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Appliance Recommendations

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by genuinemommy, Aug 31, 2021.

  1. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    We're looking at getting a new dishwasher.
    I have no idea what we need.
    I prefer really fast wash cycles. 20-30 minutes. Any more time and I might as well hand wash everything myself.

    We don't need or want one of the extreme water saving machines that take 3 hours for a wash. Water is plentiful and inexpensive here, and we don't use it often enough for that to make an impact.

    We have stainless steel appliances elsewhere in our kitchen. But they're already starting to rust because of the salty sea air. So if there's some special kind of finish or treatment that is better for high salt environments, tell me about it!

    Anyone have advice?
    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    For most of the last decade, I spent at least one day per week in factories that built appliances. My previous company was a key supplier to the two largest domestic manufacturers, and most of our suppliers and partners dealt with multiple manufacturers. The three main US 'groups' are Whirlpool, Electrolux, and GE. The families associated with each group make just about all the domestic brands. I've been around for 'tear downs' and seen/met on the results. That is where one manufacturer would pull competing models from all the other major manufacturers, alongside their own models, and literally tear them apart piece by piece and examine the specs of each part. They'd review thickness of the material, strength, the amount of fasteners used to hold wire harnesses, the number or rivets/welds, you name it, they compared it.

    Based on all of that, and many years of conversations with other suppliers to that market, I'd recommend something manufactured by Whirlpool. Specifically, for the best bang for the buck, I'd look at the nicest KitchenAid unit that fits the features you prefer.

    If you had posted this a month ago, I would've been able to hook you up with a very significant discount to most major appliances, but alas, I changed jobs and that perk went with the old job.
     
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  3. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    A few years ago I would've said if the appliance relies heavily on an engine, for example washing machine and dishwasher, buy a Maytag. But now so many brands are under one parent company it's hard to know if top brands are still superior.

    I like Borla's thoughts, sounds like good insider info. You can research them, but IME reviews by the consumers have to be read carefully. Too many are I Love My Brand New Whatever honeymoon reviews, and complaints about problems actually caused by misuse.
     
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  4. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    Yeah, there will definitely be very positive and very negative online reviews for every model. People get excited and love their new machine. Even more often, when someone gets the rare defective machine, they will scream from the mountain tops that it was horrible and the customer service was awful. So it’s a bit of a mess wading through reviews. With time and patience you can discern which ones are consistent and posted by rational consumers and which ones are outliers and emotional people trying turn their own volume up.




    If my experience in the industry can be helpful, anyone can feel free to post up SKUs or models and ask for more targeted feedback.
     
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  5. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

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  6. Stan

    Stan Resident Dumbass

    Location:
    Colorado
    I have a Bosch and love it. Mine is something like 15 yrs old, does a great job and would seem to be reliable. That said, it's anything ;but fast. That doesn't matter to me, there's just 2 of us; but it may be the slowest machine out there.
     
  7. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    When I was researching the four SUV models we were considering, I read hundreds of consumer reviews. It took some effort, but after a while the differences between realistic, honeymoon, and expecting the world reviews were easy to spot.


    A quick search shows positive mentions of the Bosch 300 series and 800 series.

    The racks in our old (20+ years) Maytag DW are rusting through, but it still runs. My wife wants a new one, so I'm interested in the responses.
     
  8. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    Bosch makes a very good quality unit. My answers were strictly involving domestically manufactured units, since domestic manufacturing pays my mortgage. :p
     
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  9. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    We have a Bosch that matches what you are looking for.
    Apparently they are a bit of a PIA to install, at least that's what our plumber said.
    But it has worked flawlessly for the last 5 years.
    The biggest improvement over our old Maytag is that it is super quiet.
     
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  10. PonyPotato

    PonyPotato Very Tilted

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    My ex has a Bosch and that thing was amazing. I miss it. My mom’s got a Frigidaire and it sucks.

    I believe Whirlpool manufactures the majority of IKEA appliances. Might be worth looking into some of their models? We sell some of the discontinued ones on the As-is floor at our store, typically at 40-60% discount from the regular price. 5 year Whirlpool warranty still applies.
     
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  11. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    That's a great tip! Thanks!
     
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  12. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX

    GM, did you mean to hit Dislike on Pony's reply? Just strikes me a odd.

    ......

    I can remember when a dishwasher thread would totally out of place here at The TFP. At that time not many active members were old enough and settled enough to give DWs any real thought.
    --- Double Post Merged, Sep 2, 2021, Original Post Date: Sep 2, 2021 ---
    Are all Bosch machines imported? I thought I saw MUSA mentioned (very quick reading, misread?).
     
  13. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    No, some are made here, a few are imported. I guess the "is it made in the USA" argument here parallels that of 'foreign' cars, right? If a VW or BMW is made in the US (many are), is it German or domestic? Kind of the same thing with Bosch. The other brands I referred to are US companies producing things built in the US, though for everyone some components are sourced elsewhere.
     
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  14. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    Yes, a very thin line between Made In ... and Assembled In ... .

    At one time some Toyota models were more USA vehicles than some Ford models made in Mexico. Chrysler, before the downfall, made some models in Canada and some in Mexico. My POS 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T was made in Mexico.
     
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  15. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    Thanks for catching that!
     
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  16. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    Any thoughts? Narrowing down those under consideration?


    I have not looked at DWs in probably 20 years. I'm really liking the three rack designs, esp the adjustable racks. But just for two people I have to remind myself more isn't necessarily better or necessary.

    Of course we'll wind up with the model my wife likes best :p.
     
  17. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    My husband did a complete tear down and rebuild, found the issue with our current dishwasher. A friend of mine pointed us to a junk hardware shop that is likely to have a replacement part. We're going to go that route.
    We're thinking KitchenAid if we do replace.
    In other news, our refrigerator is also acting up. These Samsung appliances were supposedly new when we bought our home less than a year ago.
     
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  18. PonyPotato

    PonyPotato Very Tilted

    Location:
    Columbus, OH
    it’s pretty common where I live for a 1 year home warranty to be included in a sale. If so, that often covers appliances.. I got a new dishwasher last year under my home warranty, even though the thing was 15 years old!
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
  19. genuinemommy

    genuinemommy Moderator Staff Member

    We have no home warranty this time. The seller didn't offer one and my husband was convinced it was a waste of money. So now we have a home full of "new" appliances (with no warranty transferred to us for the individual appliances), and everything is breaking.
    I am not at all shocked that this is happening. Husband still considers a home warranty a waste of money. I won't fight about this one with him.
     
  20. connyosis

    connyosis Vertical

    Location:
    Nora, Sweden
    I have to give a thumbs up to Bosch machines, they're well built. We have a Bosch dishwasher from 1990. Quiet and still chugging along without any issues whatsoever.
     
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