Scott--yes, Gammills love oil and if you leave your machine setting for too long you will get drips. Most of us "park" our machines at one end of the table and have bat or other absorbing material on the table to catch the drops. I've had my machine for 7 yrs and it was 7 years old when I bought it. The previous owner did tons of customer quilts and her husband was her maintenance tech--he also rehabs and builds cars from scratch--so very capable. It never has needed internal work. I did have to replace an electronic part in the electronic board (could not get the in-handle light to work) but Gammill tech's diagnosed on the phone, sent me the part and then walked me through the installation via phone. I've had it professionally maintained 2 times by a tech visit, but most other work I've done myself--replacing the rubber encoder wheels; replacing the actual carriage wheels, re-timing when I hit a ruler!; all the cleaning; resetting the needle bar height; flushing the grease build-up so that oil flows well; replaced motor belt--all things that are routine. I do all this on my own, using the Gammill maintenance videos.
there is a way on Gammill to check the # of use hours, but I can't remember now. If you go to their website you can access the manuals on the machines or just give them a call and ask--they are always helpful.