If your dishwasher is over 7 years old...

[MissAtomicBomb1]

What brand is it?

Ours has just died after 6 years. Previous one was the same age when it conked out.
I know this is about the average life of them but wondering if it's worth forking out a bit more for a Bosch or whatever. Not bothered about fancy features, just want it to wash well (preferably without the arms getting blocked every 5 mins!)

For reference our past ones have been Kenwood/Russell Hobbs
Also live in a hard water area which doesn't help at all.

Bosch - it’s at least 10 years old maybe 15.

Siemens - it's 8 years old but it did have to have the heat pump replaced about a year ago which cost us £50 as DH did it himself , otherwise it would have been more like £200.

We have 2 dishwashers- the other one is a Hisense which is perfectly fine but is only 2 years old, so time will tell.

Ours is 7 years old - Bosch. Only bought it because there was a Bosch when we moved in and it lasted 12 years with us. Only replaced because we wanted fully integrated - was still going strong.

Miele

Mine is Siemens. It's 17 years old and still working great! Despite living in a very hard water area

Mine is 8 years old and a Bosch

Bosch - 19 years old.

Miele. Hard water area and still working well after 10yrs including a house move (we moved ourselves and it definitely got dropped down a doorstep).

zannusi 20+ years.
thought it had died. Bought new one. Gave old one to a handy friend. They had it runnning for 5+ more.
our new zannusi is 15yo

Indesit - so old I can't remember how old (probably approaching 20).
I had it in my last house and brought it here but left it in the garage as I had an integrated one. That broke after around six years ago, so brought the old one in and it still worked and is still going.
Dishwashers are notorious for not liking being left to stand but this one has gone on and on so far.

Hard water is always worth dealing with when you have an appliance that heats water. As the water heats up and evaporates, some of the scale will congeal on the element, slowly making the element less and less effective and making it cost more and more to run, likewise gunking up the gubbins of the pumps inside the various appliances.

if you don’t have a water softener, use salt in your dishwasher. But ideally use an ion-exchange softener (a powered softener you add salt to) because that will remove the limescale and send clean water through the appliance that won’t damage it. It will extend the life of your appliances.

on the subject of D/W we have two bosh slimline D/W that both run 2+ times/day for 5 years and still going strong. One had an issue with the seal, but very minor.

zanussi here- 15 years old. Works very well.

Bosch - 18 years old.

Bosch and hard water area. I have replaced the heating element, probably at about 3/4 years but I found the part online no problem and it was fairly straightforward.

Bosch > 10 years and hard water

I have 2 x Miele machines installed 2011. Still going strong.

My Bosch Maxx is 21 years old and still going strong. I have had to recently replace the trays because they had gone a bit rusty and broken some spokes. Other than that it goes on once a day in hard water area. Would deffo have another.

Our first one was a Hotpoint, which lasted 13 years I think.

The second one was the cheapest available Bosch and was a bit basic, but lasted about 7 years, which I was disappointed with, we normally get a lot longer out of appliances (first tumble dryer lasted over 20 years, washing machines were 11 years (which didn't actually break, we left it behind when we moved house) and 13 years).

The other thing I like about Bosch dishwashers, I don't know if other brands have this feature, but you can take out the top basket, fit another sprinkler in at the back and wash big things like the kitchen bin and oven door glass.

We have soft water but don't do enough of things like filter rinsing although we do run the 'machine care' cycle with an Aldi dishwasher cleaner thing every few months.

Bosch. Slimline 15 years. Still washes really well. It is a soft water area. I use Alidi or Lidl 3 in 1 tabs and clean the filters occasionally.

We had a Bosch that lasted over 20 years. Still haven’t replaced it, but it’s top of my to-do list when I have spare money.

I think the gunk accumulates at filters because the water mostly falls there? The tiny moving holes in the arms surely wouldn't get that much muck? Certainly not as much as the pump/sump/drain at the bottom?

Just looked this up, looks amazing!! 🤩

But too pricey 😕 😕 😕

Oh no, you see, if you go looking (which you might prefer not to do ) you will find the absolute grimmest of muck in every nook and cranny of your dishwasher, not just the filter.

For example, this is (first pic) the inside of the metal sliding support thing that holds up the top rack, and (second picture) behind the door seal.

This is only about 6 months' worth of accumulated crap (we use one of those cleaners on a hot wash about once a month too). When I cleaned it out previously looking for the source of the smell and "sand" left on everything, the metal sliding supports were literally caked FULL of that crap, to the point DH was surprised by how much easier they ran on the rails after I cleaned them 🤢 As said, I am not sure if that was 5 years' worth of our never having cleaned that part (but having done a cleaning cycle monthly ish) or whether it was 10/11 years of accumulated gunk from the entire life of the machine. I didn't take a picture the first time around, I kind of wish I had, it was a sporner's delight but utterly disgusting. There was also caked food debris behind the grey plastic pipe that runs up the back of the machine to deliver water to the top spinner too.

Wow, so many responses, thank you!
I'll take a look at Bosch, Miele, AEG and Beko as those seem to be the most mentioned.

Just to add, we have always used salt so I don't think it's lack of salt that's caused it to die.

@BertieBotts yes to the gunk in the arms!
If I miss a grain of rice it will get stuck in the holes. I clean them out with a cocktail stick but dread to think what's inside. Surely they could invent ones that fully open?!

We have a Bosch with the “sexy” cutlery draw.
we will replace like for like when it goes (I keep thinking it’s gone but then it comes back to life! )