We're looking to replace the 15+ year old dishwasher which came with the house. What features are musts these days? We don't need something that will clean the runners of a 603 intake manifold but we'd like to do as little pre-washing as possible. We usually do big pots and baking dishes by hand so we prefer room for lots of dishes rather than big items. I see dishwashers with a separate sprayer for the upper rack. We've done okay with a single sprayer.

Thanks,
Sixto
93 300SD 3.0
90 GE Potscrubber 1100

Whatever you do, just don't buy a Maytag! Okay, that's all the advice I have for you. Good luck.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

it seems like most of the better machines have upper and lower sprayers.

I'd recommend the SS interior, it never stains and likely retains the heat better than other materials.

We've got a hi-end KitchenAid. It's good, but it's not amazing. We still do 90% of the cleaning prior to loading. If you put dishes and utensils in straight from the table you'll have a lots of remaining food particles when the cycle is over.

The newest BOSCH look very nice if you're looking for a unit that looks good.

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1998 W210 diesel (wiped out by a texter)
Baum spring compressor "for rent"

How is yours for noise, Uber? I thought I read somewhere that the ss interior washers were noisier that the plastic ones. How have you found theat to be on your Kitchen Aid?

__________________
" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Go simple and get one with the controls hidden instead of the front panel.

Australian company Fisher & Paykel makes some beautiful and simple appliances. It was very hard to not buy their washer/dryer set a few months ago when looking for a new set, it is by far the simplest W/D combo I have ever seen.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

Get a Bosch. It's so quiet, you can hardly tell it's on. If the refrigerator is running, its sound completely drowns out the noise of the dishwasher. If the computer is on in the next room, its fan drowns out the dishwasher. In fact, we sometimes accidentally open the dishwasher mid-cycle because we can't tell it is running.

But, don't get the very cheapest Bosch... at the time we got ours, the cheapest model didn't preheat the water as hot as the mid-range models. There's no heated dry cycle; the dishes dry because the water is so super hot that it evaporates off of them once the cycle ends. Also, this means there is no heating element in the bottom to burn/melt plastic items, which is a good thing.

It generally cleans very well, but stubborn things like dried-on rice or oatmeal need to be pre-cleaned. The type of soap matters too - we've had better luck with some brands than others.

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1989 250TD Wagon 5-speed, 160,000mi ::: Dark gray metallic / black cloth
1984 190D-2.2 5-speed, 287,000mi ::: Silver-blue metallic / black MB-tex ::: SOLD

Ditto.

Get one that is QUIET!

I just put in a mid-line Kenmore tall tub. Its quiet and cleans well. Clearance underneath is tight, but it gives you huge space inside. Stainless looks nice but don't get it because you think the machine will last longer. All the other components are the same as a plastic tub model and hence will wear out just the same. Make sure you get nylon racks which are tougher than the PVC-coated ones.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

We have a Kenmore Elite its awesome. We replaced a Fisher Paykel with it because the FP was developing leaks for some reason.

Very quiet. Quietest dishwasher I've ever lived with. The better machines have far more insulation.

Before we sold our townhouse, we did a lot of shopping and bought a Kenmore with the dual sprayers. This eliminates the center pop-up thing that takes up space in the middle of the bottom basket.

With the dual sprayers, the entire bottom tray is solid tray, so you get a lot more stuff in there.

I would go with Kenmore again. They bundled up features that I was looking for for a good price, that other manufacturers bundled up with other features I didn't want in more expensive models.

One feature to look for is a stainless steel tub.

Also, our new house has a newer Whirlpool top of the line model, which we hate. It is one of the dishwashers where the utensil basket is in the door. The problem is that the basket doesn't stay latched in very well, and it is always popping loose, spilling your knives, spoons and forks into the tub. Bad design.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Aside from the obvious problem with the leak, how did you like the FP? We'll be on the market for a dishwasher soon and their products intrigue me.

Oh and as I said before we just bought a W/D set. I was really leaning towards FP, but ended up going with a sweet Kenmore front-loader set. It's very nice, but I could do without all the buttons/knobs/lights. Just wash the damn clothes and tell me when they're done.

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

we got a nice fridgedair gallery series. SS face. it is quiet, and does a fair job of cleaning. it has hot air dry, and a sanitize cycle-NSF aproved for resitential.
double sprayer. holds alot, and looks nice.

we got the whole kitchen, in SS for $2100.
side by side with ice and water,
gas range,
over the range micro,
dishwasher.

hell of a deal. they were changing models over to a newer style.or something? maybe? this summer.

oh yeah- stay awat from amana appliances. junk. I guess, what do you expect from a company thats motto is" built better than it HAS to be."

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1984 123.193 372,xxx miles, room for Seven.

1999 Dodge Durango Cummins 4BTAA 47RE 5k lb 4x4 getting 25+mpgs, room for Seven.

I have a GE unit that came with the house and it is awful. Cleans the dishes well but sounds like an automatic carwash with your windows down. I run it when I leave for work, let the cat deal with it.

The one feature I love about our dishwasher, which is a Kenmore that came with the house, is the advance timer function so you can set the dishwasher to turn on in the middle of the night or when you're out of the house.

Aside from that, I would look for something quiet (as already suggested) and something energy efficient. Those water pre-heaters can take a lot of juice.

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Jonathan

2011 Mazda2
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1994 C280 (retired)