I got my Brother 1043D serger refurbished and I have had no
complaints at all. I do use it pretty regularly on non quilt things

When I bought my Husqvarna sewing/embroidery machine it was the floor model. It saved me well over $500.00 and it came with a full warranty. So my questions are, what is the age of the refurbished machine? Is it really a trade-in and a repaired machine? Why not have a full warranty? My machine has been running great, and in three years I took it in once for routine maintenance.

Remember refurbished does not always mean there was something wrong with it.it could just be a machine that was returned and it gets sent back to the factory to be checked over before being sold again. Check the policy of where you are buying for their definition. Some online sites are very upfront about the machines they sell as refurbished

I bought a refurbished sewing machine from Brother and it's been great!! I put a lot of quilts through that machine and now it's my travel machine as it has a smaller harp area than my new NX-2000. I still love my refurbished machine though. It works great! Refurbished means it's been purchased by someone, they either decided they didn't like it or it had a problem, so the company took it back and fixed everything back to factory specs. I would buy another refurbished machine in a heartbeat!!

One of my low end brothers is refurbished have had no issues

I guess this doesn't exactly answer your question, but I did buy my Pfaff 2134 from the shop where I had taken my beginner quilting class. It was a demonstration machine and used for classes, plus that model was being discontinued. So I felt like I got a good buy on a really nice machine from a shop that I trust. That was about 8 years ago and I still like my Pfaff! It has been back to that shop once for a repair which turned out to be only a good cleaning. That said, to me, it was still not a cheap machine.

My husband purchased a refurbished Brother SE 270D for me from Overstock.com in 2006. It was my "daily driver" for several years, and even now it's the one I pull out when I need a buttonhole or some kind of decorative stitch.

I own 2 Singers, a Pfaff, 2 Brothers, and 2 Janomes, for a total of 7 machines. Only 2 of them were brand-new when I got my hands on them.

What about purchasing a floor model from a LQS? I purchased a floor model Janome about 4 years ago and have never had a problem with it. The shop owner gave me a good $$ deal, all accessories (including a walking foot), factory warranty and a $20 gift certificate to use in her shop!
Never hurts to ask...

I agree. Getting to know the dealer and his/her understanding of the brand makes a huge difference. I bought a new Janome from a dealer who has repaired a sewing machine as well as a vacuum for me, and he gave me a 30 year warranty...probably won't live that long.

I purchased my Janome 6600 as a trade in from a dealer. It was less than one year old. Love my machine.