Originally Posted by
zozee
... I found a one-year-old 8900 on CL for half the cost of a new 8900. Wonder if I should seriously entertain looking at it? It's a 2-hour drive. Hmmm....
Decisions, decisions.
yes, it's worth the drive.
download a copy of the manual from the janome website.
then you can be sure the current owner is including every little bit and piece that came with it. (reasonable exceptions would be the bobbins, needles and seam ripper; perhaps the screwdrivers. all of those can be picked up elsewhere for not much.)
ask lots of questions and test drive it like a maniac.
what you think you need now will be very different to what you know you need a few years from now. any one of the machines you're considering will inspire you to grow and expand your sewing/quilting horizons [pun intended. LOL]
it will take much longer to "outgrow" your next machine if you get more than you need without spending more than you can afford.
just make sure that whichever machine you choose is the one that gives
you tingles.
our opinions (especially my own) are likely biased and so should be taken with a grain of salt. LOL