Miele or Bosch.

With some effort you can repair the racks for $10.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dishwasher+rack+repair

Thank you, wddcruise. My husband actually bought something similar to that. I personally don’t think it’s gonna make much of a difference, but maybe it’s worth a try. There’s a lot of rust on the racks, so it’ll be a challenge. I’m still looking at new ones.

Used racks can be found on eBay, although sometimes a wait is involved until offerings of the correct item(s) comes up. Condition varies so examine photos closely and ask for more if the seller is scant with them.

I wouldn't spend a lot of money on a 12 yo DW. I wouldn't even replace the baskets for $350.

how hard is the water - do you have a number? Many people assume that they have hard water and it really isn't. If you do buy another, Miele makes DW with built in water softeners that would eliminate the hardness issue

And thus appliances have become throwaway even if they can be repaired.

Hi delray- our water tested at 850. The water conditioner-softener service we recently engaged said he rarely sees it that high. It’s very high in chloramines too. We’ve tried various softener systems they offer and I hated it. It actually made me more itchy. Now we drink reverse osmosis at kitchen sink only and have a catalytic carbon (or charcoal ??) filter whole house. So the water was and is still pretty terrible. It’s ruined faucets, coffee makers, countertops etc. I think the dishwasher hoses and drains, etc, must be ruined inside because of serious and long term hard water.

Dadoes- 12 years is a pretty decent run for appliances these days; especially considering our combat situation here.

"I think the dishwasher hoses and drains, etc, must be ruined inside because of serious and long term hard water."

How could you possibly know this? The dishwasher works and you can only observe the racks which you wrote have some rust.

C’mon... Educated guess. Because we have had other appliances damaged. This water is brutal stuff.

Everything can be repaired as long as you can find the parts. Fixing a 12 yo appliance is a different thought. That said, it is a balance of downtime vs cost saving against a new one. Low end repairs like painting the racks is one thing - putting real money into it is another

Are you on well water? There are no shortages of house treatment systems available - some are good, many aren't. Activated carbon isn't going to do that much for you without some type of filtering. There are water "conditioners" that aren't softeners but only remove some trace elements. Companies like Culligan and Kinetico sell whole house filtering with multi stage elements. Not cheap to buy or run but they are very good.

Thanks delray. We’re on city water. It’s notoriously wretched. We’ve tried three different companies for conditioning vs. softening vs. getting the chloramines only. I felt that the softening really didn’t cut down much on the mineral deposits and I hated the feel, so I offed it. Right now I’ve settled on just removing the chloramines because my body feels less itchy and my hair is at least decent. I like the RO water best, but I have no desire to invest upwards of $10-15k for a whole house system. For too many years I have put up with a house and neighborhood which I intensely hate and plan to get a second home within a year. It will be my main home. Hubby is staying put. He’s just being cheap I think.