I agree that Janome's customer support could be better. When the bobbin winder stopped working on my Janome 6500, the repairman at the store couldn't figure out what was wrong. They told me I would have to send it back to the company for repair. It was under warranty so there was no repair charge, but I had to pay to ship it (the shipping wasn't cheap).
If you have a Bernina dealer close, they often have used sewing machines with full warranties. People often trade in their Bernina machines just because they want the newest model each year.