Well, I see KitchenAid D/W isn't on your list, but I just decided between KA and Asko and a big variable in helping me decide was the sale prices at Sears (I didn't buy from Sears, but Lowes and HD pricematch, as did my high-end appliance showroom store). I got the KUDE60... the price was just too good, 1/2 the Miele and way below the comparable Asko (although Asko has a better warranty).

The Miele you have listed is the Inpsira G2182SCSF, I just went with the model above it, the Diamante Plus G2143SC because for the price ($1400) it was the best model I could find in terms of performance and reliability. I hope to get it delivered in the next few days.

I wasn't aware that Direct Buy sold Miele.

You say you have a standard 30" opening, but I believe 24" is the standard dishwasher opening in the US. There aren't many 30" dishwashers out there. In fact I can only find two from Dacor:
http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/30+Inch%3BDishwashers/N~64+4294964459

D'oh! That's what I meant, 24".

bump

Not sure which Viking model you looked at but until last year they were all made by Asko with a viking logo on them. They have introduced a new model which is reported to be made in house but I've heard conflicting info and cannot confirm this. I have my doubts as getting a DW production line up and running is very difficult. Aslo Viking is in the habit recently of acquiring manuf. lines like their built in fridges and disposals or sourcing them out like the freestanding ones. Seems like only cooktops/ranges and ovens are handled in house.

Dacor has the only 30" DW on the market.

Smeg has a 36" model that is about 3/4 height.

JennAir is the red headed stepchild of that bunch and has the lesser quality, and brand appeal FWIW.

Smeg 36" dishwasher for toekick-less cabinets

The Rex-Electrolux windowed one :

{{gwi:1407452}}

IMHO these 36" DW hold far less than a 24" DW with regular racks, also they are very expensive even more than a Miele La Perla and I'm not so sure one gets what he pays for

REX is not available in the USA, and I doubt Electrolux ICON will add that model to their lineup here either.

ASKO is appealing more and more to me, but reliability wise? Everyone tells me they need more repairs than most brands, especially compared to Miele?

And just to reiterate, that was a typo above. I have 24" opening, NOT 30". :)

I have an Asko 1896 in place for 8 years now and I had a service call in once on it. We have rented our house out and the tenants love it as well. The new Askos seem to be a step down (no lights inside anymore) from the older models but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one again.

So, JennAir I'm having less love for. I can always get the ASKO if I really want to match the JennAir handles, should I get their fridge.

Viking - I was concerned about quality there.

How are Dacor or Thermador as alternatives to Viking for that "pro" look?

I don't know if the Viking model you're looking at is one of their own design or if it's one of the Asko ones. My Viking was a ZBD8900. One of the first of the ones they designed, and ostensibly built, themselves. I love almost everything about it. The racks are fantastic. The problem is, the dishes don't get dry. My typical load won't dry properly in a European style machine which has no heated dry cycle. The Viking has a heater, but it just blows warm air, and doesn't work sufficiently.

One is supposed to put lots of china and metal in a Euro dishwasher, which along with the stainless tub retains the heat from the water and dries the dishes. (My hand washed china often gets dry before I can get a towel to it, too, for the same reason.) Most high end dishwashers have this kind of drying as an option if they have a heater. If your loads will work in a Miele or Asko, I'd guess they'd work in a Viking. Adding rinse aid (Jet Dry) also helps because it breaks the surface tension of the water drops, but I'm sensitive to the taste so refuse to use it.

Unlike the reports about Viking service that I've seen, I, or my appliance vendor, had no problem. They've actually been great. The machine itself is extremely well designed, and from chatting with the service man who came to see if there was a fault with it, I think they're pretty reliable for the year they've been on the market. There is currently a backlog on parts, however. I can't tell you how the machine is at actual cleaning, however, because it's wetter after over night inside than when I handwash, so it's less trouble to do them myself. I'm getting a new DW this week. I'm bummed. I'm very demanding that the DW work the way I want it to, and I really loved everything else about the Viking. It's really lovely.

All of the new Viking dishwashers are supposedly their own design. They all look similar and have the same internals, so I'm assuming they're all made by either Viking themselves or one other company.

Honestly, at this point I think ASKO and Thermador are the units that make the most sense to me. I guess the Thermador is made by Bosch? Anyone know anything about it or have any experience with it?

The Thermador has an "extra dry" feature. Anyone know anything about that? Is that heated or air?

A lot of it comes down to style. The Thermador has a "pro" look while the Asko has a "modern" look. My cabinets are shaker with towel bar style handles, so it's a bit more modern... but my stove will be a Bluestar which is more pro.

Asko reliability has been fine for our clients over the last two decades. Miele is more refined and has a larger network but Asko is a nice tub.

I'd stay away from the any new Thermador not built in Germany by the Bosch subsidiary. They (Bosch) are starting to go cheap on their parts and construction techniques for the NC produced units. The party line is that this is all green and the stuff is better , bla bla bla, Plastic tubs seamed to metal sides and light weight motors and frames are not better in this case , I don't care what the Bosch sales weasels tell you.

808 - why don't you just get a fully integrated DW and put a shaker panel on it to make it disappear? This would pretty much take look/brand out of the equation for you.

yes, you're right. check here B.S.H. brands

Antss : I know until now Electrolux haven't ever exported there any Zanussi appliance. That pic is just a clue about that kind of DW. Smeg websites lack of shots
Actually I guess soon some Zanussi made dishwashers will arrive to Canadian market badged as AEG ProClean

My Miele Diamante unit is being installed in a day...will report back.

