Based on my experience owning multiple Kitchenaid, using Miele ovens of friends/family and hearing their experiences, and reading about all 3 brands online, I'd rank them

1. Miele
2. Kitchenaid
3. Thermador

I've just heard too many horror stories about Thermador regarding reliability and parts availability. Maybe they've changed for the better. Hopefully someone with Thermador experience will comment.

Just curious, why didn't your salesman like Miele? Remember, a lot of the time they will try to sell you what they make the best commission on, not necessarily the best option for you.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Sat, May 10, 14 at 20:05

One would think the highest commission would be on the Miele, or are the Germans "Pocketing all that money for themselves"?

Strange the Thermadors would have a "Parts problem", I looked at one of those "On-line appliance parts stores" and I found that many of the parts for the Thermadors interchange with both the Bosch ovens and the Gaggenau ovens, ~~~items such as heating elements, both bake and broil, thermostats or thermal sensors, etc etc.

Myself, I would rank them as such:

Thermador
Miele
Kitchenaid

Myself, "My preference" is "None of the Above".

I've had an Electrolux Icon Oven for about 8 years now, completely trouble free, very quiet fans, and temperatures that are "Spot on"~~~and glide out racks, 3, not one and standard in the Icons~~~~what more could one ask for?

Gary

Bosch and Thermador are made in the same factory in LaFollette TN and appear to share some parts. Gaggenau on the other hand is totally different and made in Germany. Again, I haven't had any first-hand experience with Thermador, but the most common story I've heard is control boards/panels going NLA on ovens that are only a few years old.

I really like my KitchenAid oven. It has given me no trouble in the 7 years I've owned it and has all the features I'd ever want. However, the two Miele ovens I've cooked in felt better built, had much more control over heat sources, and appeared to control the temperature more tightly.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Sat, May 10, 14 at 20:35

You gotta be a "rare bird" and a lucky bird , at that, hvtech42.

Your KA oven "appears to be" at the age when KA had all the problems with the self clean ovens~~~sometimes , (if you were lucky), just blowing a thermal fuse, but unfortunately a fuse that necessiatated a service call.
Others were not so lucky and had main boards fry.

Do you self clean your oven? I only self cleaned my Elux once and then after reading Garden Web, I've never self cleaned it again!

Interestingly enough, when I did take the time to look up all those BSH parts, there were quite a few that (at least the description said), Fits Gaggenau Model xxx and Bosch model YYY, or maybe fit both the Gag and Thermador ovens, and seems like I found a few parts that fit all 3.

It's been a year or so since I've visited that web-site so maybe I'll see what the "Latest is" as far as "Compatibility is between the 3 brands, (or at least their version)!

Gary

i've had a Miele 30" for 6 years and 0 issues. It does everything really well and while it may not look heavy duty thunky, its a workhorse. It is euro convection with combination settings (top & bottom heat), outstanding rotisserie and probe. Great performer. It would only take 1 roast chicken to convince you. if only salesman cooked....

This post was edited by rococogurl on Sun, May 11, 14 at 8:43

Gary, I have never self cleaned the oven, which may explain why I've had no problems. I also have the fancy "Steam Assist" model, I don't know if that was affected by the self clean bug or not. But I haven't deliberately avoided self cleaning because it's Kitchenaid, I just don't self clean _any_ oven, regardless of the brand, and I recommend others do the same. However at a rental property I do have a different Kitchenaid oven, (not steam assist though) and it stopped working when the tenant self cleaned it. The thermal fuse replacement was very easy to do, and it turns out Whirlpool had a service bulletin out that involved changing something. I forget exactly what it said to do (this was several years ago), but I think it might have involved moving the thermal fuse. After doing that, there were no more problems, Whirlpool has fixed the problem on their new series of ovens across all their brands. I wouldn't let that hold me back from buying a Kitchenaid oven.

I would be curious to see what parts the BSH brands shared. I can totally see how http://st.houzz.com/simgs/1de1dfe900045eea_4-3722/contemporary-ovens.jpg shares parts with http://www.goedekers.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/o/bosch-hbl8450uc-1.jpg, but I find it hard to believe the first two share that many parts with http://www.gaggenau.com/store/medias/sys_master/h4d/h53/8910608433182/MCSA00632369_BO480110_pstz_def.jpg.

This post was edited by hvtech42 on Sun, May 11, 14 at 9:43