We (my husband and I)refurbish vintage machines. There is both charm and durability in the older machines. They were made with quality materials and quality workmanship.
Parts are readily available from those that are not repairable so it's not as if they break they are done. Due to their contruction they have a great deal fewer failure points then the more modern ones. All the way up through the 500 hundred series(singer) were made well. After that the fashion mates, 600s etc drastically dropped in quality. Stitch quality on the older machines is often better then the new- I personally have sewn on several hundred, new, used and vintage and am continually impressed with the consistant quality of stitch output of the older machines. Their goal was to produce good machines that could handle most any project thrown at them. Now machines are made as throw aways- depending on how much you wish to throw away is what you look at. Unless you absolutely need bells an whistles , an older machine actually will serve you longer so your output for initial price and repairs is less. If you are looking for one be make sure the seller is reputable and will stand behind their work. Many of our customers are ones who are gun shy because they have gotten burned both in new and used machine buying. Older Singers, Pfaff, Necchi, Husquvarna/Viking, Elna are great. some of the older Japanese makes are laso very good and if you are a quilter looking for easy manuverabilty for swirling free hand they tend to glide easier. Check around andtry them out.