I'll be watching this thread as my 15 year old dishwasher needs replacing. Ive been hand-washing dishes for two weeks. My only recommendation would be Antibacterial feature.

Depending upon the age of your dishwasher, you'll need to start by looking at its dimensions. It could be a real challenge to find one that will fit in your space.

I bought a bottom of the line whirlpool brand dishwasher and it does a great job. ( it did a great job cleaning with powders. I recently learned that it doesn't work very well with gel soaps. I will tripods next and hopefully that will resolve that problem.)

If you have not looked at dishwashers in a while you will be surprised at how long the cycle times are. Because they are so long, you'll want to turn it on at the end of the day and let it run overnight so it needs to be quiet or your kitchen needs to be distant from the bedrooms or one where you can just shut the kitchen door.

If your house is an open concept house, you may need to go for a super quiet brand.

Some machines have special cycles-do you do a lot of stemware? Would you like to run half loads?

Some of the dishwashers have built in garbage disposers, if that is what you are used to it you may want to buy that again.

Given the price of some of the high-end dishwashers and that their reliability is just not that great anymore I went for a bottom of the line figuring that I could replace it every couple of years if need be and still come out ahead financially compared to the upfront cost of some of the reportedly more reliable and more expensive dishwashers. Bottom of the line means that the interior is all plastic and there is some sound insulation but it is still noticeable when it is running.

A third rack is now available in a number of models and many people really like having their cutlery on that third rack. Others end up hating it and removing it.

If I was not so concerned about money, I would probably go for the new Asko dishwasher IF I had good Asko service in my area. Many people buy high end dishwashers based on their supposed reliability but if there is no service for the brand in your area-don't do it. Buy a brand that you can have serviced in your area. Most people on this website are devoted to Miele.

We are running on borrowed time with our Maytag that is at least 15 years old. It is a champ, but, like they say, they don't make them like they used to. From reading here, I would go with a Bosch if they have an authorized service center where you are. There are 3 shelf models starting about $700 (maybe less now). Those get the most recommendations here, but some lower lines do too. Do a search.

Miele is my current and favorite.

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/G4975.html

My dishwasher is probably about 15 yrs old also. It works fine, but I assume its merely a matter of time before it dies. My question is for practigal, you mentioned checking dimensions? I assumed that dishwashers were pretty much standard, so you could replace one in your current cabinets. Is this incorrect? If so, how does one replace an old dishwasher without altering the cabinet? I have to say, I've had all Whirlpool appliances (except the range) for years now, they have all given me many years of use with little to no service. I can't complain for the money spent on them. And in my home's price range, it would not be practical to purchase high end appliances anyway. All I want from a dishwasher is to be reliable, clean the dishes well, and perhaps an energy star.

DW are pretty much standard. They are nearly all 24" wide, but some are slightly deeper and some are slightly taller. You just need to measure to make sure that you don't have an issue.

Thanks for the advice so far. I will look at Miele and Bosch models. Any others happy with their DW? I would especially like one that will DRY the dishes.

Here is my thread on my new BFF, the Bosch wonder machine. It washes! It get things clean (and I've been testing it)! It dries! It holds little things! It's silent! It's like a ninja. I run it daily, sometimes twice (depending on how many people are home all day). I'm still experimenting with best arrangements, especially on the bottom rack (you know what I mean, the best way to load it throughout the day so there is still room for the big pan after dinner, without completely rearranging everything before turning it on)

I need to spend thousands.

Mine KA dw is 16 years old. Hope to squeeze 5 more years out of it, but we'll see.

My SIL just got a Bosch and dislikes it. She says it doesn't load well (seems "small") and dishes are not dry at the end.

I like my new (within the past 9 months)) Kitchenaid and it has a heated dry, washes well, and is extremely quiet (the only sounds are water draining into the sink pipes).

Very happy with my Bosch, which is now about three years old. Cleans very well. Fairly quiet (some noise when it first starts then I can't hear it at all). I have no trouble getting a days worth of dishes in it--looking at the manual made a difference in how much I can get in. I really, really, really like the third rack for cutlery.

I also use the delayed start all the time. I load it up after dinner and turn it on with a delay start of a three or four hours. Then people can continue to add water glasses and snack plates as they use them if they remember. But the dishwasher is set and runs even if no one thinks of it again. (Especially helpful because I go to bed earlier than dh and he would not remember consistently to start the machine).

