Whirlpool GU1100XTLB / GU1100XTLQ / GU1100XTLT Built-in Dishwasher

Pros: nice looking, easy-to-use, energy efficient dishwasher that gets the dishes clean
Cons: a few design flaws - decide for yourself if they are important or not

Shopping for a dishwasher The dishwasher that came with our house was about 14 years old and recently started making grinding noises that progressively got worse. My wife and I decided that repairing it would probably not make much sense ...

Pros: cleans well; efficient; numerous cycles
Cons: not silent, but considering what it's doing, I don't care

We had been planning on buying a new dishwasher for about a year when it finally happened - our old one up and died on us. Our old one was installed in our condo when we bought it (about 2 1/2 years ago) and it was a piece of crap. It wasn't uncommon ...

Pros: More space on the inside than any other dishwasher I've had.
Cons: Bottom rack sits very low. This might be a concern for some buyers.

I bought this model a few weeks ago to replace my first Whirlpool dishwasher. After 10 years and who knows how many thousands of dishes it finally bit the dust. If this dishwasher performs half as well as that one did, I will be very happy. So far ...

Pros: cleans dishes OK
Cons: worst designed dishwasher I have ever seen

This is absolutely the worst designed dishwasher I have ever seen. If you are thinking of buying this dishwasher, you MUST take your dinner plates with you to test whether they will clear the upper spray arm mechanism when the bottom rack is pushed in. ...

Pros: Easy to load.
Silverware basket in door.
Cons: Silverware basket falls open.
Noisy.
Not durable.
Cleaning not the greatest.

I got this dishwasher  in 2004. It replaced a KitchenAid that worked for over 15 years.Best Buy installed this for free and hauled off the old one. What I liked about this dishwasher was the tall tub design and the ability to load ...

Pros: Large capacity, great scouring cycle, quiet, stylish look
Cons: Silverware basket can be annoying, tub discoloration

We purchased this dishwasher six months ago as a replacement for the 20-30 year old Magic Chef dishwasher that came with the place when we bought it (it was no longer a dishwasher, rather a food-redistributor). We did a lot of product comparisons and ...

Pros: Washes well, fairly quiet
Cons: repair-prone? I thought Whirlpools are known for quality..well not my machine.

Mine came with a broken upper tray rail. I noticed it after installation so I had to schedule for a repair. About a month later, it stopped washing as detergent remained in the dispenser. Hence came a repairman for the second time and he announced a bad motor. Thanks to terrible repair service who kept on ordering wrong parts it took another month to repair the dang machine. However, once it's fully repaired, the machine seems to wash decently. So I'm reasonably satisfied when it's working properly but I have some sour tastes in my mouth after 2 repairs in the first 2 months!!

Pros: Very roomy, pretty quiet, durable door front, cleans well.
Cons: Utensils in door rarely dry completely.

Overall, I have been very happy with it(Have had it 8 months). I compared many and feel this offered the most for the price.

Pros: Lots of space, cleans well
Cons: Hard to figure how to fill the rinse aid dispenser

I bought a Whirlpool GU1100XTLB1 dishwasher because I've had good luck with the brand and Consumers Digest generally rates them very reliable. I'm amazed that this unit holds lots more dishes than my old dishwasher and am very pleased with it. We have 10 3/4 inch dinner plates and I've had no trouble with them blocking the spray arm. You do have to make room for the gizmo that holds the upper spray arm on, but that's no problem. I love its space, and the silverware rack in the door gives one more room in the main unit. I wonder if they've changed the unit since the reviews saying it wouldn't wash dinner plates were written. Again, no trouble here. Maybe we load the machine differently. And the upper rack has lots of room.

Pros: Large capacity
Cons: Poor design; can't wash dinner plates larger then 10" in diameter.

Model GU1100XTLQ, paid $410
While it is quiet and spacious, the fact that you can't load dishes more than 10" in diameter without blocking the upper spray arm makes this dishwasher essentially useless. I can't believe how shoddy the design workmanship is on this! Who has dishes that don't exceed 10"?!? I have three different sets of dishes and none of them will fit without blocking this upper spray arm. If you try running the dishwasher anyway, it will constantly start and stop because the arm can't rotate.
Paid $85 for installation and will have to pay again to have it removed and have a new one (NOT another Whirlpool!) installed.
What's the point of making these larger dishwashers if you can't put in normal sized plates? My 10 year old dishwasher was better designed then this new, state of the art, Whirlpool.

Pros: fairly quiet
Cons: poorly designed, does not clean well

I've had this dishwasher for two years and I have regretted buying it from day one. The spray arm gets blocked by my large plates and pans,so those have to be washed by hand. The utensil basket is poorly designed. If it is bumped even slightly, it falls, flying open from its unsecured perch, scattering silverware everywhere. No matter what brand (and type) of rinse aid and detergent I use, everything comes out with a white film. A repairman told me to use only a tablespoon of detergent...when I tried that the same thing happened. Plus, the detergent door sticks and sometimes does not open at all during the cycle.

I bought it because I thought it was a good price and because it was supposed to have a large capacity tub, but it can't handle large dishes.

Do not buy this dishwasher!

Pros: It is quieter than a builders model.
Cons: Poorly designed. Will not hold anywhere near a full set of standard-sized dishes.

The GU100 we purchased for slightly under$500 will not accept anything near the "up to 13 inch dishes" that the Whirlpool manual states the unit will hold on the lower rack, because the vertical clearance is less than 11 inches. Our dishes are 11" in diameter, and we can't wash more than about four of them at a time, without hitting the upper spray arm. So much for Whirlpool's diagram of a full set of ten dishes!

The retailer has offered to swap this out for another model for another $250. Big deal. Unless Whirlpool gives us our money back, I think we'll buy the rest of our appliances - range, fridge and microwave- from a different manufacturer.

What a poorly designed piece of junk!

Pros: Easy to load. Cleans well.
Cons: Too noisy, doesn't tell how much time is left for wash to be finished.

I bought this machine to replace my 23 year old dishwasher. Unfortunately, the Whirlpool makes as much noise as my old one did. It also doesn't let you know how much time is left for the wash to finish.
I find it easy to load and it cleans well.

Pros: none
Cons: poor cleaning - noisy - unreliable - poor quality

WE have had our dishwasher for less than 2 years, it has been repaired about 6 times, each time it was a different part that needed replaced.. the pump, the control board twice, the heater element twice, this last time the service dealer we are working with cannot get the heater element part.. we have been without a working dishwasher for 2 months. VERY FRUSTRATING!!!!! I am so tired of complaining to Whirlpool, as I'm sure they're sick of hearing from me...