I have a Siemens dishwasher (made by Bosch) and I absolutely love it. I'm not exactly clear what a 3rd rack is, but I think I only have 2 racks. Just wanted to say that Siemens is a great brand to consider. I can't believe how well it cleans dishes (though it does require rinse aid).

I pray that my 10 year old Maytag doesn't break down. It holds alot, washes and dries beautifully, and only takes about 95 minutes on the heaviest cycle. I think all the newer dishwashers run for 3+ hours and have a removable filter. Not that I leave tons of food on the dishes, but I like the added convenience of the built in disposal so I never find any leftovers floating around.

KitchenAid here and love it. Second choice was Samsung 800 series. Both had about the same interior space, wash options, rack design, hard food disposer, etc. Mine does not have the 3rd rack and like you mentioned, I don't think I would have the patience to properly lay fork, knife & spoon in there just so. I can fit plenty of dishes in there and even though it's just the base model(long story behind that that I won't go into right now), it cleans really well--even lasagna pans that have only been scraped! I typically use the 1 hour wash option with heat dry.

I don't think I'd worry about the handles. Our DW handles don't match the other handles in the kitchen and I never notice it.

Good luck to you!

I don't have it yet but had narrowed my selection between Bosch and Kitchenaid. Went with KA because of the comments regarding the racks in the Bosch. Seemed like some love the Bosch though and others aren't happy ut I think that is true with any brand.

I wanted the curved handle but the sales person questioned if this would be an issue with the cabinet next to it opening. The cabinet would open to that side so I went with a recessed handle. That wasn't something I had thought about and glad she mentioned it. You would be able to plan accordingly though since you are getting the DW now and doing your kitchen later.

I have a Siemens also and love it. However, Bosch decided to simplify things and so now only Bosch is sold in the US with Siemens being only sold in Europe (or so I was told). We got our model on a super close out deal because of it.

Pros - very quiet, easy to load, silverware tray pulls out for easier unloading, dishes come out nice and clean even with no rinsing.

Cons - Cycles are very long and it takes a while for dishes to dry.

Our old KA was 45 years old when we took it out and it was still running fine. I had to hot glue some of the racks to seal up where the plastic had worn off but it was trouble free the 10 years we used it.

If you aren't ready to commit to a handle style or an appliance color, you can get a paneled dishwasher and stick on a $5 panel until you remodel. They do cost more, but allow you to put off the decision-making process.

Have an upper end Kenmore Elite...love it. So quiet we aren't sure it's even running.
Had a Bosch before and HATED it....used it maybe 50 times and dishes were still dirty at end of cycles. Gave up and just washed dishes for 3 years then. Turns out the nimrod who installed it coiled the drain tubing in the back instead of shortening it. Should have kept it but new appliances were already bought when we found the problem at demo. Had already sold it to a girl at work by then too. Boy did she get a great deal for $200!

We went with a KitchenAid dishwasher because we wanted our appliance handles to match and we were happiest with the way the entire line - dishwasher, range and stove - looked and functioned. We're thrilled with it. It's two years old and we haven't had any issues, so I can't comment on KitchenAid's service or warranties.

We decided not to go with the third rack because we had two separate friends who weren't happy with the amount of space it took up, but I think this is a very personal thing.

We have a kitchenaid and so far I am very happy with it. We do have the third rack and don't think it takes up much room at all. Our second rack can adjust up or down though. I never really use the third rack for utensils and even if I did, you don't have to tediously put them in the little holders, you could just throw them all in. But like I said, I don't use it for utensils - still put that in just one of the baskets below (took it apart and half isn't in use so bigger bowls can be in the lower area and we didn't need a whole long basket just for utensils.) What I do put in the third rack is sippy cup tops, weird little kitchen gadgets, etc. Occasionally, we will put serving or cooking utensils in the third rack but honestly most are too long. I wish they hadn't put the little notches for the silverware and just left it as a wide open space to it could fit cooking utensils better (b/c they are typically too tall for the bottom basket and take up a lot of room horizontally in the second rack - KitchenAid - are you listening?) HTHs.

