I have had my Janome almost 20 years and never had any problems. I clean the lint out regularly . I have 3 other janomes that are newer but never had a problem with them either.

I use my 6600 on a nearly daily basis for much of the year - zero troubles. Not even after I turned my (then) 8 year old niece loose with the machine for several days in a row. I had to fish broken needle bits out of the bobbin area, but even with all of her well-intentioned abuse the machine was just fine. LOVE that thing!

The very first sewing machine I bought for myself in the 90's was a very inexpensive Kenmore made by Janome. I abused that poor machine for many years, never took care of it properly, never cleaned or oiled it (all out of ignorance), sewed things with it it was never designed to sew through, broke countless needles doing stupid stuff like yanking the fabric...and that "cheap" machine STILL works just fine!

As far as I can tell, Janomes are bulletproof!

There's always a chance you'll get a dud, but I'm a big fan of the Janome brand and I feel very confident in their quality. If my 6600 ever perishes I'll be buying another one the next morning!

I have the 8200. I bought it the end of January 2016. I love this machine. I have not had any problems with it. I February 2015, I bought a Bernina 1008, very close to the old 930. My 930 literally died. It locked up. We were in the Bernina store and my husband go ahead and get it. I told him I could wait another week or two, until we could go to the Janome store. He said, no get it. Well I did. Had I waited the 2 weeks, I would never have bought the Bernina. But the way it is, I have a Bernina that I piece on and the Janome 8200, that I quilt on. I just finished quilting a king size quilt and had no problems. It was pretty densely quilted. I used about 25 bobbins. Oh, by the way, I am teaching myself, (Via U-tube) and am having a ball. I have quilted at least 4 large quilts and lots of small stuff. I have never figured out how to post pictures. There is a picture of the last 2 I quilted on face book. Go to Material Girls face book page. One is blues, the king size and the other one is Star Trek. Good luck with your new 8200. Hugs, have a great day. Kay

I'm sorry that she told you Janomes needed more repair... I purchased my Janome 6600 in 2010 and have only taken it in for cleaning. I love how sturdy and dependable it is, in fact, I liked Janome so much, I purchased an 8900 for the larger throat space. : )

I also chose the brand because I have a local dealer and great service. I would not ever hesitate to buy a Janome machine.

I also own two Janomes....one that must be 12 years old now (1 service on it) and my newest is the Memory Craft 6500.
I bought the 6500 for the large throat space for quilting.....it has too many decorative stitches that I will never use, but I love the quilting stitches!

I have not had any problems with my Janome 8900 and have had it for nearly 3 years now. I sew with it every day so it already has a lot of mileage on it. I clean it regularly and get it tuned up about every 18 months or so. I love it.

I have a Janome 7700 and it has never needed repairs, only maintenance. I absolutely love my Janome

I have the Janome 7700 and the 6019 plus 2 Brother embroidery machines. All are wonderful machines.

I agree with zennia. Have had my Janome 9000 OVER 20 years, and it still runs great - I had one problem with the auto threader that was OPERATOR ERROR (grin). Other than that a great machine. That being said, I have a Brother that I love for just embroidery, and two Babylocks! And never a problem with any of them other than operator error (again). Today's machines are great - so you should just try out both and buy the one you love!

Absolutlly agree !!!!!!!