I have some ramblings to add for future readers: The cliche "they don't make em like they used to" is not cliche with a lot of old line American brands. Kitchen Aid dishwashers used to be the gold standard but no longer are. WHen made by Hobart in the 60's and 70's they were bomb proof and expensive. Now, that division has been sold at least twice and the new suits are trading on the prior glory trying to build to a price point which is at or even below what your parents paid back then. They really don't care about high quality, they only care about feeding the machine to drive the financials upward to boost the stock price. Same with Maytag Washers and Thermador cooking products. No longer what they used to be. Re: this brand vs. that based on a complaint you read on the internet - No one makes perfect machines everyday throughout a model run. Just go ask NASA and the space shuttle program. Arguably the most complex machine on the planet with many of the brightest minds working on it with no share holders to perform for and a failed machine doesn't result in dirty dishes or a ruined floor , so the stakes are very high ! Still , even they had defective units !!! I don't think repair cost should factor too much into the decision. You cannot accurately predict financial outcomes of your appliance choice over the long haul by saying you'll be better off selecting GE's $115 service call over Sears' $150. What if you NEVER call for service? It's even hard for the manufacturers' actuaries to predict this stuff with certainty. Cooksnews' problems aren't because he chose miele, they are because he lives in Timbuctoo. This is true with any small volume product vs. a high volume one. Bet it's easier to get service on a Ford than a Benz out there too. If he'd gotten any of my three mieles from the last 15 years he wouldn't be squeaking at all because they've had zero issues. Wonder what his tune would be if he'd chosen a KA and it was one of the units that catches on fire, and it burned his house down ? He didn't , so it's kinda pointless to second guess , but people still do. This isn't limited to the sticks either. I live in a metro area with close to 6 million people. I can get on some in house techs scheds in one or two days , while other's take a week or ten days like Cook's and when they do show up they have the same holier than thou attitude as his DW tech. Its simply how the world works. Hey Cook , try and sched a Comcast technician and see what he says when he shows up at your place and then get back to us on that experience. The parts issue is easy - how much inventory do think that guy can physically store on his van? DO you think the manufs' give those parts to the techs ? SO, we have limited space for material, and a sizable outlay in $$$ for pump or heater or high pressure switch and now we get to the point where Cook's tech probably serviced 10 brands. Still think it reasonable for him to have a GE DW pump, a miele steam generator, a KAid oven control board, a Viking fridge compressor, and a maytag door seal on his truck just in case he gets a call from you for one of those ??? Bottom line is - if you choose a high quality unit you probably won't need service. However, should you need it you'd should make sure there is a technician in your area that has the ability and DESIRE to work on your machine. All manuf. have unhappy customers out there. If you truly want a a long lasting machine you need to look for one coming from a company that is privately held and not subject to the whims of the stock market. There are very very few of these around though. They will also cost a small fortune compared to their mass production competition. It simply costs more money to design , build and deliver a product with higher initial quality and a longer lifespan than it does a tarted up weekend promo that every Sears in the U.S. can sell every third Sat. for $399 along with a free delivery and a box of soap too. Another thing to consider is these manufacturers' are sometimes at the whim of their suppliers. No appliance company has complete vertical integration such that they can supply everything that goes into a fridge or a DW, not even GE. So, sometimes you get a faulty batch of copper pipe like sub zero or defective control boards like Kit. Aid ovens and DWs. How a company handles these mess ups tells you a lot. SZ replaces theirs no charge, while KA denies there is even a problem at all. It helps to have fewer units to replace , but it's the behavior that concerns me more.

There is such a stepped adapter with three or maybe four step sizes in the garbage disposer section of a big box (or plumbing) store.

After the filter -- which you said you've already done -- next place I'd look at is the drain hose, especially at the point it connects to the drain under the sink. Easy to disconnect and examine. Look at the hose for kinks and look into the discharge outlet for obstructions. Leave the hose-end out and get a bucket big enough to allow fill/drain from the DW. Allow single fill/drain to empty into the bucket. Suspect you'll learn lots in just a few minutes.

Check the installation instructions (probably can find online if you don't have a paper copy included with the machine). There are probably additional anchor points that were overlooked.