JennAire Pro (not sure of model number--its currently running??) But I will say it's the best, quietest dishwasher I have ever owned. I am sure it is a rebranded KitchenAid--so If you can figure out the KA model number. Love my third rack--for cooking utensils, not silverware.

I have both a Miele and a Bosch in my kitchen. I prefer the Miele with the 3rd rack and wish I had ordered 2 Miele dishwashers. I cannot believe how many dishes I can get into it. I previously owned a midrange Whirlpool and a $950 Kitchenaid. The Bosch was $799 and definately cleans better than the Kitchenaid, but I am not crazy about having to have a towel on me when I unload the dishwasher because the dishes don't dry.
My vote would be to pay the extra money for the Miele. What is an extra $400 over the course of ten years for a really really good dishwasher. And I got used to the 3rd rack really fast and now I just love how easy it is to unload my flatware. Good Luck! Keep us posted.

I have the FP drawers. I really like them. They took some getting used to , as anyone will tell you you really need to learn how to load them.

They also, IMHO, hold less, no matter what. If that really matters id put a second one in a pantry or somesuch. We have a family of 5 and use both drawers every day.

It seems so much more civilized, too!

Thanks everyone!

I have some followup questions...

Disposer vs filter. The filter costs more because it makes the machine more quiet - but you have to clean the filter. Thoughts?

I was told that the plates are dried by the hot air and not the coil - the coil is for heating water only. Who knew?

I would like to be able to heat plates for serving in the DW - my current DW requires me to run a short cycle to do this - do these newer models have a plate warming feature?

Fori - I don't understand your response...

NewSouthernBelle - The baskets in the third rack can be turned and put in lower - does yours do this? If they are in horizontally, take them out and put them back in vertically. Does this give you more room for your utensils?

I have a KA in my 9month old house, and I really love it. I don't have a 3rd row, but there are all sorts of nifty things to organize your silverware and dishes. It is beautifully quiet...we had some crappy builder grade GE in our old house that sounded like a truck was driving through the house when running. We only ran it after we went to bed!

All of my appliances are KA except my MW drawer. It is funny...the handle on my DW matches the handle on my pro-style 36" range...both are straight across and very beefy. I love them. The KA FD CD fridge has curved handles. It might be because I hate the fridge, lol, but I really don't think the curved handles look or feel as good as my beefy straight ones. Also, either the SS finish is different on the DW and range or we apparently don't touch them...but they never look fingerprinty like the fridge. Can you tell I hate my fridge and will eagerly be replacing it as soon as I feasibly can with something bigger and with panels?!? Lol!

maries1120, I'm so glad you made that comment about your cabinet hitting the DW handle. Although my old (white) DW is perfectly functional, I wanted a new one just to have a handle for hanging my dish towel. I just had a close look and I think any handle/pull will prevent my silverware drawer from opening. What a bummer. I would have never thought about it.

I just put a Miele into my new kitchen after having Bosches for the past 14 years. The Boshes were fine and I liked them a million times better than the low end Kitchen Aid that was in here originally, but this Miele is the cats pajamas. It is built like a tank, I can load a million more things in it now that I don't have to deal with a silverware basket on the lowest level, and it cleans better, too. It also cost 3x as much so I'm glad I got what I paid for. I had the appliance repair guy out yesterday because my new KA fridge has a front panel which came sort of broken (I hope it's not a harbinger of doom), and he looked admiringly at the Miele. He said he works on them all and nothing is built the way Miele is. I spoke to another appliance repair guy last week and asked him what he thought about Miele and he said he never got to work on them because they never broke. That's probably an exaggeration but it was nice to hear having just shelled out a king's ransom for mine.

I was answering this:

"I stopped by an appliance store and the nice sales guy asked me what handle type my other appliances are going to have. I have no idea!!! How much should I be concerned about this?"

To rephrase simply, if you are concerned that you should be concerned, you may purchase a paneled dishwasher.

I have ruled out Kitchen Aid due to a weird thing I have about not wanting to die when my dishwasher keeps burning my house down.

