Never had one before but the new kitchen will have a hole that needs filling with one. What should I be looking for? I presume they all wash dishes and bike parts but what makes them different?

I’m just going to say Bosch as all we buy is Bosch. Although our dishwasher says Hotpoint but underneath it’s a…wait for it…Bosch and it was free (broken but fixed it with a new hose and a good clean). It let us down the other month and I thought it was terminal as I just couldnt get it to drain but it turned out to be a bit of plastic off a clip on freshener thingy that was stuck in the drain pipe at an elbow.

Look for one with a variable height top tray – ours doesn’t have this, and the spinning spray bar which sits beneath the top tray hits the plates/chopping board/anything remotely of useful size that sits in the main compartment below, so we have to load the dishwasher in a very specific way to prevent this.

Also a quick wash and time remaining display would be good

Perhaps worth signing up for a free trial of Which? magazine as they have group tests with some objective measurements.

Our Zanussi is still going strong after ten years. I had to change the heating element this year, PITA job (thanks for the design, Zanussi) but the part was cheap enough.

I’d also be happy with Bosch.

Had a hotpoint it was always blocking, the sprinklers constantly needed cleaned out then it died a death after about 3 years.

Bought Bosch it rarely blocks the sprinklers rarely need cleaned and the standard it cleans it far better that the hopoint.

Not a cheap as chips CDA, was fine but having has the wiring repaired twice now in 4 years, it’s not so cheap. I saw warnings about CDA stuff but ignored them, to our cost, as it was all we could afford at the time when having a complete kitchen refit.

I thought Miele was the de facto singlemiddleclasstrackworld answer to the “what white goods for…” question?

You might be right couger, but everyone knows I’m a cheapskate.

Not just any Miele, the one with the cutlery drawer at the top makes life so much easier for one’s butler.

They’re fit and forget too, my local dishwasher shop says they rarely need attention.

Had Bosch, very very good. When I had to swap to an integrated I wanted another but they were too pricey.

Got a Smeg off EBay from one of those palletised delivery ‘shop worn’ places as an integrated WGAF what it looks like… £220 delivered and it actually performs better than my Bosch. Prefer the loading config of the Bosch though.

Our Miele with the drawer only lasted 19 years. When it gave up, we got a Bosch and have regretted it since. Much longer wash times to get the same cleaning effect, much less useful loading space.

I got a Bosch, as did my work.
Best feature is that they are very quiet. Also haven’t broken. Yet, but are still pretty new so I wouldn’t read much into it.

Had a Miele, when we moved into a new house it had a Bosch already fitted, the Bosch was better so the Miele went on Gumtree.

+1 for cutlery drawers and adjustable top drawers, both very useful

So bosch seems like a reasonable bet then. Thanks.

I have a high end Bosch (went to buy a cheaper one, but it was on offer for the same price). The one thing I would suggest is take a look at the noise levels as they can vary greatly. I wanted a quiet one as you could hear the old one in the lounge. The new one is so quiet you have to look at the display to check it on.
Oh, and the cutlery tray in the top is good.

I had a s/h Miele one for a few years.

However, it sat in the garage for a few months after a house move and went I finally plumbed it in I had loads of problems. Apparently all the seals and stuff dry out and pumps seize up.

It had the cutlery drawer which I thought was shit. You lose vertical space which is good for wine glasses and pint pots.

Replaced with a Bosch. This one.

£250 also it washes better and is really quiet.

Picked that one as it had no bells and whistles, so hopefully less to go wrong. As long it lasts 5 years I would be happy, £50 a year seems fair enough.