Shopping for sis's next dishwasher.

[petek]

What I figured to be another droll morning until my sister called to tell me her 5 or 6 y.o. Whirlmore dw was kaput and rather than wait weeks for a repair as she had just done with the Bravo's washer, that she would just replace it with a new one. And since they're busy and live way out in the country would I run down to mall land and see what was available from Bosch. Gladly I said and quickly brushing my teeth Pip and I were in the subie and on our way.  

 

Firstly I stopped at the local indy shop where I like to do business knowing they don't really carry Bosch but what the heck, an excuse to go in.  Great guys, he told me he could order any Bosch but probably couldn't match Lowes or Sears because he doesn't carry them..    

 

So off down the street to Lowes we went. Nothing much on sale in Bosch at the moment and get this.. They had a white (she wants black or ss) Ascenta model on sale for $750 but with an additional 20% off bringing it down to about $600 but only in white.. The black one, no deal on that at the moment and almost $300 more.. you're kidding.  Poked around for awhile and figured what the hay... let's go to Sears.   

 

Well I'm no sooner looking and see they have a the ss Ascenta models on for $649.  A youngish saleswoman comes over and we start chatting.. She was very nice and it didn't take me long to figure out this girl knows her stuff. Unlike the woman at Lowes.   She quickly pointed out that the black or white model was even cheaper.. $599 and began writing the info on one of her biz cards..  So I asked her what the difference was between these Ascenta models and the other 3, 5, 7 , 8 series.. Over she goes and without missing a beat is pointing out all those different models and the similar Kenmore branded Bosch models. Next she's pulling off the base plates and pointing the differences in the hose connections, the tub bottom, electrical connection and leveling feet.. wow.  I mentioned I'd just been over a Lowes and was surprised Sears was much less expensive and she told me yes and that they'll beat their price by 10%..  

 

So all in all I had a fun morning..so tomorrow or later tonight I can call sis and see how she wants to proceed. 

 

ps. the only thing I'm wondering.. they have well water and it is high in sulphur and lord knows what else.. They have some sort of filter between the well and the house to remove some of the sulpher but I've always noticed their appliances look rather crappy after a couple of years.. and hence they don't last too long.. so I'm wondering if a model with a salt dispenser might be something to think about, although they're twice the price,, Sears had a Bosch with salt dispenser but it was $1300 on sale... again the girl said that Bosch is putting salt dispensers in more of the this years lower cost 2017 models but they haven't arrived yet.   

 

 

 

 

 

[vacerator]

Pete,

get the better Bosch if you decide to go with Bosch. The Assentia model sells here for about $400 at Lowes. It's tub is plastic with annealed stainless over it.
Not that that's bad, but my sisters broke after 3 or 4 years. First the dispenser, then the wash pump motor, and that's about $200 for the part.
She still hasn't gotten a new one because it's just her. A bowl a day, a mug, two spoons, a fork, knife, and a glass or two.

 

[earthling177]

Pete:

I would think it depends on what your sister wants to do.

If she has or wants to put a water treatment (water softener and extra filters) to remove all the water hardness and other impurities, I would think that would be cheaper and more useful than just the water softener in the dishwasher, particularly if the well water has iron and sulphur etc.

On the other hand, if she's happy with the way things are (some people hate showering with softened water), paying for the softener inside the dishwasher makes sense if she's not happy with the performance of her current dishwasher. If she has complaints about water hardness, that would be easy to solve with an internal softener.

Cheers,
   -- Paulo.

 

[petek]

See I was looking at Cons Reports ratings and they rated the Ascenta model actually a little better than the more upscale models.  I think it rated #3 after two very pricey Kitchenaids out of 20 odd recommended machines incl Miele etc,  though there wasn't really much difference between it and the higher Bosch series.. I'll do some more investigating.. if it's only a matter of a hundred bucks or something to a better one on sale somewhere else.   

 

[jamiel]

I'd just go to Sears and be done with it...I assume you don't want to get ambitious and head down to Detroit/Livonia to the Sears Outlet...we put in the plastic-based Bosch and are perfectly happy with it. I would suggest, though, going to the store with your sister's crockery/flatware and make sure that it fits. The tines on the Ascentia seem to be spaced to work very nicely with Corelle and other coupe-type plates; not quite so happily do they hold a more dished Pfaltzgraff-type (for lack of a better term) plate. The upper rack is very slightly irritating in that some of our glasses don't nest comfortably between the tines. It's quiet as a mouse--the drying system is different (it pumps out the condensed moisture every 10 minutes during the dry cycle; including the last 30 seconds of the dry cycle which is a little weird).

 

[petek]

Get this..

Sis calls me this morning and their fridge crapped out last night.It's a black Kenmore sxs only about 7-8 years old.  They're 3 for 3 this month,, First the Bravo's washer a few weeks ago.. then the dw a few days ago and now their fridge..

 

Anyways, they were in the car when she called heading to London for a new fridge and I checked CR online and they had a recommened LG french door in their price range of $1500 cdn. so they got that and the Bosch dishwasher.. from Leons.. Free delivery and take away..  same price as Sears but get free delivery and take away which Sears doesn't do.  

 

Jamie.. with the dollar difference now about 30% it's definitely not worth buying in Michigan..  I was looking online at the stainless bosch which is $649 cdn at Sears here in Sarnia.. it 's  $539 US at Lowes across the river in Port Huron.  Plus they usually won't honor the warranty cross border.