I have an "olde" Pfaff that I paid $10.00 for, in a huge nice cabinet.........its one of the best machines I own and I use it a lot..........(*and I have 13 machines)............I would definitely take the old one, and I would take it to another repair man, that one sounds like he is trying to steal from you............even if it does cost a few $$ to fix, it would be worth it, because they made such good machines and it belongs to your family members............if you don't want it, I would love to have it (and so would every one else on here)............