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The biggest appliance related mistake we ever made was replacing an excellent 18 year old dishwasher whose racks had rusted. Replacing the racks was going to cost more than a new dishwasher, so we looked at Consumer Reports and bought the most highly recommended dishwasher under $1000 - a Whirpool Gold. Biggest piece of crap I ever purchased in my life.

Our water bill actually went up because not only did we have to really rinse our dishes before we put them in, we also had to (per manual instructions!) let the water from the kitchen sink run hot and then run the dishwasher. I'm not kidding, that is what the manual actually said to do if your dishes weren't being cleaned. We tried TSP. We tried commercial strength Cascade. We tried vinegar, more soap, less soap, you name it. The dishwasher was a dog.

So, after a year of living with that crappy dishwasher, I really researched and asked everyone for recommendations. The ONLY name we came back with consistently was Miele. People who, like us went from a cheap but excellent dishwasher to a pricey but lousy one, and then capitulated and bought a really expensive one, liked their Bosches but they LOVED their Mieles. It cost us a little over $2000, but to us was worth every penny. Unlike our old trusty Kenmore, we do have to scrape the dishes, but we no longer have to rinse them or let the water run hot before using it. The biggest drawback to a Miele is the silverware has to be individually placed in a tray. We quickly got used to this and it hasn't been a problem.

Just like the new washing machines, the new dishwashers take a lot longer to run. We run ours on pots and pans which seems to be the fastest cycle - I suspect it's faster because it uses the most water.