I have the Miele with the third rack. My OCD DH loved it and he loads the DW.
I also love it! I challenge anyone to match my overall speed. You either sort going in or out of the DW.
It holds a ton of dishes. I also wash just about everything including my china and crystal - I figure safer than me dropping it!

Great. We just installed a KitchenAid about three months ago. We were leaning strongly toward Miele until hearing of my DW's parents' travails with their Miele. (and the nearest authorized repair folks being 600 miles away from our town!) Like almost anything - there are always a few lemons.

linelle - glad that helped someone else. I wanted the handle for the same reason.

i originally had the bosch - super quiet but very much a lemon - we got rid of it after only two years as during that time it was inoperable for about a year awaiting repairs, etc.

next we moved on to an elcheapo kenmore. loud but worked great. much better than the pricey bosch.

next we renovated and got the miele with third rack. i didn't know if we would like that but it is easy to get used to and really nice to have the extra space below and then very easy to unload the cutlery given that it is only a couple inches below counter height.

we are about to renovate again and i am going for the asko 4 rack dishwasher. honestly i don't know that much about it - but was drawn in by the novel layout. sort of taking a shot in the dark but will surely report on here whether i like it or not.

4 rack dishwasher?!? I'm going to have to Google that!

Fori! I have to apologize! I re-read my post and it sounded snippy - which is farthest from the truth! I value your input. Still don't understand though... Oh! I think the light bulb just went off - are you saying that if I purchase a panel ready DW, then I'm sure to match my kitchen in the long run? That makes so much sense! (now... :-)

What does everyone think about a disposer vs. a strainer that has to be cleaned manually? How often do you have to clean it? I will admit that my dishes are clean before they go into the dishwasher, so I am going to have to retrain myself to put dirty dishes into the DW!

Yes, the two trays in the third rack can be turned but the plastic little pegs that are there for holding the silverware in place are attached to the trays so switching the orientation doesn't change anything. Take tongs for example, mine are too long to lay in the third rack without hitting those pegs. A spatula just barely fits.

I really wanted a disposal in my new DW because I didn't want to have to clean the strainer. When I ended up going with the Miele, the salesman told me he just cleans the strainer when he refills the rinse aid. That works for me. My biggest concern was forgetting to clean the darn thing. Now it just isn't an issue. The strainer is very easy to get in and out and very easy to clean.

You are going to LOVE not rinsing your dishes. Force yourself to scape leftovers into the trash and then put the dishes directly into the DW. You'll be amazed!

Points to consider.

Lit buttons vs hidden. My parents HATE that the buttons on their new DW are on top and can't be seen when the door is closed. So they can't tell for sure where it is in the cycle, or if the really got it turned on.

Warranty and repairs.

Sears

If you have local sears, then I recommend buying from them, and purchasing the extended 5 year warranty. I have been married 25 years and have had 6 or 7 dishwashers in a couple of homes. We would run them twice a day when the kids were home in the summer, so we are heavy users. Finally realized that if I had the Sears warranty, they would come out For Free and put in a new board ,or replace the pump. It has been worth it for us. Since everything has a circuit board in it now, these are very touchy, and they are not really repairable like old style mechanical switches.

Interior:
Had a good salesperson that explained that a stainless interior helped physically with the dishes getting dried. So get into the price point with a stainless interior.

We have a KA now, last one was a Bosch. They both cleaned equally well in my opinion.

Yup the instruction manual on the Miele - says Do Not Rinse dishes and I take that literally - my Miele tells me when it is time to clean the filter - NBD (no big deal) - I just pop it out and use a toothbrush to clean it every couple months.

We bought a Miele last year and I loooove having the third rack. No bending for silverware is life changing for my back, and I also feel like the silverware is getting really clean. I don't know if it's any cleaner, but it just seems that it would be.

But having said that, as much as I love it, I may get two upper drawers in the house we are planning because I think my back will like that even more. My only hesitation is that I have so much love for the cutlery tray!

