ManiacQuilter2

I have two old Bernina that were made in Switzerland and are both in excellent condition being bought in the early 90s.

KLO

Maureen, One of the things you should take into consideration when buying a new machine is where would you take it to get it fixed (or even just cleaned or for classes) if it needed that. A friend who knows machines really well told me a long time ago to buy from a local dealer or at least buy what local dealers carry so I wouldn't have to worry about getting the machine fixed if it failed and maybe even having to send it out. You may have lots of choices where you live so that might not be a problem but I just wanted to give you something to think about in case you had not considered this. Good luck with your hunt!

Bubbie

I have the older made in West Germany (so older still), Pfaff. I have looked at the new ones, but have not heard anything that would make me get one. Very sad day when the Pfaff family sold out. I've heard some good reviews about Brother. Good luck

DOTTYMO

Those who know here. I was looking at buying the pfaff but no local dealer. Is/are the husqvane range the same similiar to the pfaff as I have a local dealer.?

IrishgalfromNJ

I just bought a Janome MC7700 for the 11" throat and the reasonable price. I love it. It will probably be the last machine purchase I make. I have three back up machines, a 12 year old Singer, a hand crank Singer 15, and a Bernina 1530.

Knitette

There is no doubt there were problems with some Pfaffs for a while. My first 4.0 was a lemon and was exchanged three months after I bought it for a new one. We took a long time to bond, but since then I've grown to love it so much I bought the Performance 5 and keep the 4.0 at class. Apart from the auto pivot which I love, the 5 has 3 FMQ modes, although I mostly use the Sensormatic where it 'hovers' above the fabric. There's a great YouTube video on the 4.2. Happy quilting.

quilttiger

Where did this information originate from? I read her autobiography, Seams Unlikely, when it first came out. There was a mention as to the reason for the change from Pfaff to Babylock but quality had nothing to do with it. I borrowed the book from the library so I cannot recall the exact reason for it.

romanojg

I have had 4 Vikings, all great machines and made by the same company as Pfaff. Just because they aren't made in Germany anymore doesn't mean they aren't still great machines. Some, not all of Vikings are made over seas, due to it being more cost efficient but Viking will also told you they are still made by Viking and not farmed out to lower rated companies to save money. They still have great warranties, etc.

That being said, I have a Babylock serger. love, love, love it. I was told by my instructor that the biggest difference in Babylock and Brother (I used to think they were one and the same) was that Babylock was the only company that she knew of that worked their machines to death to test them before putting them on the market.

No matter who or how many people you ask you'll get good and bad answers for everything on the market. My advice is try them out, make sure you work with a great seller with great back up support and hopefully will fix your machine on site or at least give you a loner while you wait. But do try before you buy

romanojg

You'll ususally find both in the same store and the dealers refer to them here as one being the sister to the other. Like a similar Viking machine will normally have the similar Pfaff, hence sister. The price ranges are the same too. I love my Vikings.

Onebyone

The catalog use to have Pfaff machines listed. I wanted to buy one and called CS. I was told the Pfaffs machines were no longer being sold by Nancy's Notions. When I asked why I was told too many of the machines were being returned and complaints were being filed about the machines so they will not be sold anymore from Nancy Notions and that is all the rep knew. The next new catalog the machines were not listed.