I don't have a clue how this ended up but I have a 1222 pfaff and it sews like a dream, has the walking foot thinking, brain can't remember what you call it, but that works very well and it is easy to learn how to sew with it.

I've gotten to borrow a PFAFF 1229. It has the walking foot too. Not quite the same model but it is a very nice machine.
Rodney

We've got a 1222se. Bought used at a sewing machine repair place about 15 years ago with several feet and all of the original manuals. It hasn't been used much since then, partly because my mom never got the hang of adjusting tension. When a Pfaff shop opened here it got a tune-up, and then was repaired when the power button broke. Luckily, the guy had a donor machine because you can't get a new power switch. Once I started learning about sewing machines, I figured out how to set its tension properly. It does sew like a dream, and with the electronics it has finer control than machines without a brain.

It is the most modern, and market valuable, machine we've got. Until something breaks. Then it is probably a doorstop. It is also the only free-arm machine in our modest herd.

I don't use it very often. I'd rather use my 1975 Kenmore in a table, because I like the table and I'm not afraid of breaking the machine.

If it cost $1000 I would have to think about it, I might still have done it. A new Bernina 1008 is about that price, and I suppose it's one of the very few equivalent machine in production these days? I don't think the 1008 has any electronic features, the Pfaff 1222 has and was the technical marvel at the time it was introduced. At $300 it's still worth it, but I would initially not expect more than $150 to get a machine fully serviced and fixed. I would ask why they estimate such a high cost, and if it was due to cost of parts and time searching for them I think I would have taken it upon my self to hunt them down. In my experience, parts turn up sooner or later, at very varying prices. I think the 1222 was produced in the late 60s to early 70s, of the first with electronic features. I suspect this is why it can get expensive, new electronic boards and parts can be ridiculoulsly costly, and the main reason why I have shunned away from these models. I can't fix it my self and replacement parts can be hard to find.

As a lucky recipient of a '70s model Pfaff 123, I am very pleased with how well it works. As to the projected repair bill for the Pfaff 1222, I am a little skeptical. Is it possible the shop is hoping to entice your grandmother into buying a new machine? It is sad to say, but today's new machines are rarely as reliable as the vintage machines we have all grown to love.

I have an "olde" Pfaff that I paid $10.00 for, in a huge nice cabinet.........its one of the best machines I own and I use it a lot..........(*and I have 13 machines)............I would definitely take the old one, and I would take it to another repair man, that one sounds like he is trying to steal from you............even if it does cost a few $$ to fix, it would be worth it, because they made such good machines and it belongs to your family members............if you don't want it, I would love to have it (and so would every one else on here)............

It's called IDT http://www.pfaff.com/en-AU/About/IDT-System

. The problem is that no spare parts are available. Pfaff stopped making the machine in (I think) 1980.
Spare parts are available some time on EBay. The machine casing is all metal, yet the most vulnerable part is the cam stack made of plastic and is known to crack. . What makes the machine so desired is the IDT . (Dual feed.) There are other makes that have this capability.. I have been hunting for the plastic tray for ages with no success

There is nothing in that machine, other than the power board (which is full of replaceable capacitors and resistors), that cannot be replaced with new parts. There are literally hundreds of thousands of this range of machine out there and a thriving market in parts. I just rebuilt one, including replacing the camstack and nylon gears and rebuilding the power board and my total cost for parts was under $150. eBay and places such as sewingpartsonline.com have all the parts but the board. My time invested was less than 5 hours and my 1222E is good as new, so the price quoted is more than suspect.

This machine is one of my three favorite early modern machines, along with the Bernina Record 830 and Husquvarna Viking 6010. Any of these three are far better machines than new machines costing north of $3k. And even with a broken camstack, straight stitch and zig-zag as well as the IDT (originally called the Pattern Matcher) will continue to work just fine.

Robert,

If you're talking about the accessory tray that slides under the free-arm, I just bought one on eBay tonight. They are out there, this is the second I've bought in the past 3 months.

Tom