Yes! The key seems to be the stainless interior, so you can save a little and get something like a maytag top of the line with the stainless interior. But there is a huge difference in the top ones now and the cheaper ones, and a huge huge difference between the top ones now and the cheaper ones from years ago. At least in my experience-- I had that same 15 year kitchen aid (I'm guessing!) and hated it with a passion and replaced it with a maytag and it was wonderful. I ended up giving the Maytag away last week to my contractor because I got a built in german dishwasher with my kitchen and he is in love with it, too.

As far as your choices above, the Asko and Bosch are probably comparable in quality and the Miele is way better. If you can afford it, get the Miele- that's an amazing deal! Miele's are beautifully made. I also think Bosch dishwashers are wonderful. I don't have experience with Asko but I can't imagine it would be anything but nice, too.

JMO!

Ok, let's get some info and representation for ASKO here. I bought an ASKO over 8 years ago when CR gave it a very low rating. I got it on the advice of a friend/salesperson who said they were very good and CR didn't know what they were talking about. Well many years later the ASKO has been a solid & quiet rock. Stainless interior comes with it. If you compare the ASKO to Bosch you will find the new Bosch's interior is not as solidly built as the older ones. Personally and from experience I would definitely go back with an ASKO if mine died today. I admit I have no experience with MIELE so you do what's right for you. Good luck.

I will second the above testamonial for Asko DWs. Ours is about 7 years old. We did have to replace the pump, part was covered under warranty, labor was not as it was just out of the time limit. We continue to be very pleased with our Asko and i would buy another one. In fact, we just bought an Asko washer and dryer.

Whatever you do....DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, get the Fisher/Paykel double dish drawers. I hate them! Can't fit anything large in them and feel like I'm constantly running one or both drawers since they hold so little. I had Bosch at my last house and would go back to that brand in a second! Never had ASKO, so I can't comment.

The Miele in your list is the best unit of the three and represents the largest discount from retail also.

I disagree about Asko's build guality. It's a very nice, quality unit and has some nice features but they are not as solid as Mieles nor the Upper level Bosch units. Sorry just my well informed opinion from someone who has or had all three brands.

Fisher Paykel is a nice unit too but takes some getting used to. I like it as a glass washer in a pantry or bar.

I bought the Miele today, hopefully it will be great. The cutlery tray was the deciding factor for me. I will be sure to post a follow-up after I get it installed and tested. Thanks for all of your help.

I think you will love your Miele. It may take a bit to get used to loading it, but once you get the hang of it you will see that it will accomodate more than you think. I love the cutlery tray. Silverware comes out clean everytime and it's easy to load/unload. The Miele should be a cold water hook up. Have a miele authorized installer and double your warrenty.

Actually, your Miele does not need to have cold water hook-up if you're not going to run the C&C cycle (or not going to run it with delicate/fragile dishes, crytal, etc.).

As for the cutlery tray--if you mentally divide it into zones/sections (decide where things will just about always go), and then place items in their zone/section each time, it will become routine, and you won't even think about where things should go each time. Makes unloading very quick and easy. On those occasions when I need to fit some extra serving pieces or whatever, I just shift things around as needed. I love the cutlery tray!

The only "warning" is not to really slam the cutlery tray back in or pull it out with an overabundance of force--this sometimes causes flatware to pop out of their little slots, and then you have to re-seat things. Normal in/out movement doesn't cause problems though.

I just got a new Bosch w/ stainless steel tub. It's one of the ones ready for integrated panel. I don't know the model number.

I have to tell you, I'm not crazy about it. Although it's very quiet, I think it could do a better job at drying.

ebse - this is a common complaint with european DWs. Everything but plastics should come out dry. Are you using rinse aid?

Love my Miele, hope you will, too. At first I thought the cutlery tray was a gimmick, but it is great. The biggest problem I have with it is that when my husband loads the DW, I have to go and rearrange the cutlery tray b/c he doesn't know how to arrange the silverware the way I do!

I have a Bosch and am very disappointed. Although at first it seemed great (cleaned dried on egg yolk), it got louder and louder during the first year and then got very finicky and sometimes got stuck on "1" at the end of the cycle (the digital display would not go to "0"). Basically, it wouldn't turn off. I found Bosch customer service to be totally unhelpful. I haven't had it fixed, because 80% of the time it does make it through the cycle, but I sure wouldn't recommend Bosch to anyone. Also, the regular cycle is two hours long. I always use the quick wash, but the plastic stuff is always still wet.

As an aside, the cycles on all the dishwashers have gotten longer as they've become more energy efficient.

3 appliances stores, 4 cabinet stores, and my builder - they ALL have Miele. And so will I in a month.

We have been using our new Asko 5233XXL for 6 months now. Here's what we have to report:

It is very quiet in operation. We have an open floor plan, so this was one of the most important considerations. It does make a loud belching sound when the drain kicks in. I have considered plumbing in a separate P trap for it so I don't hear the gurgling coming from the sink when this occurs.

There simply isn't a good place on the rack to place the bowls we use. The tines on the Asko racks are more numerous and closer together than on our old dishwasher, which had fit our bowls great. I'd suggest bringing in a place setting or two to the showroom and making sure you can find a place on the racks for them.

I will say that the materials on this unit seem top notch. It is all stainless on the inside, even the spray arms.

I was initially worried about noise from the dry cycle fan, but it isn't audible.

No repairs to speak of yet.

-Michael in Portland OR