You need to be knocking on wood @emilybee
Another Miele lover here. When we moved into this house, we ripped out a Bosch to put in a Miele. I love, love, love the third rack for utensils. We gave the Bosch to the kids who had an old crappy GE in the house they had just bought.
We built our home 25 years ago and had a $1000 ASKO dishwasher that I loved - it even had a china setting which I did use. However I am sure due to global water quality can’t have a lighter temp setting now…Problem was the installers left an extra ‘loop’ when it got installed due to cabinets needing to get re-installed, and the pump went out prematurely because the loop wasn’t ever taken out; pump problems at about 12 years (IMHO it would have lasted a lot longer w/o the loop issue). The problem was the hoses were getting brittle and we didn’t want to put the $$ in and then possibly have other issues. At that time we then bought a Bosch which cost about $600. That one lasted 12 years. Just got an 800 series Bosch - paid $800. Got from a place that sold a lot of Bosch’s (ours is more mid-priced - didn’t pay more for different handle and face controls - you set ours on the top and close within 3 sec for it to start - you see a red light that glows to the floor that shows it is running because it is super quiet). We didn’t want to deal with the appliance store that installs free (where we got the other two dishwashers - a friend had worked there and they were not reputable with their people); H installed because we weren’t going to pay the $150 the new place wanted (separate installer). H read carefully, saw how our Bosch was put in, and put our new one in BETTER (he took his time; you know the other installers work as quick as they can so they get their breaks before and after…)
I have a friend that had a defective Kitchen Aid that leaked and she had to have her kitchen floor and some cabinetry redone. She decided to go with a Ktichen Aid again (thinking she just had a fluke) and she ran into problems with the new one too, but not the damage.
Of course for most people, better to pay for installation. BIL put in new washer/dryer (don’t know if he bought new hoses) and he failed to tighten properly, and they had a flooded finished basement…H assured me he is not his brother and he is thankfully not. Dishwasher working great.
I do like the top 3rd drawer for the lids and longer utensils. When we bought the prior Bosch, the top ended Bosch had the 3rd drawer. Now it seems it has worked its way into their full line.
I also hate my refrigerator. In part because I was supposed to receive a $75 rebate that I never received (I am sure the appliance store directed the rebate to themselves, thus not getting anything through them). But waiting for it to die. I do sometimes have some things freeze up because the back or one side gets extra cold…
Another Miele fan. I started having third rack/cutlery rack envy 25 years ago when I visited the German relatives. ( I also developed front loader washing machine with internal water heater envy at that time).
Installed a Miele when we remodeled the house 17 years ago. Loved, loved, loved it. It started giving me problems at about 14 years. Random error light indicating intake drain problem. I must have spoken to Miele technical support a dozen times. They walked me thru tests, made suggestions and even sent two (very inexpensive) replacement parts. I decided not to have it evaluated by a technician since replacement of the motherboard (my suspect problem part) would have been more $$ than I wanted to invest in a machine that old. I held off on purchasing a new one because I wanted a black front. For a number of years the only black front options were the bottom of the line. But that changed last year…
Replaced it with a Miele Futura Dimension. Love it, Does a fantastic job. Holds a huge amount of stuff and has flexible racks.
Around 17 years ago, we replaced our dishwasher with a GE Triton, which was a floor model clearance special, and a Consumer Reports Best Buy a couple years before. We got 15 years out of it so no real concerns. Just as DD moved off to college, it was time for a new one, and I wasn’t about to pay top dollar for the quietest model, as DH and I are losing hearing anyway, and since we run it overnight the difference between 45 and 40 decibels doesn’t matter to us upstairs.
We looked at quite a few models, and ended up with a whirlpool from the Sears “scratch and dent” outlet store. It was still in the brand-new factory sealed box, but they had the exact same model on display so we could look at one. What was important to me was the top rack - there are 5 rows for glasses, but all of them are wide enough for our Libbey glasses. We brought one of these glasses to the store with us to test the fit, because some models have some wide and some narrow rows - which for us means one narrow row is completely useless. DH was telling the sales guys at Home Depot and Lowes as we were checking them, that I was letting a $1 glass determine whether I would spend $100 more for a dishwasher, but since these glasses were the same pattern my grandmother had I am sentimental about them.
Since DH does all of the dishes - I will occasionally unload the machine - I don’t care that much about the features or energy efficiency/water use/auto turbidity sensors. Our electric bill has gone down, but I get that we run it and everything else a lot less since DD is not in the house.
Replaced the dishwasher that came with the house a couple of years ago. Things to consider.
