Is that US$ or CAN$?

It's a risk, I'll grant you. No warranty or $64/yr for 10 years. If you're handy and can fix things yourself, then maybe use the money for other things. Otherwise, knowing Miele, if there is ever a need to fix something major, that $640 might be well spent. I assume this is parts AND labor?

I guess I'm talking Can $ (I didn't include the $20 pick up fee in the US to account for the exchange rate - If the Can $ drops more, it's less of a price difference).

Anyway, I just got off the phone with AJ Madison. Basically, they would guarantee that the DW would get to Washington free from defects. Once I pick it up, I'm on my own.

I'm really thinking that I should buy it in Canada. My understanding is that the warranty is both parts + labour (Heidi, thanks for making the point about expensive Miele parts), but I will double check the fine print before committing.

I'd roll the dice, just park the 600 loonie in a rainy day account in case you need the service.

Miele is doing exactly that and banking that their product is so good that any expenditures they MIGHT incur over the 10 years will pale in comparison to the $600 they are collecting UPFRONT! You don't get the money back if no repairs are required.

It's not just the parts. Do you have someone locally that can service it?

I did not, so when my Miele was out of warranty the service call and parts made the machine (IMO) not worth fixing.

I replaced it.

It's a great machine but I will never buy an appliance again that can't be serviced locally.

xedos ~ That's the way my DH is leaning. Without the 10yr warranty deal, I was definitely going to buy it in the US.

red_lover ~ That's what I spoke with Miele about today. We don't have a "qualified" Miele installer or repair person in our town, but since we live in a remote area, Miele said we can use anyone who is willing to service the DW (and they would pay them via the warranty). We do have someone in town who is skilled enough to service our DW, so I'm going to call him tomorrow to make sure he'd be willing to. Plumber will do the install.

Well, the promotion is running until the 24th, so I have until then to decide.

Out of curiosity, are lemons a rarity with Miele?

"are lemons a rarity with Miele? "

very, but they still happen.

With no miele tech in your area you are definitely better off saving the $$$ and self insuring. You are rolling the dice even if you buy an authorized CA model. Miele will not be "handling" the service if you need it anyway - only paying the local guy.

The Miele is a good machine...but if I didn't have someone that knew how to work on it, I wouldn't buy it.

I had a Miele when we built this house in 2005 and although it is a good dishwasher (I never pulled a dirty dish out of it). It's still just a dishwasher. This is not a dishwasher for someone who can't get it easily serviced IMO. That was the problem I had, living in the middle of nowhere...with several service issues, it seemed like it was often out of commission.

I replaced it with a FP dish drawer and although it is still just a dishwasher, and I have had to have it worked on twice...the guy that I bought it from locally (and installed it ) works on it...and it's not a big ordeal to get the da** thing fixed if it need it.

Normally, I'm against extended warranties but this is a different situation. If you don't buy it locally you won't have any warranty at all and while Miele is generally reliable, problems do arise with all brands, often within the first year. People also have reported problems with Miele DWs around the 5 year mark and the costs to repair were so prohibitive that they replaced the DW. In this case, I would probably buy locally and get the 10 year warranty.

So I've spoken with the potential repair person who is local, and he would be able & willing to service our DW through the warranty if necessary. However, he said he has only worked on a handful of Miele dishwashers over the past 10 years. Miele said that they would provide support over the phone if necessary. Hopefully this is good enough?

So, I think I'm going to just bite the bullet and buy it locally.

xedos ~ I appreciate your advice and understand why you would recommend pocketing the money. I'm just too afraid of getting a lemon and then being on my own.

I hardly ever buy extended warranties.
For some reason, I bought it for our Miele DW.
And guess what, we had the lemon - but in reality it was most likely the local repair place was incompetent with Miele and might have caused its pre-mature death(they lost the service contract with Miele - wonder why...)
Anyway, I received a check for the original purchase price of the Miele.
I was determined to replace it with something else and researched and looked and bought another Miele - we only have a 5 year warranty
We had one issue within year 1 or 2. I don't know if they repaired or replaced the part - I mentioned something about the top rack thing that kept coming apart - they sent me a whole new top rack...
I am jinxing myself but that is our only appliance with a service contract and it is with Miele directly - Miele factory service comes out and they know what they are doing....
So, roll your dice and see what comes up... If you are feeling lucky, save the $$, if not, remember what it costs to replace...
I am glad they are offering 10 year contracts - I saw that in some European appliances and mentioned it to Miele....
Maybe I made a difference... LOL

a2gemini ~ Thank-you, that was helpful!

So, I bought the DW today through a Canadian dealer. I'm generally a very conservative person, so I feel like this was the right move for us.

Thanks everyone for your input!

Just wondering how your dishwasher is going after a couple months on. I'm wrestling with deciding to get a Miele, they are running the 10 year warranty again. Can I ask which model you got and are you happy? How much was delivery and installation? I am near vancouver as well, but do have a certified technician in my area so that's not an issue for me.

sarahendipity~ Our dishwasher isn't installed yet, but there are lots of other GW's with miele dishwashers.

I got the classic dishwasher in the panel ready format. Delivery was $75. I can't tell you how much installation will be because this is a new build, so costs aren't broken down to that degree. It will be installed by my plumber soon.

I'm still really glad that I went with the 10 year warranty.

I would not pay for any warranty for a Miele product that isn't a warranty purchased directly from Miele with one of their techs to do the work.

In the US, they only offer a 5-year warranty for $250. So 10 years for $635 is based on a higher exchange rate in Canada, otherwise it would probably be $500 in the US.

I did buy the 5 year and have used it twice, most recently the coating on the racks was coming off, and started to rust, so they came and replaced the racks. That right there was worth the price of the warranty.