Fires? Holy cow. DH thought my insistence in not leaving appliances on when we weren't home was just another of my qirks. THEN he came home one day and I told him I refused to use the dryer even one more time because it smelled a little funny when it ran, and I turned it off. When they installed the new one, there was so much soot they thought it had burned, even though we had not had a single issue before the faint smell. We are just getting to the point where we leave the slow cooker on now that we have a newer model. Still worries me though.

Anyway, back to DW. We just installed a higher end GE SS interior model. It cleans the dishes very well, and until it drains it's hard to hear that it's even running. DH is in love with the sanitize cycle, not sure why, but it's his favorite. Dishes come out pretty dry even without the dry cycle used. I've even convinced DH to stop rinsing most of the time.

It holds a lot of dishes. There are more little baskets than we need, but we find uses for them. I'd take them out if I though they wouldn't get lost. No issues since install in February, we installed ourselves since the delivery guys were not allowed to hook up hard wired connections.

Hi Jeri,

If you want to be sure to get me, try e-mail. :) Someone e-mailed me that you'd asked. You've gotten lots of answers, but I'll add what I know.

Dishwashers are very different now than they used to be, and they're designed more for competitive energy and water ratings, and prices, than for actually getting the dishes clean and dry. A much bigger factor than used to be in how they work is the detergent, and consequently to that, the hardness of the water. There are newer requirements both here and in Europe for the composition of the detergents, and they're all enzyme based, rather than with phosphates and bleaches. The number one best detergent over a great variety of people's usage situations, seems to be Finish Quantum Powerball packs. A very good second, and says it's more environmentally friendly, is Method Smarty Dish tablets. Miele tablets are also supposed to be good, as well as Somat (European), but I have no personal experience with either. I haven't heard a lot of love for Cascade in any form, but that may just be general satisfaction.

With the new dishwashers/detergents, you're supposed to put in dishes that have only been scraped, rather than rinsed. That is, remove the food solids, but not the stuck on goo. The enzymes need that goo to activate and really do a good job of cleaning. Additionally, the packets/tablets have some rinse aid (surfactant) in them to help with the water sheeting/drying.

The European machines do not have heated dry. One or two models have a blower, as does the Viking, which may assist drying, but still depends on convection for real drying to happen. The convection is created by the stainless steel walls of the tub and the mass of the contents. You need to put in lots of metal pots, utensils and flatware, and plenty of heavy dishes, to retain heat. It also requires rinse aid (preferably the liquid in the dispenser, not just whatever is in your packet), to break the surface tension of the water and keep it from clumping on the dishes. The thin, outside walls of the DW cool faster, while the inside, massy load is still warm. This makes the air move, and the steam condenses on the cooler walls and drains away. The wet left on the dishes evaporates, since most of it has sheeted off, and condenses on the side walls. American DWs have this as an energy saving option. The European ones, from where electricity is much more expensive, only have it. It works pretty well for most people. It does take the right kind of load. Small, thin porcelain plates don't work as well as heavy Euro crockery, glass is neutral, plastics don't hold the heat and if you have too many of them compared to massy things, they won't dry well. You can, however, put the plastics in the lower rack because there's no heater, which means you can spread it out more, making it easier to dry.

If you're happy with the convection dry and liquid rinse aid (neither work for me), it's worth looking at the Viking. It's a really lovely dishwasher. The puffer heater, however, is nigh on useless, so I sent mine back.

By dry, I'm talking about thee body of an item. I don't know of any DW that gets the little accumulation of water in the divot on the bottom of a mug, or the turned up edge of a plastic container. Those are a nothing to dry off while unloading. But I do want everything to be otherwise dry, or why have a machine?

From aggregating everything I've heard about DWs for many years, I've concluded that the best liked dishwashers are Miele for Euro style, and KitchenAid for American.