Noise level. The biggest noisemaker seems to be a grinder for bits of food- think garbage disposal noise. The quietest machines may have a trap that needs emptying if you do not remove that before hand. I opted (H didn’t get a vote) for quiet over grinder. We settled for around 44 decibels- the absolute quietest were 39 but the price was a lot higher. Not noisy for using the family room it is open to.
Racks. I took bowls and other dishes to see how they would fit. I also liked the third (top) rack for utensils- we use if for forks and spoons instead. Easy for H to empty (his housework, I do the final loading and get so much more in it when it is “full”, every few days for two of us). The Bosch had slanted racks that made it difficult to put as many bowls in. Tines too close as well. Watch out for stated capacity as, sure, plenty of plates but no good way for cereal/soup bowls/plastic containers. With the third rack out wine glasses do nit fit well in the upper rack of the two when in the position that works best for plates. No perfect ones out there.
Heated water- nope, I run the tap water to start with hot. Heated drying. Read up on how the heated drying works.
“Sterilizing” function. Not important to us.
Water softening function- we have a whole house water softener.
Time for typically used cycles. By the time the drying function ends it can be 3 hours. Energy efficiency with longer, less water used, cycles.
Types of cycles.
Metal or other tub material.
Controls. Thought wanted to see them but having them on the top frame works fine. There are colored lights for different phases- wash-rinse, dry, done.
I liked the Kitchen Aid/Kenmore style. Went with the K. Aid and they brought the wrong one- slight upgrade which would have cost more. Just made sure the paperwork matched, especially for the warranty.
Had one glitch. Broken bit of a glass got into the system and broke something which required taking apart, replacement by a service technician (not warranty, sigh)- too complicated for me to do.
Be sure you check out the different models of a brand as they definitely vary with noise, physical layouts and functions. There are reasons for different price points. Try to capture a sale as well.
I like the philosophy of the poster just ahead of mine. I have many inexpensive glasses to be washed- I don’t want to have to buy expensive ones to fit the dishwasher, I want the expensive dishwasher to do what I want it to!
Noise a huge factor. Can talk in the kitchen while it runs!
Colors- the last thing on your list. btw- be sure the installer will do a good job.
Large (red) wine glasses fit just fine in the second rack of my Miele with the third shelf above them. And pots and pans go below just fine.
Second BB’s observation–just bought a brand new Miele and wine glasses fit in even better than with the older models (I replaced a 13-year-old Miele). H was pretty skeptical about putting wine glasses in the washer, and he says he’ll still handwash his prized Schott Zweisel crystal wine glasses, but he’s was surprised at how great the everyday wine glasses came out of the new Miele–really, really clear!!
I had an episode of the light coming on indicating problem with intake/drain after I’ve been using Cascade pod detergent. I took the drain assembly apart but there was no clog. Technical support told me to use Miele dishwasher conditioner and run it through a normal cycle without dishes and the problem went away. I was told Miele only uses 6 gallons of water and only a TB or so detergent is needed plus don’t rinse your dishes. I’ve also gone back to using powder detergent. My Miele is 16 years old.
^^ Oh my, good to know. I’d been using Cascade liquid for many years - on the old and new Miele. Just started with the pods two days ago. The intake/drain light issue is what caused me to finally purchase a new Miele.
^^Same here–intake/drain issue is why I bought a new Miele–old one was 15 years old. Place where I bought the new dishwasher gave me all of the Miele products; pods, salt, and rinse stuff. The installer said to keep using the products by Miele. They’ve given me enough for a very long time (especially since they said to cut the detergent pods in half).
That may be the key- cut your pods in half. For me since my DW is old, I will use the Miele DW conditioner couple times a year.
Good to know. Just cut my finish tab in half and started the D/W. will know in 30 min how my Miele likes it.
Well, glad I’m not the only one who cuts pods.
That seems like a PITA. Someone needs to market smaller pods.
I too thought about it. But then there will be folks with crappy dishwashers who will flood the internet with bad reviews of their detergents… and folks will complain that the downsize of the tablet was to sell less for more… 
I’d always heard it’s a marketing thing to sell a larger size than you truly need (or recommend more liquid,) for the profit margin, like telling you to lather, rinse, and repeat.
That may have a limit in machines that are sensitive to too much.
So those of you cutting the pods in half - are you referring to the Miele product?
I just tried to half a Cascade pod and wound up with a pile of detergent powder and a glob of some blue liquid which looks like the stuff that used to be in the old wax candies. That, and two pieces of empty plastic.