Bought this blender to replace an cheap 7 year old blender. First year it worked well (I never put it in the dishwasher, so never saw leaking as others report). Blade broke shortly into the second year. Turns out replacing the blade means replacing the whole jug at approx 1/3 the cost of the entire blender!

Firstly, it's hard to imagine a piece of metal that comes under more stress in the entire house than a blender blade. That the engineering design requires that replacing a tiny piece of metal which will almost certainly break means sending about a pound of high quality plastic to the landfill and re-investing 1/3 the price of the blender deserves one star. It's a a ripoff and an environmental disaster.

Secondly, Kitchenaid wasn't much help. Amazon will ship you the blender for free, but replacement parts ship from Kitchenaid for $10.