There is a major decline with all manufactures Machines are being built in China etc with substandard materials and workmanship. That is why so many people are returning to vintage machines. I have what is considered an old machine by todays modern standards- it's a Pfaff 1475 from the early 1990s. IT is a great work horse but there are still things I wouldn't do with it because the repairs run in the hundreds. We deal in vintage machines and the quality and durability of those far out ways todays machines.