How long had you had the dishwasher?

Modern dishwashers, like many new appliances, are made to meet American Federal and European electricity and/or water efficiency regulations.

That is why they have integrated circuit boards(or "computers") to tightly control electricity and water usage. Appliance quality circuit boards usually last 10 years but they can bust in a year or last a lot longer YMMV.

According to JD Power 2013 Kitchen Appliance Study

"Kenmore Elite ranks highest in customer satisfaction with dishwashers, scoring 812. Kenmore Elite achieves particularly high scores in ease of use, styling and appearance, features, and price. Following in the rankings is KitchenAid (803). Bosch and Miele also perform above industry average."

Kenmore Elite dishwashers are made by Bosch. Just in case you want to run to the store to buy KitchenAid dishwashers google KitchenAid dishwasher and fire. Any
appliance line can have a defect or a lemon.

BTW Miele usually ranks really high in performance and reliability but gets pulled down in the overall rankings because it ranks low in ease of use and even lower in price/value category.

Here is a link that might be useful: JD Power

I got a new Bosch a couple of months ago. While it's much prettier and quieter (although quiet is not at the top of my list of requirements) than my old Kenmore non-Elite, I miss the layout of the Kenmore every single time I put a dish in this new DW. That old DW had a place for everything; there was always room for just one more thing.

@frozmom - If the dishwasher is already out of warranty, you may consider replacing the control board yourself. More and more I see appliance repair videos on the Internet. Many of the repair tasks are pretty simple. The video link below may not necessarily be for your model, but it may be close enough. The only tools that guy used was a screwdriver. Of course, you may be able to find a video for your specific model.

I am more likely now to see if I can do a repair rather than paying some service tech to do it. Case in point, our not so new dryer stopped drying clothes awhile ago. The heating element had burned out. Using a video from YouTube and a $25 replacement part, it was back up and running. Of course, a service tech would have likely marked up the price of the replacement part and tacked on a big labor charge.

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Control Board - Bosch Dishwasher Repair

Bless youtube and all the people who put how-to's on there! I cleaned up an old Kenmore sewing machine and gifted it to my son. He called up and asked how to spool thread onto the bobbin. A) I don't remember for that model, and B) can you explain it over the phone? I found a video on youtube of someone doing just that and sent him the link. Problem solved.

Just wanted to add...I have a Bosch washing machine....have had less than two years. Labor is under warranty, not parts. It stopped working about two months ago. After SIX trips by Bosch's own service department it is finally working again. Dealing with them on this was one of the most frustrating things ever...each service visit required an 8 hour window. Both my husband and I work. Never again will I purchase Bosch anything. Just my 2 cents.