Here's one for you. I have owned a Janome 9500 for around 5 years and only recently started having difficulty with it. Took it to my local dealer (50 miles away) and they said I needed a new mother board for big $$$. Called the shop where I purchased it, found out it was still warranted and got the repairs done there. Didn't touch it for 3 months and had similar problems again. Took it back (120 miles away) and found out I had the wrong bobbin and it wasn't threaded correctly! Did get a nice lunch out with my husband while waiting for the "repairs" to be done, though.