Any suggestions if you have a good one or have been disappointed with a crap one let me know.
We're in the market for a new one and have been let down by a few appliances we've bought so far so any recommendations would be appreciated.
Would like good size (12 settings) water and energy efficient under $1000

As someone who sold dishwashers for a few years and have experience the useage of many brandsm my advice would be to increase your budget.

The only brand to buy is an ASKO, these can be purchased at most electrical retailers. Even the basic model ASKO would easily give you better wash results that a top of the range Westinghouse or the like.

DO NOT be talked into anything else as nothing can compare, LG, Blanco, Whirlpool are all very poor n comparision. A Meile are also excellent but a lot more expensive - an ASKO is a fanastic product at a resonable price - starting around 1199.

Tambo

Thanks for that....maybe in the sales might get one under $1000 although willing to pay more if it's a good one.
Never heard of ASKO before, are they australian?

Asko are actually made in sweden - Machine built but finished by hand. They only make a certain quote per year prefering quality over quantity.

They heat the water to 65oC and keep it there, unlike other machines which heat to 65 then stop meaning the water cools through the wash. This impacts on the wash quality, have you ever had food still on the plates at the end of a wash..... well you wont with ASKO.

The other important point is at the end of the wash other machines go into a drying mode which is ineffective many plates and cups will still come out wet..... not with ASKO.

Their major parts (6 or 8) are good grade stell not the plastic in other machines.

They have many options including free standing or the built in type.

Very much doubt you will see an ASKO as part of a sale, the mark up on these (and manufacture/retailer insentives) are not as high.

Try the GOOD GUYS or Retravision and play them of each other..........but get an ASKO - nothing else!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you will thank me in the end - yes i course i have one and i would not change it for anything

Or any Miele - robust, quiet and efficient. They don't usually get discounted but you can bargain if you buy something else at the same time.

Do NOT get a dishlex! I was desperate for a dishwasher, had been buying everything else new, and that was the last thing. Normally I would research such a big thing, but was fed up with the whole appliance shopping thing.

Bloke in GoodGuys, after trying to sell me a second hand dishwasher, which he said had been out and not used, until we pointed out there was food in it, he told us dishlex was just as good as all the others. He said the more expensive ones you are just paying for the timers etc, and they are just the same. I did tell him I had a Zanussi in the UK, which was AMAZINGLY good, and lasted years. Even that at 7 years old worked better than the dishlex (which being Oz was more expensive too).
I told him I was prepared to pay more for a good dishwasher, but no, he said they were good. He had obviously never used them, or they all are crap here.

My next dishwasher I will certainly research more.

Don't get a double drawer one either...they're shithouse

We have a German made Whirlpool which doesn't seem to be able to dry things completely, especially tupperware and baby bottles. We bought it because it was under $1,000 and it was made in Germany, but it's rubbish.

Our next one will be a Miele.

Mrs JTL

Brought my Bosch over with us and that doesn't dry Tupperware type stuff either. When we bought the house, there was a dishwasher already here - it lasted two years, can't remember what make it was but it was crap - if you pulled the top drawer out to empty the whole machine tipped forward - might have been a Westinghouse.

We've got the top Miele and I am more than impressed with it. Very quiet. Service from Miele has been second to none. 2 days before Xmas my husband cleaned the filter at the bottom. We then end up with this knocking sound. I called Miele and they talked me through checking the pump etc. I managed to find one small cherry pip in the pump. Reset it and turned it back on still making the same noise. Called back and 2 hours later a lovely guy came out. Checked it all out and it was another cherry or orange pip. The gentleman was very helpful and put it down as part of the service did not charge although technically it probably was our fault it got in there. He also mentioned not all dishwashers have return valves on them and some of the rubbish from the sinks / drain can end up in the pumps if they don't, all Miele do so it is pretty certain it rolled off when we took out the filter to clean. He has also told us to try running the programme more on the sensor wash and if we find we need a bit more of rinsing, drying etc this can easily be done by hooking up a laptop so we just need to call up and arrange before our warranty runs out (2 years).

I also have a Miele vacuum cleaner from UK. A couple of months back I couldn't switch it on. To be honest I do abuse it pull the lead too tight and vacuum things I shouldn't really. Anyway I dropped it at Miele and the service again was second to none. I think I had put the filters on the wrong way and it was over heating. He cleaned it up for me and put some new filters on it and got it working. He even offered to change the cable to an Australian one off of an old machine they had lying about for free. I've had no problems with it since but couldn't believe the service. Unheard of in this day an age.

This is my Australian Miele experience.

Thanks for the replies, anyone else have any suggestions