Most of the machines I've ever bought used have needed some kind of fix up. You haven't said what machine you are looking at or what kind of sprucing up it is needing. You might want to watch Muv's Utube videos here is a link to the links
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...v-t167789.html There are some videos on cleaning and some on using the vintage machines. These are well done. If the machine is all rusted out and in need of new paint you might need more drastic measures.