Darlingquilter

Hello everyone! I am trying to decide between some machines, mainly for quilt piecing and free motion quilting. Right now I am using a very basic Brother machine (the Brother XR3774) and am excited for an upgrade! I have heard great things about the Janome 6600p, as well as the Pfaff Performance 5.0 and 5.2. I'm looking for the best "bang for my buck".

I test drove the Janome 6700 or 6800 (can't remember which one it was) and it was fine, smooth, did free motion well.

I also test drove the Pfaff P5.2 in the store and it was so smooth and fun!

So here are my finds:
1. I found a local used Janome 6600p for $1000. It's about 1.5 hours away from me so I have not test driven it yet. The original owners bought it 12 years ago, and his wife only used it for about 2 months since it didn't stitch fast enough for her, so she went back to her Bernina. They are selling since its not used much at all.

2. There is a Pfaff Performance 5.0 online. Sounds like it was serviced before being listed for sale. I asked how the FMQ performance was and she could not tell me because she has a long arm, and does not use the Pfaff for FMQ. This is priced at $1350. It does worry me a little to order online, and there is a zero return policy. But I could also save a lot of money and it sounds like the P5 and P5.2 are very similar. I don't use the fancy stitches or ribbon stitching.

3. Or I could go through a Pfaff dealer on my area. I could get a new Pfaff Performance 5.2 for $2150 including tax.

I think I really like the feel of the Pfaff, but from my research, the Janome seems more reliable.

Any advice on what I should do?

Thanks!!!