I personally think that the repair shop you talked to, is right. In my personal opinion, any Singer newer than a late 60's, is a piece of junk. The 99 is a great machine, although it's only straight stitch. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, there are a few machines that have a pretty decent reputation, Brother, Janome and Eversewn are ones that I can think of, and they are zigzag capable. Maybe someone else will have better news for you than I.