The only problem I see is that you only have one shop near you and for servicing you should buy from them.
How can you get help or instructions if there is not a place near you to get it fixed if something goes wrong.
Has anyone else had this problem?

when i last saw it, last year at a show, no. they have come out with a new one, the ainsley, with a 26" throat. the ainsley is fully packed and runs by itself. way expensive. they can computerize the lizzie 18 one but it doubles the price of a new one. pm me for prices.

I had to go to drop off my 9000 for service and saw the Ansley. Wow. No one was there that could give me a demo, though. Rather frustrating again! I guess one of the partners of Tin Lizzy/Ansley will be giving a demo one night in Feb. and they told me I could see about going to that. It's tough trying to buy one of these machines. LOL. Of course, I have a year to ponder it and it's probably good I don't get overly excited now;>

the best advice i can give anyone is this: if you can go to any big show, do it. the major makers are there, all vying for your money. they all beg you to try their machines. of course they want to sell you the top end one, but you don't have to.
just keep trying them all out. go around as often as you like. let them all know you're looking at all the others. ask them what they'll give you in addition to the machine you want. free. i got 100 extra needles, 30 extra bobbins and no sales tax. plus, we bargained on the price. and he came down. a good haul. also, because i bought right at the show, there was no middleman, so the price was the best to begin with. i took my time and shopped around for a year, trying out every machine i saw. be nice, but be professional. get your money's worth.
get forever tech help, online or on toll-free phone.

Last year it was at Some convention center in Kansas City MO. It is called the International Machine Quilters Show

http://www.imqa.org/

you can also find the major manufacturers at the large quilt shows. they have reps everywhere.

i kinda agree with rose marie. there's such a thing as service after the sale. i bought a tin lizzie 18 and so far i like it but not very good at it yet, i need lots more practice. just got it after Christmas. have lots of questions - i bought it from my lqs, the owner's brother is the one that knows about it, he is the repair man for all machines, he set it up for me. i've watched the dvd that came with it several times, there seems to be a lot to learn - then try to remember what u learned, lol. i'm looking forward to the day when it's second nature to me. it's a lot of work to just load it up, that's harder than actually quilting it.

This is definitely true if you're buying a sewing machine, but not so much with a longarm. For one thing, there aren't a lot of longarm dealers, and the dealers for any brand are pretty spread out. Longarms usually don't need as much servicing as a sewing machine. They are built to last.

well, i'm glad to hear that about the longarm being built to last. as much as they all cost, they sure do need to last - a lifetime.
donna

Exactly! Finding a dealer is one thing, then them having someone on staff who actually knows how to demo the thing is another story. I would much prefer to buy local for support as Rose said. But, it looks like that's not going to happen.