I have only vintage and antique machines - none of them worth a lot of money except to me. I gifted my "newer" 25 yr old machine to someone who needed a machine because it was too new for me after I started using the vintage babies. That 25 yr old machine had been bought new and survived several Army moves but didn't fit me or my needs any longer.
Could we afford a new close to the TOL SM? Probably but I don't want one. I do all my quilting on the older gals and am happy to have machines I can fix when something goes awry. Hubby happy if I am so we are good. We also drive older cars too - again by choice.
I say to each their own and no one should question why someone buys a basic machine or a TOL one. Their money = theirs choice.