I, too, have an older Pfaff (7550) made in Germany and love it. Sorry the new one is not working well. I just bought a Bernina 449QE, it's great also and made in Switzerland. Much better than the China ones, in my opinion.

I had always heard Pfaff’s were wonderful quality machines so I bought one. I don’t remember which model it was. It didn’t do embroidery but had a lot of stitches. I wanted it for the IDT. It lasted 2 years and then the computer went out. I never had magnets in the sewing room and always unplugged it when I was out of the room. After that I heard that since Pfaff was under new ownership they aren’t what they used to be.

I bought the Expression 4.0 last September and it drove me crazy. It was the 4th Pfaff I purchased and I LOVE the older ones!! It would NOT FMQ without breaking thread, skipping stitches, and the tension was never right. Took it back to the store for the 4th time and told them to keep it. After much discussion I upgraded to the Creative 4.0 and had the same problems so in less than a month I took it back. The store gave me store credit for the Expression and my money back for the upgrade to the Creative. I have lost confidence in the newer Pfaffs but I absolutely LOVE the older ones. I still have one and would not get rid of it for anything but I will not buy a newer one. The store offered me the Smarter but it doesn't FMQ, the feed dogs don't drop and there's not a foot for that, just didn't like the features.

I bought a Janome 6600 and love it. It took some experimenting to adjust it to what works for me but I really like it and the throat is 9" wide, which is why I wanted the Expression 4.0 Pfaff.

Good luck to you.

I have a Pfaff quilt expression. When it works it's a lovely machine and once you've gotten used to it, you don't want to sew on another. The problem is, it's not a reliable machine.

I've had repeated problems with the tension: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-131841-1.htm

I have the 4.0. I have used it almost daily for over a year and I love it. it has never given me a bit of trouble.

I love the sensormatic feature for FMQ.

I bought the Janome 6600 and agree that the accufeed foot is bulky but I played around with the needle position until I found what works for me and put some blue tape on the bobbin cover for a fabric guide to get the 1/4" seam. I trimmed the blue tape to the edges of the bobbin cover so it doesn't interfer with bobbin replacement.

I own Singers, Kenmores and Janomes, so I can't speak with certainty about Pfaff. However, I have a friend in another town who spent half her sewing life taking the machine back and forth to the dealer trying to get its troubles straightened out.

And even though I am "a rich retired school teacher" I wouldn't think of spending $1,500 on a sewing machine unless it could cut out the patterns for me!

My main machine now is a Pfaff 1475 CD. I recently had it serviced, and it runs like a dream. I have had the machine for quite a while, but still have not used all the bells and whistles. I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who sewed on a Pfaff. I hardly heard mention of it on the quilting board.
I'm sorry to hear that you have had so many problems with your machine. Maybe you can spend a day with the dealership, so that they can see the problems that you are having with the machine, if they are willing to do so. It might be worth the time spent, especially since you live so far from the dealership.

Yes I have the Pfaff Expressions 4. I've had numerous problems with mine. I bought this machine for a lot of the bells and whistles. Can't use the auto thread cutter because it gets stuck half way (dealer told me to get used to it because it was going to happen a lot), can't use the needle threader (can't get the wire loop to go thru the needle), have to constantly re-thread top thread and re-insert the bobbin. When I try to find the solution to a problem I'm having and the so-called "manual" is pretty much worthless. I have probably over 50 spools of Gutermann thread (made in Germany) that do not work well in my machine. Just used my first spool of Mettler metrosene plus thread that seems to be working better. I've had my machine for 2 1/2 yrs and still feel uncomfortable with it.

I have a Pfaff Tiptronic 2030 made in Germany for almost 10 yrs and love it. I bought a Creative 2.0 just recently and I am getting used to it. Not 100% comfortable but I think I will love it.