I bought a new Juki TL98q last summer. I really love sewing on it.

It needs to be oiled more often than my Pfaff domestic. I would say the Juki should be oiled every other month. Since this is partly an industrial machine some of the things that I have found are:
1) The presser feet need to be skrewed on, not snapped on; that's not a big deal if you have an easy time threading that skrew into the hole sideways. I have a hard time with it.
2) to oil, you need to dis-assemble the top plate and bottom plate.
3) Quarter Inch feet with or without the sidebar are not that easy to get. My dealer is more interested in servicing his larger industrial customers. I still don't have quarter inch feet for piecing, but I have found a supplier online and my local juki dealer said I should just buy from him. I thought the TL98Q being a quilting model would come with quilting feet but it comes with a quarter inch free motion foot. It also comes with a quarter inch hopping foot that has a sidebar, but I find it does not do an accurate quarter inch.

So all in all, I really like my Juki for free motion, but it's not as easy to own as a regular domestic in my opinion.

Thanks for that info, Gail. :) And I really like your blog!

I think I am really leaning toward the Juki. I joined some yahoo groups to read up, and it seems like lots of people have tension woes with their Janome 1600s.

Does your Juki prefer a certain kind of thread?

I have only had trouble with one kind of thread. Metler. I think it's more the thread than the Juki. If I set the thread on the floor and have it come through a thread stand, then to my juki, then it's ok. I won't buy that brand any more once my current spools are gone. Although I do like the finished results with the metler...

Good Luck with your Juki. Oh, yes, on my blog sidebar, I save the blogs of other Juki TL98q girls. They are very nice and it is through one of these Juki girls, that I found a source for my quarter inch feet. I'm going to order them in two weeks when I go south for the winter.

Well I have 3 janome and never had any problems with them, I love them, this is the first I've heard of the Juki.

I have the Viking Mega Quilter - it's the very same machine as the Janome and the Pfaff Grand Quilter ... all 3 are made by Janome and they are identical as far as I know, except for their machine housing designs.

I've not had any problems with my Mega Quilter, took a little getting used to the hi speed & a mech. machine again - but it has been a real workhorse. I piece with mine as well. You do need to oil them quite often, depending on how much you quilt.
Ditto on using a NEW needle for every quilt. Always.

Quite a few quilters in my guild & retreats have these machines. I know a few who have the older Juki 98s too.

The Juki used to sell for less than the Janome-made ones (in 2007 when I bought mine) I don't know about current prices -

Where did you find the 1/4" foot? Do you have a stock number or something? There are so many feet out there, it would be easy for me to get the wrong one.
Thanks.

I had a Janome 1600 P and it skipped stitches. Long story short the dealer got me a new Janome QC 1600 and it sews beautifully in FM frontwards but not backwards. I took it back and he told me it didn't like me and he wants to sell me a new dial type Janome. I'm in a dither.

Neither I bought (or rather my husband bought me as a "surprise") the Brother 1500, which as MadQuilter said is the same machine as the Pfaff GrandQuilter just different badges. It is not as cheap as the Janome, but not as expensive as the Juki. It comes with the thread cutter and the needle down button like the Juki. You can drop the feed dogs and it has the even feed pin. The Janome can not drop the feed dogs you have to use a darning plate to FMQ. The Brother also comes with the knee lifter and the extension table like the Juki, the Janome doesn't and I don't think you can even buy the table for it anymore. Unless you get a full size table to set it in.

I love my machine and would not choose anything different!
Good luck in choosing!

I have the Brother 1500 too. It's great. Easy to maintain and clean. I had one problem that I thought the machine was done for. It froze up and wouldn't move. I took the bottom off and looked to see if the belt had broken and saw a glass head straight pin lodged by a gear not letting the shaft turn. I removed the pin and the machine worked great. The only way a pin could have fallen into the body of the machine was the space by the reverse lever. There is no other open space. Odd but it happened probably while I was FMQ and maybe a stray pin got on the quilt and was pushed next to the space and fell in.

Note: The Brother 1500 is NOT the same machine as the Janome/Viking/Pfaff. The Brother is a clone of the JUKI machine. I have the Viking MQ and it has speed control, thread cutter, needle up/down, the knee lift & ext. table. So does the Pfaff. I bought my VMQ about 3 yrs ago and it's been super. :)