Bosch vs LG dishwashers: an incident-report comparison

What this Bosch vs LG comparison is based on#

Most brand comparisons in this database open with a divergence. This one does not have much of one, and that is the finding rather than a shortage of it.

The two corpora are CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for Bosch dishwashers, 2011 to 2026, n=303, and for LG dishwashers over the same window, n=47. Both are counts of filings that name a component, and on the two rows that carry most of each column, the two brands land in nearly the same place. The control board is named in 28% of the Bosch reports and 30% of the LG ones. Wiring or the power cord is named in 29% of the Bosch reports and 28% of the LG ones. Both of those gaps are inside the one-report noise band the table marks, which is to say the corpora are not measurably different there at all.

The one row that does separate them#

The motor is the exception. It appears in 15% of the LG reports and 2% of the Bosch ones, a 13-point separation and the only gap on the page wide enough to survive the size difference between the two columns. On the LG side that share is 7 filings out of 47; on the Bosch side it is 5 out of 303. The same small absolute number means something quite different in each corpus, which is exactly what a share is for.

Whether that reflects a difference in the machines, in which failures owners find alarming enough to report, or in the mix of model years each corpus happens to cover, this data cannot say. It records only that among reports filed, the motor is named far more often for one brand than the other.

Why the rest of the table stays quiet#

The remaining rows are quiet in both columns. The heating element is named in 1% of the Bosch reports and 2% of the LG ones. The drain pump or hose runs 0% against 2%. On the LG side each of those is a single filing out of 47, where one report is worth about two points, so neither is a measurement so much as a presence. Bosch's own tail — the water valve or line at 1%, the drain pump or hose and the ice maker at 0% — is thin for the opposite reason: a handful of filings inside a corpus of 303.

What a near-agreement is good for#

Two corpora that agree are not a null page; they answer a question that a divergence cannot. If you are choosing which spare to keep, which fault to suspect first, or which repair to budget for, this pair says the answer is largely the same for both: the control board and the wiring or power cord are where the filed reports concentrate, at nearly identical shares, and a motor complaint is the one thing markedly more characteristic of the LG corpus. What neither column can tell you is how often either machine reaches any of those states, because nothing here has machines in service in the denominator.

Bosch vs LG 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. LG: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for LG dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=47. A difference no larger than one report on either side is marked "within one-report noise".

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.

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.

Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.

LG dishwashers: the reported component split#

LG dishwashers — every share in this table is a share of: CPSC SaferProducts incident reports for LG dishwashers, 2011-2026, n=47.

Shares of reports, not failure rates — see the corpus note above.

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.