I have 3 old Singers that I love. About 10 years ago my Mom and I went sewing machine shopping for. We went to a local shop that always repairs my machines. We looked and I was drawn to a Singer. The owner told us that the new Singers are made of plastic and don't hold up as well, so my Mom bought a Brotjer. I was getting a machine worked on about 5 years at the same shop and there was a woman leaving without a machine, which since she didn't come in with one I thought was strange. The manager said her Singer motor had died and she was thinking about putting a new motor in her old machine as the newer ones don't hold. I trust him with my "babies" so I would carefully look at the machine. :roll: :roll: