Bosch vs Kitchen Aid Dishwasher - which is better?

[LeeH]

Anyone have experience with these brands. I bought a used Bosch from Craigslist.... guy said it worked great. Well, it had been sitting in his garage for 6 months and it did NOT work. May just be a gunked up pump. I haven't gotten into it yet. Worst case is that my used $200 dishwasher needs a $100 pump/motor. Guy I bought it from was not interested in taking it back, but that's another story.

Today I picked up a 4 year old Kitchen Aid at a garage sale for $20. Shows reasonable wear. Needs a $4 piece of string for the door, otherwise it should work as it was in service just yesterday. I'm sure I can recoup the cost of the Bosch by selling the Kitchen Aid. Is one better than the other? Both have stainless interiors. Bosch was around $600 new and the Kitchen Aid was around $900 new.

[TerryH]

I went into the local Lowes to dishwasher shop and just minutes earlier someone had returned a Bosch unit because it was too tall for their countertop. They gave it to me for 60% off because they didn't want to deal with the return. I do know it's practically silent, because I hear beeps when it's done and never heard it running. My wife loves it, I have no opinion because I don't use it.

If you give me an email address, I can send you dishwasher ratings from a highly regarded source.

[charlesbahn]

Our Bosch tried to burn our house down and kill us. Was only about 1 year old.



And the smoldering dishwasher after the fireman ripped it out from the wall and threw it into the back yard.




I learned a few things:

The smoke is instantly noxious from the burning insulation.

If you call 911 to report a fire- say you see flames. If it is just smoke, you are a lower priority. They got to our house within 5 minutes.

Candles are the highest percentage cause of fires. Next are dishwashers and dryers- appliances with heating elements.

Oh, and Bosch was not very helpful.

[RWebb]

they will be a LOT more helpful if your uncle writes them a nice letter on his law firm's letterhead...

[74-911]

I installed a Bosch SS dishwasher about 2 years ago. Wife loves it, it is very quite and gets the dishes really clean. One of the reasons we bought it is it does not have a dryer heating element.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by charlesbahn

Our Bosch tried to burn our house down and kill us. Was only about 1 year old.

:::::::::::::

Bosch was not very helpful.

That may have been a perfectly good dishwasher, but there was something hinky about the installation. You shouldn't immediately assume it was the manufacturer that was responsible for the fire.

Plus... you know what ShamWow Vince says... "It's made in Germany, and you know the Germans always make good stuff."

[afterburn 549]

I tried on e 2 years ago...well it was not supposed to be a try..but it did not clean, they took it back...
The Internet web sites said they were top of the line
The rep said "they were all having problems like ours"
Maybe they got it all fixed...

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by 74-911

I installed a Bosch SS dishwasher about 2 years ago. Wife loves it, it is very quite and gets the dishes really clean. One of the reasons we bought it is it does not have a dryer heating element.

Ours doesn't have the heating element either. Thought that might be a bad thing, now definitely considering it a good thing. Scary fire though. Not a good omen for any make/model. No one wants to own the dishwashing equivalent of the Pinto or Fiero. Was it definitely the dishwasher and not the connections?

The dishes are dry without the element, so not sure why it's even an option. Perhaps a faster cycle time?

[charlesbahn]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

That may have been a perfectly good dishwasher, but there was something hinky about the installation. You shouldn't immediately assume it was the manufacturer that was responsible for the fire.

Yes I agree. The consumer protection agency hauled it away in a truck to investigate it. They seemed quite interested. Last I heard Bosch and Sears (the installer) were arguing about the cause with our insurer (USAA).

But I was very disappointed when I called Bosch to tell them they might have a fire problem with their dishwasher and got the "it's not our problem" response. I guess they were just protecting themselves legally.

[LeeH]

Originally Posted by charlesbahn

But I was very disappointed when I called Bosch to tell them they might have a fire problem with their dishwasher and got the "it's not our problem" response. I guess they were just protecting themselves legally.

Hmmm... a lot of Bosch dishwashers were recently recalled due to fire hazard.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/01/bosch-recall.html

Mine is one of the recalled dishwashers. I have a number to give to an appliance repair shop for a free circuit board install.

[Heel n Toe]

The heating element is for heating the water once it pools up in the bottom of the dishwasher before the spraying starts. That's so you can set your water heater on 120 degrees... that saves a lot of money.

