Guide lists Samsung as the worst brand and Whirlpool as the second best brand for reliability. Bosch is best for reliability according to them.

thanks, glatt, that changed beest's mind pdq

I have a Hotpoint dishwasher right now that I bought used, and installed myself. That was at least ten years ago. I have installed a couple of them, they're not especially difficult to install, except the clearance for the plumbing/electrical when sliding it in under the counter can be difficult.

I don't have any experience with repairs, really. I've cleaned the filters, repaired (reconnected the clips, wheels, etc) racks, cleaned pipes and vents all myself. No warranty, and no giant investment to justify a repairman. But also no problems that necessitated one.

Good luck.

We had an LG for about two weeks, bought it new, it would only get through the cycle once every three times, it was truly horrific. Replaced it with a maytag and it has worked perfectly for about 3 years now.

The previous one was a GE that lasted about 11 years, still works but it had an occasional slow drain the last year we used it, decided to replace instead of repair since it was 11 years old.

Beest installs them. When the electric panel is fried, it's not worth trying to repair it. We bought the Whirlpool, but we have to wait until Thursday for delivery :( Guess I should go do another sinkful of washing up....

We got a GE like 15 years ago, and there was a recall on ours. A technician came out and replaced the panel with a new redesigned one for free. I wish in hindsight that I had asked for the old panel. It worked perfectly well, and would make a nice backup that could extend the life of the washer if this one ever fails.

Ours is a Kenmore Elite, less than 1 year old when we bought the house, which was just over 8 years ago. Every once in a long while the soap door sticks and doesn't open during the cycle, but other than that it's chugged along without a problem.

I forgot about this thread. I should add an update to my original post. The Kitchenaid started to crap out again and wouldn't complete the wash cycle so I called Lowes corporate line and complained about it. Next thing I get a call from the manager of the local store saying that if I can disconnect it and bring it back he will give me any similar priced model at a discount for all the trouble. We went in and picked out the top of the line Bosch model. I took it home and installed it and it's been working flawlessly ever since. And it is super quiet, you would hardly know it is even running when it's on. About the only negative thing is that I don't find the racks to be quite as well designed as the Kitchenaid. Other than that I love it. :luv:

I have a Samsung high efficiency model, 3 years old. I hate it. It takes FOREVER to finish a damn load.

Strongly influenced by Glatts Consumer Reports ratings we bought this

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Whirlpool...SAEM/206135980

Wanted stainless inside cause they are quieter and I think stay cleaner, got stainless outside by default, which is nice as it seems to make our tiny kitchen seem a bit bigger.

Has a weird cutlery system where the basket attaches inside the door, this does seems to leave more space for dishes so I guess we'll get used to it.

The wash cycle takes a lot longer, 2 1/2 hours as opposed to 1 1/2 on the old machine, but it cleans much more effectively so I guess that's OK, especially as I put it on at night mostly.

It is very quiet, rated at 48 dB, you can only hear a gentle swishing standing right next to it.

We didn't want top controls particularly, but we like a proper handle

I misremembered this thread as being about washing machines, and came here to post the news that Samsung is recalling almost 3 million washing machines because the lids can fly off unexpectedly and injure you the way they have injured 9 other people.

What a coincidence! The Kenmore I posted about earlier in the thread died, and we got a new one on relatively short notice because 2-3 loads a day is a lot to wash by hand. We went to the store planning to get an LG we picked out online, because our fridge, washer, and dryer are all LG and we've been happy with them.

But it turned out the "in stock in store" thing online was wrong, our store didn't have the one we wanted. Mr. Clod and I didn't have time to get to another store with his truck, and without him I'd need delivery service which would mean another week of doing them by hand... so we instead went with a Bosch that they had in stock.

It has some nice-ish features, but overall I do not like it. For starters, we did not realize that "top controls" are a thing, and I hate not being able to see what's going on under the countertop there. We thought we'd installed it improperly and wrestled with it for a long time before figuring out it's supposed to be that way. Second, the silverware basket is wide and runs the entire length of the side, too much space wasted. Similarly, the vertical tines are too close together--great if you're trying to cram in extra plates because you're the kind of family that only ever washes plates (and silverware, I guess.) But it sucks if you're trying to wash big pots and mixing bowls and 9x13 pans all the time like I am, because they can't settle in anywhere.

Counteracting that, there is a third very shallow pull-out rack on the top for lids and flatter serving utensils and stuff, which sometimes leaves enough extra space on the top (middle) rack for said pots and bowls and stuff, but this of course leaves less height overall, making one thing in particular--the kids' outer lunchbox containers--nearly impossible to get in anywhere.

