If I would buy an embroidery machine online e.g. a Brother, would a Brother dealer in my area have to honor the warranty? Or must the machine be bought from the dealer?

A local dealer "should" be able to help you. You can call them and ask, because if you call Brother they will refer you first to a local Brother service center.

I bought my machine online, and as long as I take it to a registered Singer service/repair center for maintenance and repairs, my warranty is good.

They should warranty it, but I would probably call and ask just to be on the safe side.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your feedback!

I would call Brother and ask them!

I hate to disagree, but I will.... You will probably find a dealer that will honor warranty work, but it will be a real hassle. Local dealers make no money performing warranty labor. They make their $ selling you the machine. So, when you buy something online for a few bucks cheaper, the little guy next door suffers. For that reason the little guy can be a tad hesitant to take in warranty work(no profit) unless you're prepared to buy something from him to make it worth his time. Or potentially he can make a good customer out of you and have repeat business from you.

They will likely do yearly servicing as this isn't warranty work and they'll make a profit.

The shops online sell you machines cheaper because they have no store fronts or costs to operate a business. And they don't support you when something goes wrong with your machines. Poor little guy next door is expected to step in, pick up the pieces and fix it. So, expect an "attitude" from some dealers about this. And IMHO rightly so...

Contact Bother...if it is warranty work, they will issue a letter authorizing the repair at your regional service center.

Without the letter, you may have a problem with a dealer, as they are doing "free labor".