Dishwasher recommendations please!!!!!

Our dishwasher has broken down (and no, that's not me :lol:). I'm off to start looking for a replacement this afternoon (thanks Krudd :D).

Any tips, hints, recommendations? I haven't bought a dishwasher before, so this is new to me. I've only done fridges, washing machines etc, I can tell you all about those LOL. I do tend to lean towards the European brands (I have a Bosch washing machine) as I think they are generally made better and last longer, but I'm happy for other suggestions too. A few people have highly recommended an Asko.

So, what have you got, do you like it, and why/why not? TIA :D

Have you checked to see if there are any reports on the Choice website?
We have a Fisher Paykel, and it broke not long after it's warranty expired. Still waiting for DH to organise to get it downstairs in the car and to someone to get it fixed. So I might have to keep a close eye on this one :)

eta: I just quickly checked out Choice. They have 2 reports, 1 is free and 1 is for paid members

When our old dishwasher carked it I asked the service repair man what brands he got the least call outs for LOL! He said if you want European then Bosch is a good brand (that is what we ended up getting and have been very happy with it) and if you want a cheaper brand, then Dishlex is a very reliable brand too. He also mentioned that the ones with all the digital parts are more likely to have issues down the track compared to the ones with manual dials. We bought one with just the basic dials on it, it was much cheaper than the digital ones too :)

Thanks guys. The one that has broken down is a dishlex, with the digital buttons. We are guessing that it's about 12 years old, which I guess is okay. I have heard that too Trish, that the manual settings are less likely to have issues. How do you find the Bosch to stack etc? Does it hold alot?

Oh, and what about the hot water thing? I'm guessing it's best to have a hot water connection so that you use less power?

Ours seems to stack heaps, we only need to put a load on every second day with a family of four. I don't put pots in it though, I hand wash them so we can fit the smaller items all in the dishwasher. I think we only have a cold water connection for ours (will double check with DH on that one) and haven't had a significant rise in our electricity bill. I suppose it would be cheaper if you had hot water though? I'm not sure, my DH is much more cluey about those things!

I've got a FP double dish drawers and I love it! It is really roomy, water wise and the drawers are fabulous. :D

we just installed an INDESt, its great its european, basic stacks a heap we ahev basically done 4 loads to wash all of our stuff including pots and pans as it was all dusty from teh new kitchen renos.. it was cheap only 549 from hardley normal and very easy to install and use simple dial to choose was and a start button.

we dont have a dishwasher but friends of ours have an Asko and they love it!
its super quiet and stacks well :)

I've got a Fisher & Paykel Dish Drawer - basically I love the look of them and I have a dodgy back so the fact that I don't have to bend right down to the floor to stack it is brilliant for me.

The reviews of it are shaky but ours has been fine.

Yeah, I've heard mixed reviews of the F&P drawers, some people love them, some are not so happy. Will have a look though, thanks girls.

I definitely want it to be quiet, and a child lock would be a big bonus!

We've had: Asko, Miele and Dishlex (in different homes).... in that chronological order.

The Asko was great. Very quiet great washing results, never a problem... a solid reliable workhorse. Had a child lock.

The Miele was very expensive and very temperamental... kind of like a highly strung racehorse... looked beautiful, had all the features but at the end of the day didn't clean any better than our current Dishlex. It was super quiet though... and had an interior light too I think from memory which was nifty... and a cutlery tray. I only used expensive dishwashing powder too. Had a child lock.

The Dishlex: A very basic model with no digitals, just a dial. I mainly use Home Brand dishwashing powder but it isn't fussy... it gets on with the job. Noise is average, what you would expect for a DW. We've had it now for 6 years. Doesn't have a child lock.

I also have a preference for European brands... if I was you I'd be very tempted to try another top quality brand. But if I wanted to be safe I would return to Asko... but if I wanted something that will just do the job... no need for bells and whistles I'd buy a manual Dishlex.... and have probably a spare grand in $ to spend on something else!!!

I had a thread like this a couple of months ago!! We ended up getting a dishlex, price was important to us and it had the best reveiw of the cheaper ones on the choice website. I paid the $22 for the reveiws because I thought, well spending $22 on a reveiw and getting one that saves me $$ in the long run was worth it. The child lock on the one we got was the most effective one and Em has only just learned how to press the power button (it is harder to press than the cycle ones) but if she switches it off when we switch it back on it continues the cycle from where it left off. Neither of the girls have figured out the child lock.