It is, however, insanely quiet. It has a little red LED that it shines on the floor when it's running, because during certain parts of the cycle you cannot hear it at all and run the risk of opening it early. I will get used to it because I have to, but I really wish we'd waited the extra week and got the one we'd vetted more thoroughly.

Was there much price difference? Maybe you can Craig's List the Bosch at a later date and get the one you went after in the first place.

We are thinking the Whirlpool needs to go :(. It's still super quiet, but the top rack keeps falling off the wheels, the soap dispenser doesn't always open...... but it doesn't seem to be possible to replace these bits easily. Not sure if we're even willing to limp on til July 4th...... Well pretty sure we're not in the circs......

2.5 years old? Ugh. Sorry my consumer reports steered you wrong. That settles it. I'm never getting rid of our 18 year old GE unless the mother board fries.

Oh no, don't worry about that, there was no mention of it, IIRC -probably no-one had had one long enough to find out. But basically the internal plastic parts are weak, I think. The motor is still working and still quiet and the electronics are good and those are the bits that usually go. they skimped where no-one would notice until it was too late..... It probably wouldn't even be an issue if it wasn't for current family circumstances. We just don't have the time/willing to fuck with it or put up with it.

So any suggestions for current models/good deals appreciated.....

Yes, our carbon footprint is huge :(

Appreciate a major and recent (in the past few decades) change in this white appliance industry. Various manufacturers were defined by their quality. A Hotpoint was a low end (and inexpensive) appliance. A Maytag was expensive and superior quality.

Business school graduates recently changed all that. The entire American white appliance industry has been merged in a process that massively enriched these bean counters. For example, I believe Hotpoint and Maytag are now the same company now making the same appliances on a same assembly line. Cost controls in the past decades have caused a massive decrease in quality from an industry long known for high quality products and innovation.

To pay for their money games, these bean counters sold off innovations. For example, Maytag's next generation products were the Neptune series. Bean counters sold it to Samsung.

Suddenly people are now buying Samsung, LG, and Bosch appliances. Because companies such as KitchenAid were merged into mega-appliance conglomerations. Quality of KitcheAid has also decreased in the past decade.

A perfect example are French Door refrigerators. Open either door. Then let that door go. It should close without any manual intervention. But frames on these doors are now cost controlled. Some refrigerator's left door binds - does not close on its own. No problem. Top management has cut costs to pay for the merger.

Its not your father's white appliance industry anymore. Be cautious. A company you bought a dishwasher from 20 years ago is no longer the same company. Quality has recently decreased substantially in some brands to increase profits.

To be fair, some of the beancounters' mentality came from very real learning experiences about the stupidity of the American consumer--Betamax, for example, was an inarguably superior product to VHS, and they went bankrupt because Americans chose to buy cheaper shit without regard to quality. If your choice is maintain quality and go bankrupt now, or slowly deteriorate quality and go bankrupt in 40 years, most businessmen will choose the latter, even if what they're really doing is crossing their fingers that quality will come back in vogue among consumers sometime before the 40-year mark.

The porn industry was responsible for VHS winning out.

No, really.

Yeah, but that was actually Sony's call. They were the ones who decided not to allow porn on Beta. Realistically, they couldn't have stopped a filmmaker who was determined to release in their format, but it was easy enough for the porn stars to go where they were wanted instead. In the end, it was still an issue of Sony wanting Betamax to be the quality, high-brow brand.

And that's why Sony Blu-Ray does offer plenty of porn. :)

Betamax suffered from one simple and obvious problem. Their higher quality recording made no difference on America's low resolution TV screens. A cheaper VHS looked just as good on those TVs. Betamax also had less storage (data) capacity - originally only 60 minutes - too short for a movie. The 120 minute VHS also was less expensive.

Other just as inferior products also existed. RCA's video disk was higher resolution and could hold up to 240 minutes of video. But again, nobody needed a four hour movie. And better resolution was irrelevant on a low resolution NTSC screen.

VHS clearly was the superior choice once all relevant factors were considered - not just resolution.

BTW, where was the VCR developed? Originally in America. Ampex Corporation only saw cost of the original VCR. Since top management were business school graduates, then grasping a $20,000 VCR eventually selling for less than $200 only ten years later could not happen. So Ampex sold what became Betamax to Sony.

Can you get dishwashers that play porn? Mine has blue lights rather than red ones :/