I have a Viking Designer 2 that is 7yrs old and I am ashamed to admit I have never taken it to be serviced. I sew an average of 8-10 hrs a week on it. You really should take it once a yr. I am finally breaking down and taking it in when I go on vacation in February for a week. There are a couple of things that need to be fixed but nothing that keeps me from sewing. Figure I can schedule an appt. for them to have it while I am gone. :) Make sure the place where you buy it has been in business for a while and will be in business in the future. And they have someone there that is qualified to work on the machines. Good luck on figuring out which machine to buy.