Dottie, I'm on my 2nd d/w in 29 yrs..... the first was 11 yrs old when I moved (and it was still going strong) ; and this one is almost 18 yrs old and (unfortunately) still going strong... both were/are Kitchenaid......... the only reason I say "unfortunately" is that the new ones are sooooo quiet and this one isn't!!!!! I keep on hoping that it will stop working, but it just keeps on going (
and washing!!)

My main suggestion would be to go for "basic"... my first one had all the bells and whistles, which added $$$$ to the cost, and most of those features were used only once (or not at all!!!), the current one is quite basic... and no problems (no additional electronics to break, either!!)