What is her budget?
To me, middle of the road means like a Kenmore Elite, Whirlpool Gold or Kitchenaid product, lower priced Bosch for DW. Whirlpool does have a very good repair record, and they make lots of the Kenmore appliances, and own Kitchenaid too. I am partial to the Whirlpool dishwasher because of the "anyware" utensil basket system. It gives you more room on the bottom rack to not have to have the utensil basket in there. You can hang it on the door, or other places in the DW.
As for the range, I have a neice who bought the Kenmore Elite slide in range, top of the line, and she loves it. I'm looking at that one. I already have a Kenmore Elite fridge that I really like.

A realtor is likely to tell her for resale go stainless, and all appliances matching.
She does need to decide with a range if she wants with/without convection.

I can second the Whirlpool DW. I have put a dishwasher in the last 3 houses I've lived in (since 2005-we've moved a lot!) and have put the same model Whirlpool Gold DW each time. The last one went in last November, and it was the more current version of the previous 2 we put in, but almost all of the features are the same. No repairs for any of them, and they've all cleaned the dishes well. I like that the basket can hang on the door, as it really saves space in the rack for dishes. It wasn't a terribly high end model in the Gold line, and was just under $600 I think. You can definitely spend less, and probably still get a good machine, but I've liked this one, for sure.

I am about to replace my DW, and I am going to get a Bosch. They are available around here (NYC suburbs) in stainless in the $500 range, with hidden controls but without the zillions of cycles that I would never use. I am replacing a top-of-the-line Kenmore that is only about 5 years old. It has not worked properly for the past 3 years, despite service calls and my own efforts to fix it. I have sworn never to buy a Kenmore appliance again. There is also a design flaw - the steam vent is angled upward, and it has worn away the finish on the wood counter edge above it.

I have a dual wall oven with one convection unit. I love the convection oven, and would recommend this feature.

Do your research, read reviews and shop around, especially online. You can get free shipping on appliances now and prices are dropping. Also shop appliance outlets, we have one near us that carries good to high end brands from showrooms and store returns. I have generally had good experiences with Kenmore and bad experiences with GE appliances.

I also agree that stainless is best for resale.

Oh, and Sears is having it's Friends and Family promotion this weekend the 12th, from 6 to 9pm. That is here in Baton Rouge LA anyway, but usually these are national events done everywhere at the same time. Call your local Sears to find out!
With F/F, you get 20% off Kenmore and then another 10% off that price at the register. All else like Whirlpool is 10% plus 10% at register. This equals to be actually 28% off Kenmore and 19% off the rest. I've never ever seen Sears give more than 15% off non Kenmore appliances.

I have a KA dishwasher and I'm very happy with it. I was torn between the KA and a Bosch, I'm sure I would have been happy with the Bosch as well. Being single, your DD probably won't be running the DW everyday. She could go with an entry-level Bosch which will satisfy all of her needs and give her the Bosch name for resale.

I have a Bosch slide-in range. While it performs great, I wouldn't recommend it because the oven fan is very loud. (Why does a company known for quiet DWs make loud ranges?) I have chosen to live with it because I love the way it looks in my white kitchen. However, if I were to replace it I would go with a Kenmore Elite. They have great reviews and are quiet!

As far as what color... I usually prefer stainless EXCEPT I do really like white appliances in a white kitchen. It always looks fresh and clean and sleek. And since this is a starter condo, will it really make that much of a difference at resale? Which has more appeal - a white Bosch DW or a stainless Frigidaire?

Nicole

You might want to buy the latest Consumer Reports magazine on newsstands right now. It is devoted to the kitchen. It maintains that the high-end dual fuel ranges are not a good deal because they are expensive and repair prone and do not necessarily perform better than the all gas models. This is particularly the case with the Viking ranges. It rates several mid-range appliances and gives recommendations on "best buys," etc. It rates refrigerators, water filtration systems, sinks, and so on.

It specifically rates dishwashers over $500 as being overkill for certain things such as extra washing programs. Now is probably a good time to buy mid-line appliances at very reasonable prices.

Good luck!

Thank you all so much for your help. After many hours of shopping and researching, we ended up ordering a KA range and dishwasher. It came down to what felt to us like the best features for the best price, although we know that some people have had 'issues' with KA appliances. We purchased from a local family-owned appliance store with a good reputation, so hopefully they will be responsive to any problems we might encounter. And although I liked the idea of white appliances in her smaller galley style kitchen, my daughter wanted stainless, so that is what we ordered. They should be delivered/installed next week, so I will report back after she has had a chance to test them out. Again, thank you for taking the time to help.