Uh Oh. As I mentioned recently, (oh, okay, I've WHINED), my machine has been acting up. The light is out, the needle down is not working properly and the top thread keeps breaking. I've cleaned, I've oiled, I've changed everything I could change. And it still seems sick. Yesterday, I took it to the Tony, the Sewing Machine Repair Dude.
This morning, Tony called me and said "I have bad news, very bad news". Apparently, My machine has an electrical problem in the board. This is beyond the ability of the fabulous Tony. There is also some mechanical problem in the feed dogs.
Tony has suggested that my options are to trade the machine in and buy something new, or send Bernie on a European Vacation to visit his ancestors at the Bernina Factory in Switzerland for diagnosis and repair. Why don't *I* get offered a trip to the Swiss Alps? Tony suggests that replacing the board will probably cost $500 and up. Yikes. And even then, they'll only guarantee for 90 days after.
My machine is 12 years old. I LOVE this machine and have always said that I am not even tempted by the new TOL machines, none of them seem to be as good as this machine. I've only ever done minor repairs, oh, and I wore out 2 foot pedals along the way. Now I have to decide if it is worth spending a hunk of money to repair it, with no guarantees or if I am better to trade it in and start with something new. I'm also thinking that maybe I should try to buy a used 1630 from someone else. Hmmm.
Any suggestions? Has anyone sent their machine to Switzerland to have it fixed, and was it worth it? If I buy a new machine, what the heck do I get? I have a backup machine that I can use for a good long time if I need to (its a Bernina 135) but I really don't like the 135 all that much. What to do, what to do???
6 comments:
I had a Janome Memorycraft 4000, that I was in love with and got it repaired, because I felt the same as you. It was because I felt like there was no other machines out there. When I went to pay the bill (ENORMOUS, BY THE WAY), I saw a lot of machines that needed to be loved. I think you should keep an open mind and scout out a new one... If I had a do over I would.
I would definitely get a new one with such a poor warranty on a $500plus repair. What about a Pfaff Grand Quilter? If you do mostly quilitng it's a wonderful machine. It does only straight stitch but has a longer harp for quilting large items. I also have a Pfaff Quilt Expression 2048 which has lots of built in stitches if you want them. I buy Pfaff because there is a dealer nearby.
can you find a second machine and scavenge the board? -- sort of like keeping an identical, non-working car for parts.... :-)
To me, buying a new sewing machine is just like buying a new car! Try every model before you buy. In my experience, Bernina is the best out there and I have a 160 Virtuosa. I absolutely LOVE it! If it were me going through this, the first thing I would try is testing the used machines. Then I would beg my husband to buy me the Aurora 440QE with the Bernina Stitch Regulator. It all depends on what you will be doing on the machine. Weigh that out first. However, I would not get your old one fixed, trade it up.
I've heard that Bernina has had lots of problems with their boards. My Janome 9000 boards died after 10-11 years - I paid an huge amount of $$$ for this machine and the estimates for repairs go all the way up to $900!!! Right now I am using my back-up machine and keep calling around to different shops for an OLDER model, USED Pfaff. I will never pay top $$$ for a domestic sewing machine again and seriously, I am sure I can get a nice Pfaff for less than the cost of the repair. Sigh, sigh, sigh. Thankfully I have a nice back-up machine. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Cheers!
Evelyn
P.S. - I can't trade my machine up because it is broken... although the shop has a USED one for $1,000 for sale that they keep trying to talk me into to. Huh - I KNOW what use my machine has had so if I was going to spend $1,000 on the SAME machine I already have - then I would pay the $900 to get my own machine fixed in the first place.
Cheers!
Evelyn
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