I have a Janome Memory Craft 4000 that has given me years of service (knock on wood), and I love it. Depending on your budget, it might be a good idea to call a dealer and get a guess-timate of the costs just for looking at t he machine. Perhaps he might be able to give you some tips with just a phone call. If you really like the machine, I think it's worth getting it looked at to see if it is a large or small problem.