I can taste the rinse aid on the water glasses so refuse to use it, though with new models you can adjust the quantity dispensed, and that does help. What's in the packets doesn't bother me. I also have fancy, acrylic handled flatware, and thin porcelain plates, and I often don't have heavy pots in a load (rather wash one pot by hand and lots of plates by machine, than vice versa, or run a partial load later), and the convection dry just doesn't work for me. I don't like the shape of the racks in the KitchenAid. I was in love with the Viking until it was installed and wouldn't dry my dishes. Even a whole load of heavy stoneware with no rinse aid, and the puffer heater, didn't come out dry. There weren't many choices when I exchanged, so I got the Monogram. It doesn't annoy me, but I wouldn't recommend the GE/Monogram wholeheartedly. I found a setting (plastics cycle, added heat, heated dry) which defies the energy saving design, but does get my dishes clean and dry. It doesn't have a lot of oomph, though. Dried on spaghetti sauce comes off fine, but a little speck of lettuce will be clean lettuce after the cycle (i.e., still stuck to the plate). The racks are nice, however, and it's good for me that I can use so many options to get just the balance I want to achieve my ends. For flexibility, the Monogram is very good. Others may be as well, though.

Okay, that's everything I can think of on the subject.

Best wishes on your choice.

Does anyone have the Blomberg? I've read some good things about this brand elsewhere, and the price is very good, but I have not yet seen much information here.

I love my El Cheapo Kenmore. I can cram so much in it. And since I'm one of those people who cleans the dishes before I put them in the DW, I only run it about once a week when I literally run out of dishes. It's noisy, but I don't care, not really. With air dry, everything comes out dry and unspotted. It's fairly unattractive and plasticky looking, but maybe I'll just keep it till it dies.

The worst part is I'm gonna have to figure out some other way to hang my towels closer than the oven door handle.

I'm sorry that I didn't read the other posts and I'm also sorry cause if I know this form, the majority are probably also suggesting a Miele. When I was looking for a new dishwasher I too was leaning toward Kitchen Aid until I read so many Miele-raving posts here then continued researching elsewhere. After getting all that done (as well as looking at youtube videos) I finally went to take a close look at the Mieles in person, and decided to bite the bullet and buy the Miele Optima (I think it's called) - integrated - which was about $800 more than I originally planned on paying (not including the cabinet face)!

I CANNOT BEGIN TO ADEQUATELY EXPRESS what this dishwasher has meant to me. I feel like I have a very quiet maid who only annoys me when she beeps at the end (that can be turned off - I just keep forgetting to look up how). The 3rd rack is invaluable cause once you get the hang of it, you fill it up really fast. It takes waaaaay more silverware - as well as other larger utensils - than the typical kind, and gets them waaaay cleaner. Also that frees up more space at the bottom than most might realize. ALSO, you can remove part or all of the top rack for more height if needed (you can also buy the standard kind for below, if you really want it) or you could do what I've done a few times which is to just throw the flatware in in a hurry - all scattered an messy - and it still comes out clean! You can pull on these little handles and tilt the middle rack too, in case you have an extra tall pot in one area of the bottom. I can fit so much more into this dishwasher (cram it if need be - though not necessary as it offers so much more space than most). I love the option of the half-hour cycle too. Even though it doesn't dry the dishes, if you pop the door open yourself, it dries them well enough; the introduction of cold air is what ironically dries them because of the electricity-saving technology involving hollow double walls (?) and the interaction between hot/wet dishes and cold air resulting in rapid evaporation. The thing is so quiet (not that I care, having an old house w/ a separate kitchen) that a lot of the time I'll open the door to find it's going and I'd forgotten or had no clue (thanks hubby for helping). It requires very little detergent so saves money there, and saves on the electrical and water bills - not just for being so uber efficient but also cause of the way it dries dishes (no heater needed). It has a ton of configuration choices re. how you want to put your dishes in, as well as parts that come in and out easily as well as additional parts for configurations that you can buy separately e.g. if you want to be cleaning mostly wine glasses or baby bottles or what have you. And lastly it's beautiful and built like a tank. 2 years later and I'm still in the honeymoon stage and love looking at it and playing with it (I'm a nut). Stainless on the inside and super cool buttons on the top that make sense...everything tight and well made. Cannot believe I didn't go Miele sooner. Damn...they should be paying me for my advertising! ;)

Theresse - Wow - what a testimonial and I thought I was a Miele zealot!!
I just started to use the Miele cubes and it even took the DW to a higher notch if that is possible!

