I have KA and have been happy with it. It has an extra level for silverware which I removed because I just didn't need it. It was about $1500 out the door with installation.

take it to the Appliance forum :

Here is a link that might be useful: current thread

The best recommendation I got on the Appliance forum was to take some of your dishes and pots to a store to actually try loading things into various DW brands/models. There are many different configurations nowadays and you can no longer assume "one size fits all". It does no good, for example, for people to tell me that Miele makes the best DWs - they indeed may, but my odd-sized dishes and very large cookware didn't fit, which compelled me to look at other brands.

Some people need very quiet DWs, other people need flexible loading, some folks don't mind spending $$$$ for a good DW while others are more price constrained. Like all appliances nowadays, make a list of your priorities and see which brands are going to fit best for you. Then do a search on the forums for pro and con reviews, winnow the list down, and take your stuff to a store to see which DWs will actually work best for you.

It does seem to be trending towards the situation where if you don't get the absolute best (usually the most expensive brand, but not always), an extended warranty may be called for. Everybody pretty much agrees that very, very few appliances are made to last more than 5-10 yrs any longer.

say no to extended warranty.

They know more than you do, about their own product.
They know they'll make money on the warranty.

Insurance is for catastrophes, not for repairs.

I bought a dishwasher this weekend. The decision on what to buy was a real struggle. I'm pretty compulsive about doing research and what I found indicated that fairly recent purchasers (2-4 years)in comparison to those had purchased their dishwashers earlier, in general, were unsatisfied with their purchases. In fact, at least one source suggested that your choice should depend upon how easy and, thus least costly, repairs could be made. Ultimately, my descision was based on a combination of factors - price, features, and reliability. I paid less attention to the ratings of Consumer Reports than to the consumer ratings on both the Sears and the Consumer report sites and purchased a lower end model of the "medium" range of Kenmore models (model 1389). Also, based on the general dissatisfaction with dishwashers, I paid extra (something I don't normally do) for a 3 yr warranty.

plumberry- which KA do you have? I was looking at several of the models that have the cutlery tray- a feature that I though would be nices, since in our old one, the larger utensils were always falling through and getting stuck on the bottom, etc. Are you otherwise happy with it?