Hindro - Canada get a few of brands and products from Europe that never make it to the U.S., AEG has tried to penetrate the market with no success. I suspect that Zanussi products won't catch on either. The realities of the marketplace are that Americans like big ovens and fridges that "look" cool/Euro but cost like Kmart. That's a tough bil to fill for the Europeans.

Antss, the same fact about BOL models made in New Bern is happening in Europe too. Our BSH "el cheapo DWs have those very same plastic tubs seamed to stainless sides.
They are used as "customer traps" in big box stores. The Bosch logo and the very low price (300 Â, half of a regular decent Bosch) is a magnet for dummies who think to get a great deal buying Bosch for that little money ....

Thermador Sapphire is made in NC. Is that really that bad?

808 - are you sure about that??? It's my understanding that all BSH units with water softeners are made in Germany. That model definitely has the softener.

Just repeating what Thermador customer service told me. :)

Looking for a dishwasher too. Maybe I'll report when I get mine.

Here is a link that might be useful: small fan

So I got the Miele Diamante Plus G2143SC installed yesterday.
I ran it through two Rinse & Hold cycles first and then did a Pot Scrubber with detergent added so that the inside was clean of any manufacturing residue.

I loaded it up with lunch and dinner dishes and pans that evening and ran it on the Normal program (the Turbo mode was off).
I stayed near the kitchen the entire time and it sounded like it filled with water, pre-washed, drained, filled, pre-washed again (why?), drained, filled, washed (heard detergent door open), drained, filled, rinsed, drained, dried.
Also, during the end rinse (which took about 30 minutes total), the last 15 minutes it sounded louder, like it was using higher water pressure.

The entire time using the Normal cycle from start to end when it drained the final rinse water was 2 hours! The original GE Profile I had 3 years ago took about an hour using Normal, and the Electrolux from 2 years ago was about 1.5 hours. Tonight I going to use Normal again, but also with the Turbo mode turned on and see if there is any difference.

Whenever it starts to fill with water, there is a slight is slight gurgling sound, but it only last for about 5 seconds and then fills pretty quite. During the pre-wash, wash, and rinse, it was very quite while running (more so than the GE and Electrolux I owned). I did hear (at the local Miele showroom) a Optima in use a few weeks ago (it has Q3 noise level) and I think it was a tad bit quieter than this Diamante (Q2 noise level) but not by much.

When we checked it this morning, everything was perfectly clean (dishes, posts, pans, plastic cups (we don't use real glass glasses too often), and silverware. The plastic cups were dry except on a few that concave on the top where there was some water puddle. There was also a plastic storage container that was used to store left-overs. It was clean, but also has some water on the top part. Everything else was dry and spotless.

So with only 1 use down, we're relatively happy with our purchase, and baring any problems down the road, I'd consider buying Miele again.

A few other nice things about the way it's made, unlike most other dishwashers (including the GE and Electrolux we had), is that the exterior has it's own sealed enclosure on the sides and top, where most other brands you can see the fiber-insulation on the sides and top.
This unit was side mounted (due to granite counters). The way it works is there's two screws on each side top and bottom, right before the water-seal. But instead of it drilling into the sides of the cabinet, they instead push a piece of metal onto the side of the cabinet that hold the dishwasher in place. This is nice, as it eliminates any drilling into the wood, but still holds it very firmly.

"Just repeating what Thermador customer service told me. :)"

well, ya know I read on the Internet...............................

".....Americans like big ovens and fridges that "look" cool/Euro but cost like Kmart. That's a tough bil to fill for the Europeans."

Coming from a fellow Canadian, I think you meant to say "North Americans", as Canadians have pretty much the same mind set as our friends south of our border. In fact, IMHO Canadians tend to be more frugal (ok, cheap) with purchases for their homes. :)

mkiv

I have the JA CD refrig w/pro style handles x 4 yrs - BEST refrig I have owned - quiet, reliable - love having CD - less food being swallowed up/thrown out.

I have the entry Meile DW -Advanta - we have city water, no need for a lot of the upgrades - Another GREAT appliance

Good luck

Interesting, the Viking and Jennair fridges are mechanically identical except for the doors, but Viking does offer a full 2 year warranty vs. JennAir's 1, and 6 years for sealed refrigeration system vs. JennAir's 5.

This is an update to my post from yesterday...

Last night we did the Normal wash program again, but this time turned the Turbo mode on.
It it a pre-wash, wash, and rinse. Total time (not including drying) was 1 hour 15 minutes.
This is compared to the 2 hours it took the night before to run the Normal program without the Turbo, where it did 2 pre-washes, wash, and rinse.
The wash and rinse times were reduced by using the Turbo mode.

This morning I inspected everything (after using the Normal with Turbo) and the only thing that wasn't removed was some egg that was left on a skillet. But that area was somewhat blocked by another pan, so I'm guessing the water jets we're able to get to that area. But everything else was perfectly clean using the Turbo mode.

I still need to try the other wash programs (pots/pans, express, sanitize) to see how long they go for.

whirlpool built Kitchenaid . Built in North America ! where do you want your money to go ? yes they will all need service some day . Are your parts coming from offshore ? have a long wait while washing by hand.