You're so right. Friends were up for a visit this past weekend. They stopped by while I was working on our 96 GE DW that I decided to fix rather than replace which I explained the reasons for.
One mentioned how dissatisfied she is with her current Whirlpool washing machine which is a top load impeller model. She said she has taken laundry out of it that had areas that were still dry. Also how the clothes don't feel clean, still have soap in them and the 1-1.5 hour running time.
for the Whirlpool Cabrio belt drives.....it sometimes helps to pour about a gallon of water over the load before starting, it tricks the machine into thinking the load is larger, and adds more water...
and don't use the Normal cycle.....most times Heavy Duty or Casual works best....
Too many ads are like that how they are ditching the perfectly good stuff for new crap...I see ads where they sell a good KADW for $25 because they went with new stuff...If I had a dime for everyone that sees my 23rd series KA and says 'that was the best dishwasher I ever had...the new one takes forever...etc...Id be a zillionaire!