I'm 73 as well and had the opportunity to buy a used LA about 3 years ago. I'd taken a class and quilted a quilt on a LA that I rented at a shop about 10 years ago so I knew how much work I was getting myself into. Why did I buy that used LA? I love to make quilts. I don't like the FMQ that I was doing on my domestic machine and it's just too expensive to have top notch quilting done on the tops I do. I don't care for overall quilting. I like the custom, expensive stuff.
Before buying the LA, I checked to see if there was a shop close to me that I could get instructions from and help if I needed it. There's a LA shop about 40 minutes from my winter house. The machine I purchased hadn't been used for some time. The original owner died after making one quilt and then it sat. People thought I shouldn't buy that machine just because of that. But I got a great deal. The computer program was on this machine and it was a good company, Handi Quilter. I had to put some money into it for updates and such but the company was wonderful and helped me so much along with the wonderful ladies at the LA shop.
I love my LA. I only use it during the winter because I'm at our summer cabin from May til October. Some weeks I quilt a lot. Some weeks it sits unused. But, I'm not regretting that I bought it. I think you'll love one, too. Don't listen to everyone else. My hubby says, you don't regret the things you buy, you regret the things you don't buy. He's right!