What this Bosch vs KitchenAid comparison is based on#
Both columns on this page cover the same years, 2011 to 2026, which is worth saying up front because it is not true of every brand pair in this database. The Bosch column is 303 CPSC SaferProducts incident reports; the KitchenAid column is 360. Two corpora of comparable size, observed over the same window, counted the same way: which component each filing names.
Comparable size, however, has produced two very differently shaped columns.
A 62% row and what it does to the rest of the table#
The control board is named in 62% of the KitchenAid reports — 223 filings out of 360. A share that large compresses everything under it. Wiring or the power cord is second at 15%, and after that the column is in single digits: the heating element at 4%, the motor at 4%, the thermostat or sensor and the drain pump or hose at 1% each. Those lower rows are not evidence that those parts rarely fail; they are what is left of a corpus after one row has taken nearly two thirds of it.
The Bosch column has no such row. Its top two, wiring or the power cord at 29% and the control board at 28%, are within a point of each other, and together they take about the same share of their corpus that the board alone takes of KitchenAid's.
The board and the cord, read across#
Those two facts produce the page's only two substantial gaps, and they run in opposite directions. The control board separates the columns by 34 points, the widest measured distance here. Wiring or the power cord separates them by 14 points the other way, 29% against 15% — and this is the row where the two brands are closest to sharing an emphasis, since it is prominent in both columns rather than in only one.
Below that the two agree without either having much to agree with. The heating element is named in 4% of the KitchenAid reports and 1% of the Bosch ones, the motor in 4% against 2%, the drain pump or hose in 1% against 0%. Each of those Bosch shares rests on a handful of filings out of 303, so the gaps are real in the arithmetic and thin in the evidence.
What this supports and what it does not#
A KitchenAid [dishwasher](/blog/repair-or-replace-dishwasher) that will not start a cycle, has lost its display or behaves erratically at the panel lands in the part of its corpus that dominates every other part. A Bosch in the same state lands in a corpus where a wiring or cord complaint is at least as likely to be the filing on record. That is a statement about the shape of two report collections, not about how often either machine gets there — no count on this page has machines in service underneath it, so none of it converts into a rate.
Bosch vs KitchenAid dishwashers: what the reports mention#
Both columns are shares of their own corpus, and the corpora differ in size. Bosch: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Bosch dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=303. KitchenAid: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for KitchenAid dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=360. A difference no larger than one report on either side is marked "within one-report noise".
| Component mentioned | Bosch | KitchenAid | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control Board | 28% (84 of 303) | 62% (223 of 360) | 34 points more often for KitchenAid |
| Wiring or Power Cord | 29% (87 of 303) | 15% (55 of 360) | 14 points more often for Bosch |
| Heating Element | 1% (2 of 303) | 4% (16 of 360) | 3 points more often for KitchenAid |
| Motor | 2% (5 of 303) | 4% (13 of 360) | 2 points more often for KitchenAid |
| Drain Pump or Hose | 0% (1 of 303) | 1% (3 of 360) | 1 point more often for KitchenAid |
About the corpus: these are CPSC SaferProducts reports — incidents someone chose to report, not units sold — so the shares on this page are shares of the reports and never a failure rate. The corpus is weighted toward safety events: 12,007 of its 20,581 records (58%) are fire, smoke, burn or melt reports, which over-represents the components that burn and under-represents the ones that merely stop working.
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Bosch dishwashers: the reported component split#
Bosch dishwashers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Bosch dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=303.
| Component mentioned | Share of reports | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Wiring or Power Cord | 29% | 87 of 303 |
| Control Board | 28% | 84 of 303 |
| Motor | 2% | 5 of 303 |
| Heating Element | 1% | 2 of 303 |
| Water Valve or Line | 1% | 2 of 303 |
| Drain Pump or Hose | 0% | 1 of 303 |
| Ice Maker | 0% | 1 of 303 |
Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.
KitchenAid dishwashers: the reported component split#
KitchenAid dishwashers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for KitchenAid dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=360.
| Component mentioned | Share of reports | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| Control Board | 62% | 223 of 360 |
| Wiring or Power Cord | 15% | 55 of 360 |
| Heating Element | 4% | 16 of 360 |
| Motor | 4% | 13 of 360 |
| Thermostat or Sensor | 1% | 4 of 360 |
| Drain Pump or Hose | 1% | 3 of 360 |
Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.
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How to use these numbers#
What this comparison can settle: which components the reported incidents of each brand actually concentrate on, for this appliance. What it cannot settle: which brand fails more often. That would need units sold, and no public source states it. Use the component split to plan for the repair each brand is most reported for, not to rank the two.
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