Less than a year and I am already replacing the flat beater because the coating CHIPPED in use -- so I had to TOSS OUT an entire batch of cheesecake batter!  First the whisk oxidized because apparently you can't put them in the dishwasher any longer (how do you sanitize or de-grease effectively then?) and now this. KitchenAid is getting to be the CHEAP junk rather than the quality product.