You asked about long lasting machines. Well.....I currently own, and have owned, a lot of different machines. Machines I have that are still going strong is an over 50 year old Kenmore model that I learned to sew on, an over 30 year old Pfaff Synchrotronic (that I bought used), an over 20 year old Kenmore Elite and Brother Electroinc, and several 5 year old Janomes that I purchased for a sewing class I taught, not to mention the over 20 and 30 year old sergers I have that are still going strong - Juki, Singer, and Elna.
If you take care of your machine, it should give you years of great service but you do have to be careful about the newer machines. Singer came out with a line that had plastic sleeves over metal parts and the plastic was shattering within 6 months so watch out for the plastic/metal ratio. I use Singer as an example but it's an issue on a lot of machines. The old mechanicals, I feel, are the most reliable, and can be maintained by the owner. Although I do maintain my computerized machines as well and rarely need to take them in for servicing. And I discovered you can wear out the plastic feet, I wore the one out on my Kenmore Elite!
I love and appreciate the older machines as well BUT there is nothing like experiencing the "perks" of the newer machines like needle up/needle down, needle threader, thread cutter, low bobbin warning light, multiple needle positions, decorative stitching, automatic buttonhole, variable speed setting and so on.