I was given a Singer in '97 as a wedding present, by my grandmother-in-law, because "Singer's are the best sewing machine brand!" She, unfortunately, was basing that on her own experience with older machines. The machine she gave me was awful, just awful. I used to think I hated sewing because that machine would never work right and was so frustrating.
I finally replaced it with a Viking, and wow, what a world of difference...