You won't be sorry. I have a 1973 model with 1,000,000 miles on it and still going strong. It is not a quilting machine for me, though, because of the self adjusting presser foot and the fact that I don't have the straight stitch plate. I can get the plate, but there's no cure for the presser foot. That was a real selling point for this machine, but doesn't bode well for quilting. It is the quietest machine I've ever heard.
Tempermental? Maybe in some ways - you have to hold the threads to start - no getting around it and you can't sew over pins - Miss Elna is so well balanced that she will shear them in half rather than glance off them. She prefers Shmertz needles and no cheap thread, but C & C and Guterman are fine, so her tastes aren't too expensive.
I have sewn a silk organza wedding dress and men's leather belts. The paint across the a little front is worn, but other than that, she's good to go.
My granddaughter recently offered me $39 for my Elna (all the money she had). Yeah, right!