Viking Husquavarna 150 at Goodwill..should I buy?
 

.......and I just promised my wonderful husband that I would quit looking at old sewing machines:eek:. It is on the Goodwill auction site, but for pickup only (I live about 2 miles away :thumbup:). Appears to be in good condition. Does anyone have this machine and do you LOVE it? My daughter needs a machine and I think this would be a good beginner machine for her. How much should I pay? Thanks for all your collective wisdom!!!!!

I've worked on a few of these types and they're good little machines if working properly. The outside being in good shape is a plus, but who knows what the history of the machine is... If they're not sewing correctly they can take quite a bit of work to get going properly. If you can try it out before you buy, that would be ideal. But, if you can't at least make sure all the controls move easily and correctly. They can harden up inside with lack of service and use. I can't tell you what you should pay. That's up to you to decide, especially if it needs servicing.

Thanks, it can't hurt to give them a call and see if I can go try it out before I bid. FYI, my husband is one of those guys who can fix anything. If I can't try it out and it turns out to need lots of work, would it be expensive to repair/rebuild or are parts readily available for this?

Parts are expensive and some parts are no longer available. Here's the price on a few of them. http://www.sewingpartsonline.com/vik...ine-parts.aspx

Asking to try it out before bidding is a really good idea.

Thankyou so much for your response and this link. I think maybe I'll keep looking for a vintage singer at a good price. It's much cheaper and easier to find parts!

So, you must live in Colorado? Lucky you! I've seen many machines on the Denver Goodwill site that I would have loved to have bid on, but were pick-up only. Prices are often quite good there because of the no shipping policy. That Viking 150 is a cool looking machine. I know nothing whatsoever about it, but there are several good reviews on line. You might want to just throw in a low bid (~$35?) and see what happens. You might be surprised. I've gotten a couple of nice machines that way.

I have a Viking 190 from the same series and it is my go-to machine. Mine is used regularly and will sew anything I throw at it. Take it for a test drive. It was the middle machine in the series and I cannot remember if it has the 1/2 speed feature? I bought a second one from ebay in case the other one dies! If you can get it cheap, do it! My 190 retailed for $800 back in the early 80's.

I had a 150, love it and very easy to use. The only feature it does not have is needle down which is helpful for quilting. If it's really cheap and works you won't be disappointed.

In the mid 80's I wore out (that's what the repairman said) my Singer, and bought a 630 (same series as 150 and 610)
I told him I wanted something without a computer, and have heard over the years from various people that it's a work horse.
I have always loved it, and still do. A few years ago I got to thinking that I bet some of the parts inside aren't made anymore, so I now have a 610, a 150E, and 6 630's, all purchased cheap because they don't thave the new buttons and whistles, nor a computer. I learned that this was the machine that many schools had, back when schools had machines.
I have NEVER had a problem with stitches, it even FMQ effortlessly. My feet, and other things fit all 3. Sure, they are expensive, but these machines are solid. I heard a couple of years ago the company was sold to someone, which makes me think maybe the quality is going to go down (like the Kitchenaid mixers did) I paid $830 way back when for a new one, and that was a lot for it back then.

My daughter has been instructed that if her machine ever breaks, one of therse will do nicely (unless she wants a new one, but she doesn't sew that much)
I just remembered, I have the 150E which is part of the series. They did make a 150 (without the E) and it is not part of that series. Let's see if I can remember the story I was told - Viking made the 150, but by the time the raving review of it came out(Consumer Reports?), they had already started making the 600 series, but since the review was overwhelmingly great, they just called the beginning o0f the 600 series the 150E, that way taking advantage of the 150 reviews, but really a new series with newer doodads.

I would check - if it's a 150, I'd pass, but if it's 150E, I think it would be great for a beginner.

In that link that Candace gave, you'll see that the cord has 2 different ends, it's very important that the right cord is gotten. When they went from 150, to 150E they used whatever 'Selectronic' is, which is what the 600 Series had new
You know, now that I think about it, maybe it's not the best machine for a beginner. I know it took me a lot of time to dig up all that info that if one did't knowcould end up in a machine that doesn't work.