Cash for clunkers, appliance edition

There was something in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about a cash for clunkers type program that's been authorized for appliances. It's supposed to start this fall and will provide something like $200 toward the purchase of an energy star appliance. I was telling my mom this last night on the phone and she said "maybe I should get a new oven, or maybe a new dishwasher." "Oh I don't know, are you sure your dishwasher would qualify as a clunker?" I asked. When my mother stopped laughing hysterically we went through the various merits of each appliance. I think the oven is the original one from when the house was built 40 years ago. The dishwasher is not much younger.

The dishwasher:

• Has racks that have about 3 prongs on them, how do the prongs on a dishwasher rack go missing?
• The utensil basket has about 4 compartments that have melted through causing holes so when you put a knife in there it just falls right through.
• Because of the wonky racks and general design, the dishwasher hold about 3 plates and 8 cups and 2 place settings of silverware. So my mother is running it constantly and it's just her and my stepfather. And they eat out a lot.
• It gets ridiculously hot, to the point where it smells like melted rubber and plastic every time it is running.
• It is so loud that in order for my nearly deaf step father to hear the television above it he has to turn the tv on so loud the walls in the house shake. I suspect that the melty smell is whatever provides sound insulation.
• The lock on the dishwasher is broken so my mother uses the handle of one of her hair coloring tools (she likes to color her own hair about once a week) to lock it.

The oven:

• Is small, a 10 pound turkey takes up the entire oven.
• Doesn't appear to have any connection from the temperature you set it at and the internal oven temperature. Basically we put something in there and hope in a few hours it's done. My mother is the oven whisperer, she is the only one who can get something to bake the way it is supposed to despite having no way to gauge the temperature. Yes, she knows that they sell oven thermometers but the area in Target where they are located is too close to the endcaps of discount housewares and she always gets distracted.
• Has some part of every meal ever cooked in it on the bottom or side of it. I'm sure there's probably some theoretical self clean setting on it but the last time my mother tried it (many years ago) it started a fire.

We did agree that the dishwasher could pick up where the oven is lacking, it does get quite hot so perhaps you could cook things in there. Well not things that require crispiness but perhaps a little poaching.