Now - not to burst any Miele bubbles - our first Miele was a lemon due possibly due to inadequate installation by the local appliance store (supposedly Miele approved but not sure they really were but we did get the 2 year warranty and paid for the extended - which I usually don't)

Anyway, we kept having an error code and after a few times having repair out - they decided it was not fixable - and sent me a FULL refund for the price of the DW - needless to say, I was disillusioned but went searching for a new DW.

After extensive research and discussions, I bought another Miele - and the extended warranty -

It has been perfect this round. (Fingers crossed!) and I love it! I crack up every time it sticks its tongue out at me (when it is finished - it pops open a little bit to help with drying)

Just a reminder - any appliance can have a problem - the key was the Miele has one of the lowest repair rates (25%!)

Wouldn't want to live without the third rack now, and like so many others, I think the Miele is worth the extra $$.

in a word: miele.

Two Miele dishwashers here (Dimension and Classic) and we love them...the third rack is a dream. The loading process for the bottom rack is absolutely genius, the top rack for glasses etc. is a bit trickier, IMHO, but we really are happy with the performance of both appliances. The Dimension is the quietest DW I've owned, the Classic is still quiet, but you can tell the difference. I had an older KA before, and was happy enough with it, but the Miele's are far better.

Clarygrace - not sure if this is what you meant (maybe the Optima has a different middle rack) but on ours, I do admit having to go buy all new bowls. That was worth the small price to have them fit so perfectly (and also because our bowls before were huge and obnoxious, promoted over-eating and hogged space in the cabinet). So I'm glad I felt the need to do that. Big bowls would have still worked though not nearly as efficiently as this way. I also love the long narrow side racks in there that fold down like little lofts for extra storage in there too. :)

Ours is a stainless steel Miele La Perla: the second Miele dishwasher we've owned -- the first one in our old house, which we missed for the decade we spent in our second house before we embarked on a long-planned kitchen renovation. I love the third shelf for silverware. We use our sterling silver flatware every day (shock: we wash our silver in the DW), and this ensures that it won't rub up against stainless utensils and cutlery. It takes no time to load the third shelf, and makes it easier to unload and put things in their place. The adjustable height of lower racks makes it easy to deal with large dinner plate and pots and stemware. We've had no problems with either of the two Miele dishwashers we have owned. I love the timer that makes it possible to set the dishwasher to run in the wee hours and be dry just as we descend bleary-eyed into the kitchen in the morning -- I assume many DWs have this feature now. We use both Miele DW soap tabs and Method "Smarty" DW soap tabs, but chopped in half. We don't add salt because our water is naturally very soft here in New Haven and spotting has not been a problem.

Friends nearby are very pleased with their Asko dishwasher. I despised the Maytag we inherited when we bought this house, but can't remember why. All I know for sure is: a dishwasher is a wonderful thing.

I'm a Miele fool, so take my input for what it's worth.
Lynn

I love my 10 y/o maytag...hope I can find something similar when I go shopping in a week or so. Alas, the Miele (which is what I REALLY want) just isn't in the budget.

I have a Kitchen Aid Superba that is starting it's 15th year. It's the best cleaning machine and I don't do one thing extra to it. At first my complaint was that it had a shorter tub because of all of the extra insulation, it's very quiet. After reading all of the appliance forums advice I think I would get another Kitchen Aid when the time comes. They now have the tall tub ones and I would not want that separate thing on the top (third tier for silverware). I know myself and would not want to take the time for that. I like that I can take one of my silverware holders out if I need extra space and just use one if I don't need the other one. (It comes with two narrow baskets, or at least it used to). I love having the food disposal in it so you don't really have to be concerned about scraping dishes (I only lightly scrape and NEVER pre rinse that's a huge plus as far as I'm concerned). It has an extra hot sanitation cycle as well which is important to me. I don't care if the dishes dry completely as I always seem to open the door a bit and let them dry if I'm home. I would highly recommend the KA if the new ones are as good as the old ones. Good luck!

