They're all very quiet and clean great so eliminate those two criteria. Regarding the Asko and Miele:

Asko does a half load but Miele features an Auto Load Size Sensor that is just as effective. The amount of water these use in a full load is very small. The Asko uses 4.5 gallons on a half cycle whereas Miele will 2.9 on its most efficient full cycle. This is splitting hairs if you ask me.

Miele has 3 racks and very roomy.
Asko has a psuedo 4, although I would call it 3 and a 1/4 racks. You may find this flexible, but I find it cumbersome. this limits the space on the bottom rack also

Miele and Asko both have cycle indicators.

Miele's are built like a tank...2 year warranty. Service is "methodical" for lack of a better word. However, since they make ALL their parts and do the service, parts can actually be recycled. I feel this makes Miele the "greenest" DW manufacturer.
Asko's are robust also....3 year warranty.

Regarding Bosch, the European built models are supposedly durable, quiet, and clean well. Not so for the N.C. built models.
However, the racks I've seen are flimsy but that may not be the case for all of them.

Miele and Asko rank 1,2 for durability over the last couple decades and that even takes into account issues Asko had about 8-10 years ago.

Given that Consumer Reports is not all-knowing but perhaps all-powerful Asko ranked third to last in Dishwashers last year.

This year,in the current CR, they ranked dead last.

I did not buy the issue at the bookstore,but if I remember correctly, 26% of Asko DWs required repair in their survey.

Hotpoint and Whirlpool were at the top. Miele(8-9% requried repair) was third I think. Bosch was up there too. KitchenAid was below all previously mentioned near the middle.

Part of that is simple low end machines without alot of features have less things to break and therefore breakdown less.

FWIW....two Whirlpool golds at different locations for about 10 years now. Quiet and efficient. One had a bad fill-valve diagnosed and replaced quickly and conveniently under warranty within two months. Otherwise trouble free.

Only thing I don't like is their silverware basket which, in my opinion, is a travesty of engineering conception and execution. However, as they have for twenty years, they continue to tout it as a prominent selling-point. Mine are currently being held closed by plastic-and-wire twist-ems as yours will be from day #2. Replacements are $50.00, and they're junk, too.

Otherwise, love the machines.

Even though you are looking at the higher-end Miele (Excella G2732SCi and LaPerla G2832SCi), I purchased the Diamante G2143SC two weeks ago and love it. From the way it was explained to me, all those extra wash programs that come with the Excella & LaPerla (starch, cheese, plastic) and the load/turbidity sensors are a bit over-kill and add hundreds to the price. I have used the Diamante on all 6 of the wash programs that come with it (Pots-Pans, Normal, China, Sani, and Express) and everything has came out clean each time. It also has the Turbo mode, which can turn any of the wash programs into a shorter cycle for smaller or less dirty loads.

But since Miele doesn't make the Diamante in a "SCi" version, you might want to look at the Optima G2432SCi, as it would be less than the Excella and LaPerla.

I do agree with Fauguy : even the entry level Miele model (available only in Europe) is tank built like La Perla, despite it costs less than one third. Of course the Optima cost twice because of the brushless pump motor, more flexible rack layout and so on...

What Fauguy is pointing out (correct me if i'm wrong) is the fact that La Perla price includes a somewhat "status symbol" fee. Not a case fully integraded La Perla are less common than those one with visible controls. Showing a La Perla in the kitchen is like wearing a Rolex watch. Miele marketing dept knows it very well and prices are fitted to these target customers ...

All those wash cycles (15 cycles are way too many, expecially in a machine with the sensor cycle) actually are useless, cause the 500 Â entry level Miele manages starch and cheese as well as the Perla ... yet one can claim to own "the best DW in the world with 15 programmes"
That's nice for those people who haven't any cash worries at all, but these days normal people think twice before wasting money, so a wise choice like Fauguy's one is "mandatory".

Don't agree about sensors. In Europe the majority of DW (included that entry level Miele and all the non-entry level Bosch ) do have at least one automatic/sensor cycle in place of the normal cycle. The machine automatically decides wheter running or not a prewash, the wash temperature and the number of rinses. It is really handy cause it saves a lot of water and power

We just replaced a perfectly good Bosch because it was the wrong color for the kitchen remodel. I thought we were going to reface it, but it turned out to cost too much for an 8 year old dishwasher. We looked at new Boschs. I didn't like they way they changed their racks. My old Bosch was extremely crazy quiet, perhaps not a technical term, but you get it. NO NOISE ever.

I replaced it with Fisher & Paykel dishdrawers. Our last child leaves the nest in the fall so we felt this would be a great solution for us. Since I have read pros & cons for this d/w, I wanted to make sure it was installed correctly, so we had the extremely reliable appliance store install it. They did such a fantastic job (even hooked up an outlet under my sink so that the machine could be plugged in rather than being hard wired). This machine is very quiet. CRazy quiet? no, I can hear the water in it, but not the motor. Does it clean? Oh yeah, I can't complain about it all. And not only does it clean, it dries the dishes. My glasses were always wet with the Bosch.

There was a thread on here that talked about the pros and cons. What is interesting about the discussion is that if you read the entire thing, you understand that there is a learning curve, but by reading this thread, you can get all of the tips ahead of time.

Ours is the model with the water softner built in. Our water is extremely hard (14 grains, whatever that means).

Now, I know this wasn't in your list, but I wanted to share my experience anyway.

Here is a link that might be useful: F&P discussion

deeagaeux

regarding the All Powerful Consumer tabloid, the 26% repair rate was for a Fisher Paykel Dish Drawer.
Asko was in the middle, which I found quite funny because they rated an Encore model. Encore dishwashers are not supposed to be used as primaries DW's, they are backups.

