Originally Posted by grugirl

Necchi's Rock. They are Italian Made I believe and my mother swears they are one of the best machines she has ever used. I have a Necchi story.

Found a Necchi on CL. There was a phone so I called. Left two messages over 2 days, no response. Hmmm. I was bummed. It said it was a brand new Necchi never used for only $150.00 and was 10 years old.

A gal calls me the third day and says I have been leaving messages on her machine about a sewing machine I want to buy, but she doesn't have one for sale. Hmmm...

So, I decided to email the person that posted it cause apparently they had mistyped their phone number for contact.

I email and the phone rings that night.

It is an 80 year old man that still has the machine. Mind you in the meantime I had done my homework and found many of this brand and model number online are 899-1000 buckeroos.

I asked him where he got it and why it was never used.

"I bought it for my wife about 10 years ago in Arizona. A new college was opening and when some of their funding got cut, the sewing program got cut. But they already bought the machines and decided to sell them brand new, never opened in the box for 1/2 price."

He said the original price was somewhere around $900. He bought it for $450. His wife never knew how to sew and they kept saying they would send her a video and never did so she never learned to sew on it. It sat in the box in a closet for 10 years. I told him I wanted to buy it.

I drove the next day, picked it up and it was so brand new, that the little piece of paper that they put under the foot when they ship was still there. The bag of tools that was sealed when a machine arrives had never been opened. It was in its original box, all the tools, in perfect condition. Needed a good oiling and I was off.

So, I got a $900 Necchi for $150 bucks brand new. It sews like a DREAM.

Originally Posted by Plain Jane

So sad. Just tried to use my "new" machine and the needle didn't budge. :( So much for the assurance that it worked great. I'll try to get my money back from the thrift shop tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Prism99

Does the needle move if you turn the hand wheel? Or is the machine completely frozen?

Originally Posted by quilt addict

I would not take it back. It probably just needs some oil since it has been sitting so long. The oil has dried up in places. Billie in the vintage machine store that was posted above will give you all the help you need to get the machine running. It should be very easy.

Originally Posted by Plain Jane

It doesn't move even when I turn the hand wheel. The rubber belt turns, but nothing on the machine moves. There is some visible rust on it, so I guess it could be rusted up inside.