Faintly Artistic

I bought a Daisy 325 in 1999, one of the last years it was built in Sweden. Last year had an issue and parts are no longer available, even though it is still under the 20 year warranty...I bought an even older Pfaff to replace it. The late 80's Pfaff is a much better machine, I just hope the computer board never goes out.

romanojg

I'm sorry for the loss of your machine. Mine is down right now. I went to move it temporarily the other day, powered it off, unplugged it and moved it to the next room, plugged it in and now only part of it wants to come back on. The screen doesn't come on at all, the lights where the up/down, etc buttons are and up where the thread goes and the bottom where the stylus goes just flash. I tried changing it to a different outlet and still the same thing. The closest dealer is about 120 miles away now.

franklindixie

There comes a time when ALL electronic machines become outdated & the industry has changed so much that repairs are neither cost-worthy nor appropriate. Which is soon followed by impossible. Idk why people accept that a computer is out-dated in 3 years...a TV in 4-5...kitchen appliances in 5-7, but they expect a sewing machines to last longer. Embrace the new technology. You can do sonmuch more with a new machine. Unless you only want to straight stitch. Then pick an old singer treadle & all you’ve gotta worry about is rust & the ancient leather belt drying out

Ex_viking_repair

Please forgive any formating or spelling errors I am writing this on my phone. I found this old post while reminiscing about working as a viking dealer repair tech and wanted to add my two cents. I worked for a dealer that owned two stores during the transition from Viking Sweden to SVP. I saw the introduction of the SE, Diamond, and Ruby. (among mid level and entry level machines) I was Viking certified to repair those models and their TOL sergers. The Ruby was the first high end made in China. In fact the very first batch of Rubies was built on Sweden. Although there was probably less than a hundred swedish built Rubies. The swedish Rubies had some serious quality control problems and we always felt it was because the swedish factory workers had heard rumors they'd be out of a job soon and were 'short timing' it. The first Rubies out of China weren't built any better. As well as quality problems I would say half were missing at least one foot or more. We had dozens of sewers coming in and complaining about missing accessories.
Viking lost a lot of dealers at the time. Not only because of quality issues but also because the new SVP CEO removed just about every dealer insentive. Dealers no longer got bulk discounts when purchasing larger quantities of machines (therefore couldn't pass on savings to their customers) They also removed a 50/50 split in advertising costs that had been around forever.
Brother and Bernina reps we're calling Viking dealers across the country convincing them to swap brands. They still offered those incentives. You may know some dealers that dropped the Viking line during this time (or relegated them to a back corner, and picked a different brand as the forefront)
SVP also didn't renew the contract with their serger manufacturer. The beloved 936 (built in China, but with great quality control) was gone. Replaced by the S25, a serger despised by dealers because of how horrible the manufacturing quality was. We assumed it was built in the same factory as the Singer sergers. SVP also started rebranding some of the entry level machines: the entry level embroidery machine was simply a Singer with a Viking logo. Obviously this further upset many Viking dealers who realized the damage being done to the brand.
At one point SVP moved some of the Sedish quality control team to China semi-permanatly to get the issues under control and quality did improve. Unfortunately it took over a year before the Viking factory in China got their act together.
To comment on some posts above: the SE had some huge problems with the tension and went through 3 or 4 part revisions before it was eliminated. If I remember right there was a grounding problem. The first SE tension assembly didn't ground the static build up anywhere. Who would have thought running lots of thread very quickly between two metal disks would cause static build up in electronic equipment. The immediate fix from viking was for techs to solder a peice of wire to the frame and tension assembly.
Not sure if this'll be seen by anyone but if so, I hope I added something interesting.

Charleen DiSante

Faintly Artistic (cool moniker) I am so glad someone finally mentioned a Daisy. It seemed like on one else had one. We bought it shortly after returning from overseas in 1998. I also have a Sapphire 960q and am hoping we can keep her going as well. Each time I would take the Dais in for servicing the tech would say "don't ever get rid of this one, she's a workhorse"
So if I understand it, Pfaff and Viking are all under the same company?

Charleen DiSante

Always good to have an 'inside' view. Thanks for sharing. What about current models? Is it time to switch to another brand?

newbee3

it does not matter what kind of machine you have if they are older it will be harder to get parts

Iona D.

I would like to do a general overview comment before I comment on each reply below individually. I am now in the market for Electronic devices to replace an ailing Chromebook soon and to buy my first Computerize Electronic sewing machine. I have chosen both devices to be bought on one simple basis-the 1 Decade rule of thumb. If my device of choice lasts at least one decade without servicing from the "professionals," I feel I have gotten my money's worth and move on from the older "junk" devices.

Disposable is the name of the game. I still believe in quality and as much as quality control as I can find out there. Especially for sewing machines. I favor mechanical ones over the computerized ones because I keep them up and service them myself. I don't name them or have a "relationship" with them. When the decade of ownership is almost up, I buy a new model and keep the old ones until they give out. It has worked well for me.

See what I mean?

The only thing worth fixing professionally are houses.

Our children don't have to wait. Landfills are everywhere.

How true. Although I noticed that cleaning and some adjustments are the things needed with my sewing machines over the years, not so much parts.

pocoellie

Tothill, our "newest" vehicle is a 2002 Yukon, with over 325,000 miles on it, still runs good. My "newest" and only computerized machine is at least 10 years old, with no problems whatsoever, but I have it serviced yearly.

bearisgray

Why do old(er) established brands (incuding Microsoft, Bernina, and Viking) release products that they know have serious issues?

Especially when they have "good/reliable/trusted" products available?

I would think that the damage done would cost the companies a lot more than any "profits" the company made from selling "poor quality" products.