Stuff gets reasonably dry. I have moved a ton and used a lot of different dishwashers and I have never had a dishwasher that perfectly dries everything. Plastic lids are always a bit damp. The bottom of glasses with lips are always a bit damp. The Bosch is the same in this regard. It does help that I run the dishwasher overnight so it has some time to evaporate the remaining water.

I wonder what it is about plastic? In my old DW they were wet around the rims. In the new Bosch, there is only a drop, I can put them right away. It dries amazingly well. I, too, run it at night, so it finishes drying. Just now, though, I ran a full load with lots of plastic (cleaning out the leftovers lol!) and about an hour or two after it finished I opened it...heat!...and the plastics were nearly dry, but not quite.

I need to remember to try the Delay Start!

Almost three years into my second K-A, the first of which I bought in 1986. If this one lasts half as long, I'll be happy. Love the heated dry, dishes come out clean, dry and warm. It's also very quiet while running.

One caveat to the new machines though, is they take forever and a day to go through a regular wash cycle! However, I've found the "express wash" cycle to do just as good of a job cleaning in about half the time...

We just ordered the ASKO which has been getting very good reviews in the past few years. Pretty excited about it and hope it works out.

Thank you everyone for your comments! I have been researching and looking at them in stores and just an hour ago made a purchase and now will wait on delivery and installation next week.

Here was my process:

With comments and online review I had pretty much narrowed it down to Bosch or Miele, but also looked at KitchenAid to have more options.

Miele- there was no one that sold it in town and only one store in the geographic area- it was 30 min away. They did not have prices on their website. I pretty much ruled this one out because online prices were hundreds more than the Bosch and KA and if it needed repairs reports of repairs were very high priced and hard to get service and or parts.

Bosch- I thought that this was the one. Looked at models at Lowes and at Sears Hometown Appliance store. Was debating if I wanted the 500 series or pay $100 more to get the 800 series.

Today, dragged my husband with me to shop and make a final decision. Went for the first time to a local Mom & Pop appliance store. Looking strictly at KA, since they do not carry Bosch. They had a good selection, the KA were very sturdy shelves, had the third rack, and were quiet. They could order it in white, with recessed handle rather than the bar. I brought our dishes and they all fit. Only downside is the third rack is not set up to hold silverware like the Bosch. They had a cheaper installation fee than Lowes and also do service in house, no need to call an 800 number and hope to get an actual human on the line.

Left there and went to Lowes to double check the Bosch. Every rack on the 2 Boschs in the store were broken- one of them just broken since I had looked at them 2 days ago. That was problematic. Also, our dishes did not fit all the tines. And, the tines were tilted so our plates fit funny even in the spaces that they fit. Our cereal bowls did not work at all. We have Fiesta dinnerware for reference. We use the 9" buffet plate and the small bowl- not even the large/regular sized stuff. That decided us- KA it will be!

We went back to the local store and couldn't be more happy to buy from them. They had excellent customer service. We are getting the recessed handle because in a galley kitchen I do not want to be catching my hip on the large, industrial style handle they have. Also, I like the controls on the front so that I can see when the machine is on. I am excited to have the option of heated dry if I want and also that I won't have to worry about the "stinky" smell that many Bosch reviews mentioned. No KA reviews mentioned any bad smells. I would have liked to have the silverware on the top third rack, but I am used to baskets so it won't be a big deal. Putting lids and other items on the top rack might even be more useful in the long run.

I will let everyone know how it works once we get it in!

Would you please give us the model number. I like the heated dry feature but I thought the Kitchenaids with the third rack did not come with a heating element.

KDFE204EWH

Above is the model number. For stainless it is "SS" at the end rather than "WH", which stands for white. It does have both the third rack and a heating element. I saw the element in the floor model. It does not have a disposal or food grinder, that is one way they keep it so quiet. It does have a filter thing which looks very easy to grab and rinse out as needed.

Looks like a nice choice! Nearly every dishwasher with a filter system is self cleaning. The filter is placed over the drain pump and it will run a quick cleaning/purging cycle as it drains. You should rarely have to clean that filter.