Singer Quantum L-500 Machine
 

If you own one tell me the pro's and con's of it.

It supposedly retails for between $1600-1900 however I am seeing it for alot less at some places on line for as low as $700 refurbished with Singer 25 year warranty and another 5 year care package from the dealer.

What is the highest you would pay for it "new" or "refurbished".

I have one and love it! I've had it about a year. Paid about $799 from HSN on special for "5 easy payments;)". One pro for me is the larger harp space. One con is the "automatic needle threader" is not as easy as my Brother machines.

I have automatic needle threaders on all my machines and don't use them. I can thread my needle in a second or two and still haven't had success with those needle threaders. So that is not high on my list of options.

I also have had mine for about a year and I love it!!! Has built in walking foot!!!! Wider feed dogs are great, too! Tons of extra stitches--that I have hardly used--but they are there 'in case'!!!!
I don't know about 'refurbished'--who did the refurbishing and what did they refurbish???
Good luck in choosing which way to go!!!

Sorry to be the naysayer here, but I have owned one since January 2010 and have had nothing but problems. It has been sent back to Singer twice already (to Tennessee, because there is no service center anywhere around me). I have posted here in the past about the problems I've had with the machine. I would be extremely cautious about the L-500. I've owned Singers most of my sewing life, but this one is a huge disappointment.

Because it's a new Singer and not a vintage Singer, I wouldn't pay more than a few dollars for it.

I'd be careful about buying the refurbished machine. I've heard some horror stories about them.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a new Singer or even a "newish" Singer.

Singers
 

To each his own I guess! I have never had bad luck with Singers. Nor has anyone else I know that believes in these machines.

It's like any other company once in a while there is a "lemon" and reason there are "lemon laws" to protect the consumer.

I have also had Brothers and those did not hold up as good as Singers. I have had Janome and used it no more than a dozen times in a year and right now having problems with feeders g ooing up.

Every company has it's good points and bad points and we as consumers really must learn what it is we want out of a machine no matter if a car, sewing machine or computer and buy accordingly and we should all be smart enough to test drive them before buying however that is not to say we still might not get a lemon.

All these machines come with warranties, extended warranties and more so if we have a problem simply take it back or send it back where you got it from to be fixed and/or get a replacement one.

As for "refurbished" there again one must read what it really means and although on the top of our heads we think it means a machine had something wrong and they fixed it and selling it at a lower price isn't necessarily so. Many company often get overstocked with an item and because of the rules of being able to take a loss they sell it to secondary markets as refurbished so that retailer can sell it at a much lower price and still make money, and the company can take a loss on it tax wise. Also going that route you can end up as a consumer with a brand spanking new product at a much lower price and it be identical in all manners as the high priced one being sold elsewhere.

I finally made my decision late last night after researching this machine for 3 days, reading reviews, checking out retailers who sell it high end, checking out retailers who get these machines under the umbrella "refurbished" which are actually refurbished or brand spanking new being sold in that category.

After doing much research I decided with InternetSalesUSA and got it for an even cheaper price of $738 instead of the $769, $798, $999, $1400 on up price.

The company has super great feedback as to how they deal with customers and type customer service they give and they absolutely stand by there products besides the company like Singer and such and there guarantees with them as well.

For the price and the high recommendations and high ratio of customer satisfaction I felt it was worth the risk of $738. They also stand behind working with you to learn your machines and/or products and teach you what you need to know to get you up and running.

IMHO because of the laws protecting consumers regarding any product and my researching a retailer out before purchasing and the warranties and guarantees that come with it I feel quite comfortable in dealing with them.

Like I said I've never bought a Singer that I couldn't start using right out of the box with little problems of setting it up and if I did just as with any other product I purchased weather a car, a computer, etc. if something would go wrong that is what the warranty is for and lemon laws that protect us as consumers.

My paying the $738 sure beats taking the risk than paying $999 or $1200 or as much as $1700 for that machine.

If you feel you have a lemon with a product simply take it back to where you purchased it or contact the company whose brand it is.

All I can say to your posting is GOOD LUCK to you. I really hope you don't get the junky product so many people complain of in the new Singer machines. I also hope you BEST WISHES in not having to mail your machine and eat the cost of this to cover warranty work. And of course, the hope that you will never want to trade it in because 90% of sewing machine dealers will not take it as a trade in or give you pennies on the dollar for it.