Another Miele DW here. Can't remember the model but it was the next-to-lowest -- the least expensive one that offered the salt dispenser. I think the salt makes a difference -- our water is just moderately hard. I love how quiet it is when running -- who cares if the cycles are longer if you don't hear it when it's running. The third tray takes about two days to get used to -- really like it now. Much safer-- never get stabbed by anything when unloading.

I wanted a new Euro size DW so we could get a panel on and still maintain standard depth counters. That seemed like a frivolous reason to spend -- I think it was $1340 --- but we are so very glad we did. The DW is used more than almost anything except the sink and faucet, so having something top notch really matters.

jeri, one thing I forgot to mention is that I really wish I had gotten or known about the different handle options on my Kitchen Aid appliances. I really love the Architect Series handle which is a long round handle as opposed to the flat curve handle that is on my refrigerator. It pains me that I didn't know that was available though truthfully it may have been a little more. It was available at Ferguson's but not at the big box store where I got my fridge. So maybe that is why your appliance sales person asked you what type of handles you will be having on the other appliances. Word of advice, check to see if there are options on the handles or if there are other series in your choice of appliances, sometimes not available at the box stores but for near the same price at retailers like Ferguson's or K&D's.

Holy cow, I'm losing it. I meant the Professional Kitchen Aid Series is the handle I really wanted on my KA appliances. So sorry.

Another vote for Miele: I have had a few small issues and one or two more significant ones, but the customer service is great and for all the smaller stuff I was able to just sort it out over the phone with the tech staff talking me through it.

Love the third rack. love the adjustable middle rack and the adjustability of the racks in general. It is in the middle of a very open house with wood floors that seem to magnify sounds in odd ways, and the main reason I went with Miele is for the quiet. I haven't been disappointed by that. Filter is nothing to worry about. The dishwasher tells me when I have neglected it for too long. I am sure there are lots of great dishwashers out there, and it is only possible for me to know what I like about one at a time (lucky dogs who have two!) and how much better than the last one it is. But I would do Miele again if needed.

If you can't afford the Miele, I am really loving my GE Cafe dishwasher. We did have an issue with our old glasses breaking and it turned out the heated dry temp was just set too high. Now its perfect and everything comes out great- plastics that were cloudy for years(my food processor was the worst!) come out sparkling! I got the employee discount so not sure of the real cost but without the automatic soap dispenser I "think" it's under 1000.

Have had a GE MONOGRAM DW for almost 2 years now and have been very pleased with it. Everything comes out sparkling clean. (I rinse my dishes before loading). It's very quiet, and I love that it has a light inside. Helps me see everything. This is my first DW as an adult, so I don't have much to go by, and I know people tend to rag on GE, but I'm very happy with my DW, CAFE Fridge and Monogram Microwave.

I regret everyday purchasing a Kitchenaid dishwasher for my kitchen makeover. I gave away for free the GE dishwasher I had for 10 years that had many more features, worked flawlessly, and did a better job in less time. I have had to have the KA repaired twice in the first two years. The design is very flawed. The pull-out rack falls out of its track overtime I pull it out. It is just the worst...and I only bought it so it would match the new ss KA refrigerator I bought which ALSO has had to have service twice in about the same time. The repairman told us the dripping of water onto our new hardwood floor was the result of a design flaw that he services on KA refrigerators "all the time". I regret that I didn't buy GE because I thought it wouldn't have as much resale appeal. Buyers be ware.

Since this last post is over a year old
I'm not sure if this helps, but the top rack issue is definitely a
problem with KA/Whirlpool. We installed an aftermarket "adjustment kit"
that quickly solved the problem for our model. The Whirlpool W10712394
Adjuster kit is still available at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Kenmore-0W10712394-Whirlpool-W10712394-Adjuster/dp/B00SPYDSFC.

We have also noted an issue with dripping water, but haven't figured
out whether we are causing it by opening the door after starting it, for
adding that 'just one more thing.' We are remodeling now and undecided
whether to keep this one or buy a new dishwasher, but if we buy I guess
we won't be getting another Kitchenaid.

They just don't make KA like they used to. It's really too bad that a wonderful company that was completely trustworthy is now no longer remotely the same. Sad.