Thanks Bath :D My mum has had a Miele, going on 17 years now, and it is the most beautiful dishwasher! I reckon you got unlucky with yours. They are just a bit too far out of our budget, so I'm not even thinking about them :lol:.

I've been having a look online (too yucky to go out this afternoon) and the Askos sound brilliant. I'm not all that keen on going with another Dishlex. It was okay, it did it's job, but I didn't think it was all that good. That being said, if I don't go European, that's probably what I'll go back to.

Mmm, decisions, decisions :lol:. Any feedback welcome!

ETA Thanks Ali, that's good to know :)

Janie I can't really crow loudly enough about my dishdrawers. They lock, they are quiet (we have a large open plan kitchen/dining/living area) and they are very roomy.
They are also very water efficient which is an important consideration.
Since Bath brought up the washing powder - have a google of the NASTY ingredients in mainstream powders and you will quickly convert to non toxic alternatives. I find my FP operates really well on these non toxic powders - which may also be something you want to consider... :hug:

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When our old dishwasher carked it I asked the service repair man what brands he got the least call outs for LOL! He said if you want European then Bosch is a good brand (that is what we ended up getting and have been very happy with it) and if you want a cheaper brand, then Dishlex is a very reliable brand too. He also mentioned that the ones with all the digital parts are more likely to have issues down the track compared to the ones with manual dials. We bought one with just the basic dials on it, it was much cheaper than the digital ones too :)

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Yep I would agree. I have a simpson which from memory was about $500-600 7 years ago whenI got it. It is a manual dial - no digital stuff to go wrong and I've not had any issues with it other than the little plastic roller thing breaking on one of the racks - still works, just doesn't slide in and out as easily as it should.

Am another dish drawer fan for all of the previously listed reasons. With one DD aged 16months we only have one drawer as we don't need a bigger dishwasher at the moment. We run the one drawer once a day at most. We plan to get another if we need it later so that made the cost and space in our kitchen better for us. It is so good to have the dishwasher at hip height.

When we were buying, I googled for dishwasher reviews and found lots of bad responses about FP dish drawers. What I noticed however was that they were all quite old reviews and when I looked further I realised that the original dish drawer did have a few 'kinks' which appear to have been worked out for this generation. We have had ours for 3 years now and it is fantastic.

HTH.

Thanks for all your thought ladies. Deb, I like to buy water wise appliances too ;)

About to leave to go shopping, any other suggestions?????

Take a dinner plate with you just to check it fits. Some dishwashers will have the space, others you may need to raise the top rack for it to fit. Completely forgot to check with the one we last bought as our plates fit nicely in to the last 2 we had used, so very thankful the one we got raises up.

What did you end up getting Janie?

Ooooh, thanks Nelle, I did mean come and update this thread!

We ended up going with a Bosch and I LOVE it! It is SO quiet, you cannot hear it when it's running at all :D. Dishes come out super clean, extremely good water usage etc etc, I'm very happy with our choice.

I was all ready to go with the Asko, when I said something about them in comparison to Bosch. The salesman said that he could show me the Bosch machines, he thought they had slightly better features, and I ended up agreeing with him. I was all for getting the manual controls, but here's the thing - dishwasher manufacturers only make their very basic model with dials. AND, more importantly, they don't have any child proofing. So I went for the next model up, with digital settings, in favour of having child locks. The price difference in the end was less than $150, so I decided to go for it. Um, as for other brands, I checked out a few, but the others all had reasons why I didn't go with them. Miele were quite reasonably priced, but I didn't think the features were that great, can't remember what exactly now, but I wasn't overly impressed. The F&P drawers looked great, but then I wasn't happy with them being all plastic on the inside (just a thing I have :redface:). And the Bosch is actually more water wise, so I don't feel bad there :lol:. The Askos really are lovely, my SIL is just having her kitchen done this week and she's chosen an Asko so I can't wait to hear what she says about it!

Bath, Dishlex don't come cheap these days!!!! No such thing as a spare grand in change, compared to the Europeans!!!! Made me feel better about getting the Bosch ;).