I got my 8900 for $3,499 in Arizona July 2013. I also love my new machine.

any janome dealer is expected to do warranty repair regardless of where the machine was purchased.
this was confirmed for me, in person, by a company representative.
they might not want to, but if you insist they call the company they will find out they should.

one dealer would not be required to provide extras for free, such as routine service and maintenance, if the machine was purchased elsewhere. however, only a dummy would turn down a chance to provide those services for their standard fee just because the machine was not purchased in their shop.

figure out how far you are willing to drive for service and repairs.
the compare prices among every dealer you can find within that distance.
make sure they know you are comparing so they'll be more likely to offer you the best deal they can afford.

p.s. i absolutely love my 8900. i got it for "a song". i went to a major quilt show and bought one the machines they'd used for classes during the show. those machines come out of the box for the classes, so have only a few hours of well supervised use. but most dealers will sell them as used - deep discount - so they don't have to take them back to the shop. the only catch was that i had to wait until the last day of the show to pick it up.

I got mine (it was the demo) for $3000 out the door without a trade-in. The dealer also included some extra bobbins, the SID foot, and the double spool holder. I really love my 8900.

I went to the dealer an 1 1/2 hour away, because I liked them better. They also included free classes.

As far as not selling online, apparently there are some machines the dealers can't sell at a stated discount. I have seen machines where you have to call to get a price.

I paid $2500 for mine in January. It was a floor model with very little use. I absolutely love it!

PatriceJ, when I had an issue with my machine, I contacted Janome directly because I purchased my machine from a dealer 2 hours away. We have since moved and have 2 dealers about 10-15 minutes from the house so wondered about the warranty. Janome told me, in writing, that the local dealers would perform warranty service on the machine for free but they were allowed to charge for their labor. Therefore, I would have to pay something for any warranty work that I had done.

I agree and totally understand what you are saying. It was so frustrating for me.

Thank you everyone for your feedback on this. I did shop around and ended up getting a new in the box machine with no trade-in out the door for $3,000. The deal also included several extra feet, some material, a lot of thread and a pair of nice scissors. The dealer also talked my husband through on how to fix my Viking machine. I'm happy!

What I have learned from this experience: I was surprised at how hard it was to find a benchmark price for this machine so I could have an idea on what was a fair price; how much variance there was on what dealers were offering and what others had paid (over $1,000 spread); this machine under an agreement by Janome can not be sold on-line which could also impact that no prices are listed on line for this machine.

Quilting Board is such a wonderful resource and I am so grateful for all the help I get from others on this board. Hopefully this thread will also help others in their shopping process.

[QUOTE=KalamaQuilts;6731527]with a trade in you will get a better deal
QUOTE]

KalamaQuilts,
I'm not so sure about that.....

I have purchased two sewing machines where I had a trade in available. First I talked to "my" dealer and asked what he could do pricewise. Then I looked at Patternreview.com, on the Yahoo group that is for the machine in question to see if the pricess were discussed, next I called dealers close enough to drive to and told them the price I found online and asked if they would match it. In both cases I found a dealer within 100 miles that would.

Then I went back to my dealer and gave him a new offer -- best price I could find with no trade in. It worked. Now I have a machine to sell, but I got a lower price and kept my old machine.

I think of it like buying a car -- they have to make a profit, but trade in's skew what you are really paying.

I joined this forum to add information on my search for the MC 8900. My wife needs a new machine and this is what she likes so I started my search to find the best price - what an experience.

First off, read this from a dealer as it will explain a lot:
http://blog.tv-sewingcenter.com/jano...wing-machines/

I called a couple of local dealers(Kitchener, Ontario) and got a quoted price of $3800.00. I found another thread in this forum where several people purchased the MC8900 from a dealer in Florida for $2000.00 to 2250.00 last fall ( I don't know who the dealer in Florida is). I called back the local dealers and asked their best price which was $2499.99. One of them came right out and said she cannot change the price, but can throw in a couple of extras. I just got a phone message that if I buy the machine, the $113.00 repair on her old one will be free.

I'll still call some more dealers to try to confirm the price of $2500.00, but I don't think I will find a much lower price here in Ontario.

$2500.00 is a good price -- just make sure it includes both of the Even feed feet. The description of the machine stated both feet were a part of the deal, but I only received one. The dealer was great about getting one sent out right away. The dealer in Florida is the one who got dinged by Janome for shipping out of state--that is where I purchased my machine.