I would not spend too much time or money on the old Brother machine, at most an easy DIY parts replacement if possible. The advantage with your old brother is the stretchy stitches, but it is a noisy model. The Singer model 7285Q is no luxury either, but it's better than nothing. It has a high presser foot lift, that is at least something. If you like vintage there are models worth investing in. I don't know how many auto functions you are looking for, the older machines generally have less stretchy stitches, auto threading, auto cutting,...
The good new models I find worth it are quite expensive, I have not justified the cost for my use. I don't sew that much and my projects don't require much auto functions. I have good but simple machines, an old cast iron straight stitcher (Singer 201, a Bernina 730 free arm and an Elna Supermatic for a bit of stretchy stitches). I get most things done and I don't miss much. Not much tempt me among the more affordable new models, the old have a few advantages.
A good sewing machine doesn't have to be a big investment. All the so called lubrication free models need quite a bit of attention and oil by this time, services need to be kept up. Most models older than 5 years are probably in dire need of service. The older models are easy to maintain this way. I don't know where you are in Europe, I guess UK still haven't made it's exit yet. There should be plenty of good and affordable used models just about anywhere in western Europe. If you do abit of search and make a list of requirements, I can proimes some of the vintage machines are top notch by any standard even in 2019.
Last edited by Mickey2; 11-03-2019 at 01:35 PM.