Bosch/Miele white goods spares

[Theo]

Pondering replacing our elderly dishwasher. Rather than buying new, I was wondering about buying a decent dishwasher a few years old - looking on ebay you can buy a used Miele for the price of a new Beko. I'm not afraid of doing repairs should they be necessary at some point.

Miele's parts system looks good - you can search for models going back to the 80s, and it gives you parts lists, numbers, pricing and online ordering (although older parts need to be ordered by phone). The prices are pretty fierce, though (twas ever thus at Miele) - eg a pump-heater £475, PCB £400. Miele say they offer 15 years parts availability or 10 years after the product goes EOL, and in the past I've had luck with them at the 30+ year mark, which is outstanding.

Bosch seem to have a similar system showing spares lists, pricing and availability. They only offer 10 year parts availability though, and I'm not sure how thorough the availability is. However the prices are a bit less fearsome (pump-heater £95, PCB £193), which makes me wonder whether a used Bosch might be a lower risk. OTOH with a shorter lifetime maybe the parts won't be available when needed and the machine will be scrap. Although if that happens plan B is to buy a second one and rob it for bits (classic car style).

So I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with getting parts for Bosch white goods and if that would inform a decision on buying them?

Are there any other brands which are worth considering from a quality/repairability standpoint?

Thanks Theo

[Tricky Dicky]

We tend to go Bosch and have never had a problem getting spares although sometimes you do have to wait for parts to come from Germany. The up front costs of Miele tend to put them out of reach for us although I appreciate in the long term it probably pays off but being the age where I have less years in front of me than behind, buying stuff with a 30+ lifespan has no benefit.

I do not know about Miele but my one gripe with Bosch is that they do have online service manuals but only make them available to trades people which seems ludicrous in that you are willing to sell spares to the general public but are not prepared to give them the information to make a safe repair.

Richard

[charles]

I rebuilt our kitchen in 1988. We are on our 2nd Bosch dishwasher. the original had a good 1ife of over 25 years.

[Rod Speed]

What failed with the first one ?

[RJH]

On very limited experience (a pump and a detergent dispenser) very good. But I went for third party - 'genuine' were readily available, but cost conisderably more.

I recently bought a new ('Series 2' - with the top rack cutlery tray) Bosch. It works very well - a 3hr 50min eco mode does the trick if you have the time.

But it doesn't feel as well built - the racks don't slide smoothly, buttons feel cheap, the lower below-door panel keeps coming loose. Door does have a nice chunky close though :-)

As it happens I'm going to need to buy again (moving) - I'll have a good look in the shops before buying. May well go second hand Miele/top of range Bosch/Siemens.

[Theo]

It seems Miele mostly make their own parts, while Bosch has more of a supply chain. That might mean generics are more easily available for Bosch.

The downsides of new machines seems to be how long they take. Might have to go for an extra quiet one so it's not endlessly grinding away.

I wonder if that's a feature of the lower end models. The Series 2 are competing in the same territory as Beko etc, and some eg have plastic interior rather than stainless steel.

I have to say I haven't looked at Siemens. I know they're part of the Bosch group but not clear how they stand in relation to the Bosch ranges.

Theo

[Tricky Dicky]

We had a Siemens washing machine I cannot remember how long but it seemed a long time I replaced the brushes one time. The final time the circuit board failed and I was going to replace it but it was almost half the price of a new Bosch equivalent. SWAMBO decide to go new rather than risk further failures.

The difference in the quality of the machines was very noticeable in the thickness of the metal used in the casing the Siemens being thicker and the casing felt more robust. As for the other parts electrics and mechanicals I do not know if components are shared between Bosch and Siemens machines you would expect it so, but then how would you justify paying a premium price when the same could be got cheaper. A top of the range Bosch would probably have the same functionality as a top range Siemens so it would have to come down to build quality.

Do I regret replacing the Siemens? Yes I do!

[The Natural Philosopher]

All German white goods are made in turkey and are shit these days.

[Mike Clarke]

But you're comparing the build quality of a recent Bosch against a much earlier Siemens one. The chances are that a Bosch machine from the same era as the Siemens would have had the same build quality.

Sometimes manufactures produce similar quality goods under different brand names targeted at people with different attitudes to spending and charge more for the more 'upmarket' brands. E.g. Bosch -> Siemens, Zanussi -> Electrolux -> AEG.