Dishwasher replacement

I would love all answers without a $Max. We bought a $800 Bosch and have had $3000 worth of trouble. Please respond if you have a really good solution.

Sorry - don't have a good answer - that's why I'm asking!

We have been fairly happy with the Maytag we bought a year or two ago. Of course the model numbers have changed since then but it looks like the MDB4709PAB, $399.95 at Sears right now, is fairly similar. It gets the dishes clean, has a built-in food chopper so there is no filter you need to clean and is pretty quiet. Not completely silent but enough so we can have a quiet conversation with our guests in the living room while it is running and not notice that it is on. Lots of different cycles and options including a potscrubber cycle and a steam sanitizing option although we mostly just use one or two. Very energy efficient. It qualified for the higher of the two rebate levels that PG&E was giving out when we bought it. I think there was only one Bosch and one Kenmore in the same price range that were as efficient.

I think the reason we chose it over the Bosch was the larger load capacity which we thought might be handy during parties but probably was unnecessary.

Only thing I find annoying about it is that the lower tray is not locked into a track but just rolls on wheels. I forget what the advantage of this is supposed to be. Maybe to make it easier to take it out and clean under it. But what this means is that you have to stand directly in front of it and pull it straight forward. If you are slightly off to the side, it jumps off its track and you have to lift it up and put it back on. This is a hassle, especially when it is fully loaded.

I got a Bosch on sale after fixing my Sears unit 3x in 2 years. I love it. One thing that would cause me to always but Bosch in the future: it is amazingly quiet. I've held a phone conversation within a few feet of the operating unit and not only did it not prove distracting, but my callee wasn't even aware that it was on.

We had a Bosch and it worked well for about eight years. It was very quiet and at the time the most energy and water efficient but also very expensive. During that time I was able to make a few minor repairs, but Bosch does not have a service manual and will not let you have one. They believe only qualified service technicians should work on their machines. For that reason I'll never buy another. I also think a top-of-the-line dishwasher should last for more than eight years. We were forced to get a new dishwasher when our Bosch stopped working. The servicemen thought it was a heater in the bottom of the machine. Bosch has what is a very good feature on the one hand, if it fails it will not leak water onto your floor, however because of this we were told it would cost as much to take it apart and find the problem as to fix it, about what a new dishwasher costs. So we went from expensive to cheap. We got the least expensive Maytag. Because things improve over time it is at least as good as the 10-year-old Bosch but not quite as quiet. The only feature we miss In the Maytag the top shelf does not adjust for height, however that makes the bottom rack very tall; we can wash things like cutting boards we could not put in the dishwasher before.

There is an excellent review website that I frequent often, because they write such quality reviews. It's called www.TheSweethome.com and it's a sister site of the also wonderful www.TheWirecutter.com

I've used the Samson model 300 ultrasonic dishwasher and fruit and vegetable cleaner. Its capacity is small, and it takes up space on the countertop, but it consumes little water, electricity, and detergent. Amazon lists 3 external suppliers. It's about $300.

If you get one, glue strips of scrubbing pads to the sides of the vertical-sided handle, which is too slippery to hold securely.