I'm sure it's also for the "heated air dry" setting too, but we don't use that... seems wasteful when you can just open the door and let 'em dry that way.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I have the top o line Kitchenaid and I've needed to repair something on it every couple of years or so. When it works it gets the dishes very clean and very quiet but it (like most appliances) is made from plastic and string.

The strings that help the door close both broke.
The grinding element that chews up food residue wears out quickly. It is made from a piece of plastic with a tin blade that is press fit. When the blade hits something hard, it instantly strips itself and needs to be changed. We have started to pre-rinse all the dishes but eventually it happened again.

[charlesbahn]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Hmmm... a lot of Bosch dishwashers were recently recalled due to fire hazard.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/01/bosch-recall.html

From the above link:



Posted by: teresa lightner | Feb 20, 2009 6:55:19 PM

I bought a Bosch dishwasher 7/03 and loved it. This Christmas we had a fire from the dishwasher control panel. We contacted Sears and Bosch and were told we were 6 months out of warranty so we had no recourse. We bought a new Bosch dishwasher, dismayed that our wonderful dishwasher failed in a major safety way 6 months out of warranty. To our surprise, 6 weeks later, our dishwasher control panel (that had already burned up) was recalled. We contacted Bosch and were told we had no recourse, almost literally, told "too bad." We have all receipts and communications documented for both purchases. I am very disappointed in Bosch, they could have at least offered us some dishwasher soap!

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Posted by: Kristina Brendel | Feb 23, 2009 7:15:10 PM

I had one of the units that burst into flames. I had loved the dishwasher up to this point, in spite of a couple of repairs. But the way BSH is dealing with me is not what I would expect from a "high end" company. In spite of the fact that the unit was defective (as acknowledged by the recall) they will do nothing more than offer to sell me a new one for half price.

Luckily my homeowner's insurance is handling the damage, but not the dishwasher itself.

No, I'm not likely to do business with Bosch again.

----------------------------------------------------

Yep, my experience exactly. Will this thread hurt their sales? I hope so.

[Zeke]

Insinkerator Evolution.



A very nice piece of equipment.

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Hmmm... a lot of Bosch dishwashers were recently recalled due to fire hazard.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/01/bosch-recall.html

Mine is one of the recalled dishwashers. I have a number to give to an appliance repair shop for a free circuit board install.

Thanks for the headsup, Lee. Our model isn't on the recall and I called the 800 hotline to make sure it wasn't added later. Never knew there was a recall. I suppose if we registered our stuff like they ask, we'd be notified.... but I never do it.

[tchanson]

Originally Posted by LeeH

Hmmm... a lot of Bosch dishwashers were recently recalled due to fire hazard.

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/01/bosch-recall.html

Mine is one of the recalled dishwashers. I have a number to give to an appliance repair shop for a free circuit board install.

Our 5 year old Bosch was a subject of the recall as well. We've never had a problem with it before or since.

Bosch was great. Parts arrived in a few days, tech was there a few days later to replace a circuit board in the control panel.

All in all, its been a great (and quiet) unit and we'd buy another.

As an aside, we bought the Bosch to replace a Kitchen Aid that stopped working amid some acrid electrical smells. When the kick plate was removed, we found several black and melted wire connections. Fortunately we had no fire, but electrical problems aren't exclusive to any single manufacturer.

Just the same, I no longer ever run a dishwasher when we are leaving the house.





Tim

[126coupe]

Bosch sucks, our dishwasher died after only 2 years. The appliance guy wanted $500.00 to repair it. I bought a Kitchen Aid and am very happy.

[gt350mike]

My wife bought a Kitchen Aid about 2 months ago and she loves it. I have a few friends that have owned a Bosch and didn't care for it because it didn't clean the dishes very well.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by TerryH

Thanks for the headsup, Lee. Our model isn't on the recall and I called the 800 hotline to make sure it wasn't added later. Never knew there was a recall. I suppose if we registered our stuff like they ask, we'd be notified.... but I never do it.

+1 to Lee

Our model # is on the recall list but the serial # is not in the range listed (ours has a higher serial #) but will call tomorrow to verify.

[campbellcj]

Our house had a mid-90's Bosch installed when we moved-in. It worked well and looked nice, but needed repairs several times and then died at around 10 years old. I don't know if that is relatively good or bad... I replaced it with a GE Profile that has been perfect so far.