I bought a machine at a show - a Pfaff. Delaer who sold it is 2 hours away. Closest Pfaff dealer is about hour or more and very difficult to get from here to there! I have never needed training nor has it needed to go in. I buy attachments from the closer dealer (he also sells on ebay)- just call him up and he ships me what I need. If I needed repairs under warranty I would not hesitate to ship machine to dealer I bought it from. My local LQS will repair any machine (just not for warranty work on my Pfaff).
So go to show and buy if you like.