"Simply taking it in for a new one" is not as easy as you say, since you will likely have to mail it away and absorb shipping costs. Nope, I'd rather buy a machine that holds it value and has a good reputation. Like I said, good luck on your decision.

I don't have to worry to eat up any cost of shipping if it had to be returned. It's a good warranty and company pays for return if that happens.

Like I said every company has a lemon now and again and reason there are lemon laws protecting consumer.

As far as Singer goes like I said I've never gotten a bad one. Previous one I purchased was several months ago which is the computerized featherweight and that machine is a good little workhorse.

Companies that stand behind there products will always have customers and Singer stands behind its products.

A good example of another company that stands behind it's protect is Keurig, coffee makers. I purchased my first one in late 2009 and they were out of stock and didn't get it until early 2010. Eight months later I had to call them because machine stopped functioning like it should. They replaced it at no cost to me because it still was under warranty. While waiting for it I purchased a cheaper priced one (Keurig) in a local store. Now I had two of them.

I put up the second one when the replacement came in. Well about seven months later I had problems again with the replacement they sent. They went and replaced that one with no problems. Now I have a 3rd replacement, same model, but an upgrade from previous two and works much better. What happened was they had a batch of a particular model that had some sort of heating problem and would go out a few months after being used. Yes they lost money I'm sure replacing these but the point is they made good on it because of there warranty and customer service.

Singer is very much like that. If you have a problem they will fix it. And key is no matter what retailer you choose to do business with that is an authorized dealer IF YOU TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK THEM OUT as to what they will do for you if something does go wrong you won't have a problem getting a replacement.

Singer authorized dealers just like any other sewing machine authorized dealer unfortunately are not all honest and do not follow through with even the company they represent guarantee's and hence the reason customers who end up choosing a deadbeat authorized dealer get the sham.

We should not buy a machine from any authorized dealer unless we have checked out there references by asking them for some. If they won't or can't provide references than we should not do business with them.

We have to use common sense when we decide to make purchases. First off is the brand you are considering reputable in following through with there warranties if something goes wrong. Is the authorized retailer reputable in following through with his companies warranties and guarantees. If one or the other or both are not reputable than we should not do business with them.

It is hoped for instance that one would not get just any real estate agent to help them buy or sell there home. They first would check out the reputation of that sales agent and the company he/she represents. If both have a good reputation than of course one would choose them and if one or both are not reputable than we wouldn't.

Same goes in choosing a bank to do business with. We would not put our money in a bank that we first did not check out how reputable the employees, owners of that bank is now would we? Of course we would not.

Same goes for sewing/quilting machines. No matter what brand we decide on we would not it is hoped do business with an authorized dealer and the company it represents if they didn't follow through with their warranties and guarantees.

Lets just all agree to disagree with any brand we may not care for or like simply because there is room for all types of customers to sell to who want a Janome, Singer, Brother, Elna, etc.

To summarize when deciding to buy a product 1) find out what it is you want the product to do; 2) once you do check out the brand name company and it's reputation; 3) check out the authorized dealer; 4) check out warranties and guarantees. If satisfied do business with them and if something goes wrong contact them and they will take care of it if they are reputable.

If we do all of that get reputable brands an reputable authorized dealers we will never be dissatisfied if they take care of there customers.

I am not at all concerned about the product I just purchased. If I should get a "lemon", oh well, no bid deal. I'll just contact the authorized retailer and work with them to get it replaced. We have laws as consumers in this country that protects us against companies and authorized dealers that don't follow through. There is also the Better Business Bureau and the court system if they don't follow through on there warranties and guarantees.

I have had great luck with my Singers. I have a Brother and prefer my Singer! I guess its a personal choice, and whatever works best for you personally. I got my early Christmas present, a Singer embroidery machine, and I love it!

I already have a Singer embroidery machine, the Futura SES 2000 All-In-One, which I purchased on HSN back in
2009. Love, love, love it. It sews, cross-stitches, auto-punch, photo-stitch, embroiders and supposedly serger feature as well although I have not used that feature. I don't sew on it much either simply because you can't use the start/stop button but a foot pedal for sewing. Anyway I mainly had selected it to do all the other stuff such as embroidery, photo-stitching and such.

I've been eyeing the Singer Professional 5 Serger for several months now and probably will end up getting that in a few months. Been waiting for price to come down on it and although it has quite a bit I'm still looking to save even more dollars. I did research on this one as well and compared it with other Sergers and it seems to be the fit for me. I also want to make sure that I just can't live without it before I buy it.