agoldenbutterfly

Bernina is the best and will last years and years, relatively trouble free. Problems are easily fixed.

Wanabee Quiltin

I bought a used Bernina 7 years ago on eBay and love it. Never been in the shop once though I do keep it really really clean. I think if you can find someone with a good rating, I'd buy a used Bernina. Just remember that it only uses Bernina bobbins but that is no big deal and keep it clean. Mine refuses to work if I don't oil it and clean it after 6 bobbins used.

romanojg

I bought both of my Vikings this way and don't regret it. Its tight during the paying process so I'm really happy at the no finance rate but love the machines. You are right, there is a reason why you don't see these machines in thrift stores or CL very often; they are keepers. Even if you don't keep them, the dealers know they can resell them so its easy to use them for a trade in; that's what I did with my Ruby and before I even got to bring my Ruby in they had it sold. Can't beat that for a turnover.

bearisgray

I, too, was frustrated when I was trying to find the prices of new Berninas.

As far as old/used ones go - there don't seem to be a lot of them in circulation. I figure there might be two reasons for that: !) There weren't that many to start with. 2) People keep them and pass them along to family members.

mckwilter

There are other good machines out there at lower prices. Look at the Baby Lock and Juki machines. Both are good quality and come in a range of prices.

Zinda

My first Bernina was a 131 Activa. I received it for my birthday. Then for Christmas 2003, my husband gave me a Bernina200e. I bought a used 440 for my daughter to learn to quilt. I have a home in Florida and Wisconsin and keep a sewing machine at each. When my 131 went in for service, I decided to get a back up. Purchased a used 180 at an estate sale. Then I went to a local quilt store in Florida that had a grand opening and a great price on the 830's. The president of Bernina was there from Switzerland, so he signed my new Bernina. I am looking to sell my 200e. It only has 90 total hours (sewing and embroidery)! Guess you could say I'm a Bernina lover.

Patti25314

As a Bernina tech, if you haven't figured out what you did to the dials to make it all go straight, take it in and asked. Hopefully your dealer has offered for you to take classes -- free classes. Also, if you aren't sure what type of warranty you got, asked about that too. They will love helping you out. Welcome to the family.

mckwilter

I purchased a 440QE from the local Bernina dealer and took the CLASS -- singular, not classes -- which they offered. I would have been better off taking a day off work, sitting down with the manual and going page-by-page. Then, when I bought a used 165 (I think that was the model) sewing/embroidery machine from another store in another state, I asked the local store about classes and was told that it would cost me over $500 to take the classes. So when you say "free classes" in connection with Bernina, that is an oxymoron in my experience. Regardless, I love my Berninas and wouldn't give them up for all the tea in China.

BerninaBEN

Hi Everyone -- thank you for a ton of valuable information about Berninas. I have a family friend who I am going to be renting a house from (his mother's, who passed away a few years ago) and he has asked me to help him sell some stuff to clear space. My first job was to identify items that he should not put out at his Garage Sale and I could clearly tell his Bernina 117L was exactly that. I have a very solid 300+ eBay rating (mostly from selling old Star Wars toys, records and other collectibles) but I haven't posted much recently. I will post my eBay id later when I get ready to post the item.

I am using various boards to do my research and he would love to find a good home for this item. I will be taking some video clips and tons of photos very soon. One question I have is what the L signifies? I think another poster said they have a 117M or 117K?

I believe this model is from 1939 but I read about the way to figure out the year, so I will have the serial number written down soon to try and figure that out. I know for a fact it works well, as his mother was using it right up to the last few years of her life (there's currently a thread in the needle). It is green and quite clean. It's a beautiful machine and I don't even sew.

This was definitely made in Switzerland. I am also going to have to figure out a way to remove this (and the pump/motor) from the wood box it is placed in. I am fairly certain the box is not related to the Bernina and that they did not come together or anything.

Thanks in advance for the help with the 117L question! All the best. Quilt on

PS - As a non-quilter, I have to mention that I found the documentary "The Quiltmakers of Gee's Bend" quite fascinating. Beautiful work!

Mdegenhart

I found a used Janome MC6600P at a LQS for $350' but it took some persistance in calling around.