Before you buy any dishwasher you need to take your dishes to the showroom and try them in different models. They have different racking setups, and often people find that the narrowly spaced tines on Miele and other European models just won't work for them. If KA's tine layout is going to work the best, then you should get that.

Other than that, the KA model you are considering is much more feature rich than the Miele you're considering, but the Miele is better quality. I have that Miele, it's an excellent dishwasher. However, your choice of models to compare seems odd. You're not comparing apples to apples, that Miele is bottom of the line and sells for around $1000 and I believe the TOL KA is more like $1600. If you would be willing to pay that much for a KA, why not pay that much for an upper middle of the line Miele model that will have both the quality and the features? And if the BOL Miele has all the features you want, no need to pay a premium for a lesser quality product unless the Miele racking doesn't work with your dishware.

Noise... I wouldn't worry much about it. Any high end dishwasher is going to be very quiet and anyone who is used to an older model will be pleased with the noise levels. The Miele Classic is more than quiet enough.

You'll want to compare KA and Miele's execution of the top racks. I have heard that KA and Bosch 3rd racks are inferior to Miele (who originated the idea). I can't confirm/deny that since i didn't look at KA/Bosch 3rd rack models, but you'll want to look into it.

Hi hvtech!

Thank you for your thorough reply. You're always so kind with your time. My plan was to look at the miele and I was waffling between the Classic and the crystal model with the water softener. there is a $300 difference regularly but right now they have a 25% off the Classic bringing it to $1125 (in Canada....everything here is much more expensive than the U.S.).

But at one of the appliance stores, they are having a sale on the kitchnaid. So the TOL is for $1219. Looks sleek with the handle and has a small screen to display remaining time. However I was leaning towards the miele because of everything I've read here and don't really need all the other features of the KA.

As for fitting of dishes...our old dishwasher was a whirlpool. The interior tines are similar to the kitchenaid so I'm used to it but I did look at the Miele times and they had some dishes there at the showroom to play with and they also look like they would fit my dishes. I took a look at the bosch and do feel their tines are very close together. My brother also has a bosch that had given them some problems but I really didn't like their interior spacing so I already dismissed them from my consideration. So I'm wondering which one I should buy and would love your opinion.

Thanks again,
Jams

No problem! If you think your dishes will work in the Miele and you don't care about the extra KA features I would definitely get the Miele. I know what you mean about the little cycle indicator display on the outside of the KA, I like that too. You could always get a Miele with front controls to see time remaining. I believe the front control configuration is cheaper as well.

I've mentioned this before - but make sure you check out their warranty details. Specifically who services the units if there are problems.

I have appliances (KA/Sharp) that are warranty serviced by a third party company. And some (LG) that are serviced directly by the manufacturer.

My experience is that it's a much better experience with appliances that are serviced directly by the manufacturer. Follow up is better, satisfaction is better, speed of resolution is better.

My KA third party repair experience was disappointing. My LG direct repair experience was 200% better.

(just my experience)