Originally Posted by Candace
One caveat about buying machines from the Vikings inside Joannes, is that many of them are closing!! Mine closed here a few months ago and many folks have posted about their's closing too. I'd stick with buying from a local dealer(I bet they have quality used machines there). Buying from Craigs List as a newbie would be very risky in that you simply won't know if it's a good machine or not. Your local dealer should be able to give you options as used machines with warranties and classes.
I agree, a lot of dealers have good quality used machines that the customer trades up with. Many of them are only a year old and are in great working order. The dealer will clean and service the machine before it's sold too, so that's a plus.