Originally Posted by Shelbie
I have had a love/hate relationship with my Janome 6500 (I think they built it at 4:55 pm on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend) but I finally have had it repaired (had to take it to another dealer) and now know its ins and outs. $300 is definately a good price for this machine (I paid $2000 new). It likes to veer off at seam junctions or thicker spots and jams and knots up frequently at the beginning of a seam. Make sure you also oil the little wick hole (it's not fuzz) under the bobbin case or your machine will rattle, knock and jam. I actually put my needle right through the bobbin case before I found out about this oiling spot (not in the manual and didn't hear it from my dealer). The best info that I got was on the Janome 6500/6600 sewing online forum. I like the larger harp and it does a good job of FM. The built in buttonholer will not handle large or thick buttons. My dealer charged $4.99 for a replacement light bulb and then I found that identical light bulb at my local farm/tractor dealership for $.51 and they last longer! At that price, inspite of its "issues" I'd buy the machine and watch out for the problems.
There was no mention of putting oil on the wick but fortunately I wasn't able to pry it out thinking it was a stubborn piece of lint! I have had some issues with my 6 year old 6500. It does tend to eat the beginning stitches so I always sew a little piece of scrap first. The bobbin winder doesn't work anymore but buying a sidewinder was much cheaper than a repair. One of the spool holders started slanting and then broke off. Fortunately it has two, as a replacement would be very expensive. Occasionally on the straight stitch it will start out in a funky forward and backward pattern but clears if I reset the stitch number. Most of the stitches default to a 2.2 stitch length which is much tighter than I like. The automatic thread cutter leaves longer length than I like so I recut them with a scissors before I donate them to a children's charity. Even with it's problems they are all workable and I love this machine!!