In this LG Diswasher Review we look at the fully integrated LG Dishwasher, model LDT9965BD. Currently one of the most beautiful LG dishwashers on the outside, it is not without some inherent flaws on the inside. The amazing black stainless steel finish certainly lives up to the company’s promise of being fingerprint resistant and inside you will find plenty of room thanks to the addition of an adjustable third rack.

LG Dishwasher Review

On the surface, there is a lot to like about this dishwasher. It has modern good looks, three adjustable racks, and an innovative “steam” feature. But there is more to a good dishwasher than appearance, especially when it comes with a hefty $1,000 price tag.

The LG LDT9965BD is one of the sleekest dishwashers with one of the cleanest front panels on the market. The only things you will see on the front are the LG logo in the top left corner, a curved handle, and four status indicator lights sitting in the upper right-hand corner.

All of the controls can be found on the upper edge of the door out of sight. This method of “hiding” the controls has become very popular in the last few years as a way to reduce the cluttered look and present a clean look throughout your kitchen.

On the Inside

The inside of the LG LDT9965BD is large, with room for up to 15 place settings. Instead of the usual 2 racks found in the average dishwasher, there is a total of three racks. The top one features a third rack close to the top with built in height adjustment and the second rack features fold over clips designed to hold your favorite wine glasses in place.

A pair of gray colored baskets slides out on a frame suspended from the top of the tub for silverware.

The good news is that these baskets can be easily removed from the rack and placed on your counter to fill or empty them. However, the plastic they are made from does not seem to be up to the same quality as the rest of the machine.

While the third upper rack seems to be useful for its intended purpose of silverware and cutlery cleaning, it comes up a bit short in the quality department as well. The glides it sits on feel cheap and it wobbles around when you pull it out and put it back. All adjustments are made by pushing or pulling these cheap, blue plastic clips. They feel weak, look cheap, especially at this price point.

Loading the LG LDT9965BD Dishwasher

No matter how hard you try to load the LG dishwasher unless you are running a small load, you are going to be faced with challenges not found in many other brands/models. This is due to a poorly designed racking system.

We found the main rack is challenging to load. This is in part due to the way the columns angle upward and inward at the same time. While these columns may have been created with the idea that this design would be more useful, in the end, it only makes things harder, even if you take the time to follow the loading instructions found in the owner’s manual.

To give you another example of how hard the LG dishwasher is to load, try putting wine glasses in the second rack using the holders. While they are easy to load using the flip over holders, you end up using two full rows of space, further reducing the amount of usable space for other dishes. The adjusting clips feel extremely flimsy and can often break free just from the weight of the dishes when loading. Plates clang together even when loaded properly, a big no-no in our book.

In time, you may learn to make the most of the available space, but with a $1000 price, no dishwasher should come with such a steep learning curve and such cheap feeling parts.

The New LG Dishwasher Control Panel

Each unit ships with a “10 Year Motor Warranty” sticker, which doesn’t come off easily.

The LG LDT9965BD control panel is stashed out of the way on top of the door and offers six different cleaning cycles. Each of the cycle buttons will display how long the cycle will take to complete on the LED display.

The cycle choices are:

• Auto
• Delicate
• Normal
• Heavy
• Dual Wash
• Quick Wash & Dry
• Cleaning Mode

All of the cleaning cycles with the exception of Normal and Quick Wash & Dry use steam to clean your dishes, these two use water. Steam cleaning is perhaps the best feature of the LG LDT9965BD as it offers a different method of cleaning, which also happens to allow this model to get the quietest noise rating for an LG dishwasher yet.

You will not hear the dishwasher running in most modes thanks to the True Steam feature.

Final Thoughts

When you stop to consider the cost of the LG LDT9965BD (approximately $1,000. currently) you have a right to expect more. Cheap feeling interior parts and a dish rack layout that is not yet fully baked are what doom this model in its current form in our opinion. As if to highlight just how little they think things through, LG has affixed a metallic “permanent” warranty sticker to the front of every dishwasher which proudly reads “10 Year Motor Warranty”. I have yet to meet any consumer that wants a warranty sticker permanently affixed to the front of their brand new appliance. It cheapens the exterior looks, as if to prepare you for the cheap interior racks.

But it’s not cheap! And this is the problem. LG’s competitors in this price range are many, with dishwasher heavy-weights like Miele, Bosch, and Asko Dishwashers to contend with. The bottom line comes to this: the machine is difficult to load and inferior quality materials are used for the racks, making the LG LDT9965BD challenging to use despite the interesting steam cleaning feature and near silent operation.