Originally Posted by
Shelbie
I have the Janome 6500 and it has been the most expensive machine that I have ever bought and the one that I have not liked! I'm sure that I got the one made at ten to five just before a long weekend. It's had a lot of problems and so have I. I definitely have had a love/hate relationship with this machine. There are some features that I really like, needle up-down, needle threader and thread cutter. I haven't liked the feed dogs (set in at an angle and have never fed fabric in correctly), bobbin case that rattles and bangs unless you oil the oil wick under it, a machine that veers off at any seam junction, dislikes thicker fabric and growls and sometimes jams or knots up for no particular reason and all of these problems were caused by "operator error" according to my dealer. I never want another Janome and am presently looking at the Juki Exceed 600 and the Juki TL2010Q. I could buy both of these machines for what I paid for my Janome 6500. I really think that there are no perfect machines out there. It's just a matter of finding (hard to do) the best one for you and a dealer that is willing and able to work with you to resolve any problems.
I am sorry for your problems but I am glad to know I am not the only one that got a lemon. I have a 6600P it has already had to have a new mother board put in it is 1 1/2 years old. Took 6 weeks to get that done. It will only sew with expensive thread. I called Janome when I was having trouble getting service in my area and they could have cared less. I had heard all the good things about Janome so that is why I bought one. Right now it keeps coming unthreaded all the time. It was making a scraping noise I called the service person and she said to rub oil around the bobbin holder. It works fine, but I have to keep oiling it and I thought you weren't supposed to do that to these machines. When it works it's a great machine, but make sure you have a reliable dealer in your area. I sold my Viking that I had had for 16 years that worked fine just wanted a newer machine a week before I started having problems I could kick myself for doing that. No more Janome's for me.