My Walmart Brother machines have lasted for a while with no problems. One, that I took on a trip, fell out of the car. It looked fine on the outside, but apparently suffered internal injuries. Not a big deal, as i only paid $89 for it new and it had lasted 6 years without a problem.
Well, there was one problem - me and my ignorance! I didn't know they had to be cleaned. It stopped sewing, so I took it apart to figure out what was wrong. There was 1/4" of packed lint under the needle plate. Cleaned it out and it ran like new again.
Now I clean my machines regularly. Lesson learned.