Amazon does not sell Miele dishwashers. evVive Home is selling Miele dishwashers through Amazon.com site.

That particular Miele was recently discontinued.

There is no Miele model with cheap plastic.

It has a less expensive white door exterior instead of SS, but the interior tub is SS.

It does not have built-in water softener.

It has the loudest Miele sound rating. Q1.

It does not have all the specialty cycles. Example China, Crystal, Starch and Cheese.

It does not have all the various sensors. Load and Dry for example.

LED lighting,auto open door(to let steam out at end of cycle), luxury auto close, 3D cutlery rack, wifi monitoring by Miele headquarters of the TOL models.

BTW What is the quote to fix the Optima? Are you using rinse aid? Does your Optima have the Extra Dry option?

The entry level uses the same body and mechanicals as the top of the line model. It just lacks the extra features , like a softener, xtra insulation, more adjustable racks, lights, # of programs, ect...

Those are what drives up the price, not quality.

Use , or adjust rinse aid for dry silverware & dishes. No way round it with Euro DWs.

Yep, you get the same quality components but less features. One thing that might be different is the pump: the better models use a pump with "slide-shutter" that can direct water to the spray arms individually, thus resulting in less water usage and the possibility to add the Bottom Basket Intensive option. The normal pump supplies all wash arm at the same time (which might actually speed up the cycles a little bit).

Alex

I had a lowest end Miele for 8 years - a Novotronic rated Q1. It was wonderful! The only reason we got rid of it was because we wanted stainless door and hidden controls. Otherwise it probably had 8 more years in it. We had to have a repair when some broken glass got into the wrong places, but otherwise it has been completely trouble-free and quiet. I do recommend the cutlery tray if it is optional.

Thank you all!

We can definitely live without all the extra features but the crystal cycle.

I don't have a quote but minor leaks are very difficult to diagnose and the average bill won't be less than five hundred, just half the price for the low end Miele.

One positive thing, we can use adjustable baskets from our Optima, after almost 7 years of daily use they are still in the mint condition.

We have the base model Miele, the only upgrade being the silverware tray. It has been great so far, and although it doesn't have a special crystal cycle, we have washed all of our good stemware in it with no problems whatsoever.