Now to expose the fallacy of CR repair rates.
The longer the warranty on an item, the higher the repair rate. Again, the longer the warranty on an item, the higher the repair rate

I will use Asko and Whirlpool as an example. Asko's have 3 year warranties, Whirlpool has one year, yet Whirlpool always rates out as one of the most durable appliances. After 2 years of owning either an Asko or Whirlpool, the handle cracks. Utilizing the Asko warranty, the handle gets fixed free and there is a paper trail that moles can access, twist, and review how they want. With the Whirlpool, a fixed/new handle will cost X amount. Many people would forego the fix and do it themselves. Maybe with tape, glue, or just live with it. Therefore, no paper trail, hence the lower repair rate.

Kitchen Aid had a 2 year warranty through the 90's yet CR always dinged them with a higher repair rate than Whirlpool even though the manufacturing of these are one and the same except for a few amenities. Kitchen Aid has now shortened their warranty to 1 year on most items.

Also, Whirlpool used to make most, if not all Kenmore appliances but a Kenmore, identical to a Whirlpool except for a Sears Sku and maybe graphics, was always rated higher than Whirlpool even with a higher cost.

I own the F&P double dish drawer .
It is very quiet .
If the digital read out were not lit to tell me , I would never know it is running .
I find the rack configurations easy to change for optimal use .
I REALLY like the flexibility of two separate dishwashers in one space .
I often run one drawer as a heavy load and one as light .
The key to effectiveness seems to be user learning curve .
It is imperative to read and understand the directions .
It is useful to refer to them often and customize each load type to get the best results .
This could be true for any dishwasher .
I have seen the F&P dishwashers and washer/dryer on amazing sales at Sears Outlets .

I just had our local Miele tech out last week to check something on our washing machine install and I specifically asked him about the dishwashers. He also felt that the La Perlas were overkill and said that very few people ever used more than three or four of the programs. He recommended the Optima, which is what he chose to go with in his own home.

Regarding The Magazine's statistics on repair frequency, my F&P DishDrawer Model DD603 is 6.5 years old (8/21/2003) and has a repair frequency of Zero. That could be taken as a statistical quirk, except that I also have TWO F&P washer/dryer sets, both also having had Zero repairs, and one of the sets is almost Eleven years old. I'm apparently a much larger quirk than I thought ... :-)

I have an Asko, D1776, purchased in 2004, as a discontinued model and installed in 2005. It is not the bottom of the line, but not the top either. Have had no problems at all with regular use and it cleans very well.

I have an Asko D1876 which I purchased in 2002 and it's been great. Very quiet, efficient and dishes come out spotless and dry. No repairs so far!

Just to address those Fisher/Paykel supporters, we have had no end of trouble with ours. We love the double drawer concept, but they aren't worth the trouble anymore. F/P actually replaced my first DD out of warranty because it was so unreliable. The second one has never been right despite a half dozen or so service calls. At this point, the top drawer doesn't dry the dishes well (and hasn't for the past couple years) and the bottom one leaks. We're stuck using the top one only, so the benefit of the double drawers is gone. I got an estimate from a repairman for $6OO, so I think I'm switching to Miele.

Anyone who has a F/P that's been trouble-free should feel very fortunate. While I take the Consumer Reports ratings with a grain of salt, I have to say that I rolled the dice with F/P and lost. Let's face it, if they didn't have the novelty of the double drawer concept, nobody would take a chance buying one.

We got a Miele at our old house mostly because we did the research on quality. We never had any problems (with the dishes getting clean or with the machine), but what surprised us most was how hooked we got on the cutlery tray! That feature alone should seal the deal for you. You'll use it every single day. You'll never have spoons stuck together and everything is organized. We haven't even done our kitchen remodel in our current house yet, but one thing we've already done is replace the DW with a Miele. Once you use it, there's no going back.

aprince,

According to CR "Kitchen Planning & Buying Guide 2010",

Page 74 on dishwashers, Asko ranked 3rd to last in it's % repaired rankings. That is 11th out of 14.

It says 14% for Asko, 18% for Fisher & Paykel and 23% for LG.

Like I said I did not buy their current magazine with new numbers so I may be wrong on the percentages.

And I don't vouch for their statistical methods but many people like to here what they say.

deeageaux

I saw those stats too in the new guide. I can't speak for the LG or FP but I do know that the Asko repair record is skewed because of the 3 year warranty. That is an extra 2 years of data that CR has access too, unlike with Whirlpool or Hotpoint which have 1 year warranties; therefore only one year of data. CR also lists the graph as "Most and least reliable" when it should be called "Documented service claims" or something similar.

I see they have now ranked Asko as the #6 dishwasher, up considerable from last time. However, this is also where CR loses credibility because the Asko ranked is again the "Encore" model, designed as a "backup" or secondary model and has not been available for at least a year. The "Encore" pales in comparison to the other Asko ranked #46 in loadability, noise, and a few other critieria.
This is also skewed because with the "Encore" utilized as a backup/overflow/secondary dishwasher, it doesn't have the wear and tear as a primary unit and isn't as apt to be scrutinized by the person using it. Aargghh!

There is also no discernable difference between the drawer models of Jenn Air, Maytag, and Kitchen Aid, yet the their test results for washing are all over the place.

I will now put away my cardboard sign and step away from the corner.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Consumer Reports is a joke. What's GOOD about them is that if you click on a particular model, it will give you the option of seeing user/customer reviews. What's "funny" is that the customer reviews will be consistently opposite of whatever the CR reviews says. Just go there and test it out and tell me if I'm wrong! ;) This was for me the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm getting a Miele. Hope I don't come back here later and say I've made a bad choice but I'd be pretty surprised after all the positive [and legitimate] reviews I've read. Good luck to us both! :)