mjpEncinitas

I was at Road to Ca this week (dangerous) and took a class using the Sweet Sixteen machine. The machine was wonderful and I got 6 hours on the machine.

The cost to buy a road machine was too much and I am now looking at used machines.

The sixteen dealers were wonderful, when I told them that it was out of my reach. One dealer is going to try to connect me with one of his customers who is selling hers. He is familiar with the machine. 4 year old model but probably with all the bells and whistles $3500, Low usage. She owns a longarm too. Price at show for class models $5200. I have also seen two machines within 2 hours driving distance of me that are in the $4000, price range. These would be sales with private parties but I would be able to try out the machines.

I also tried a George, very, very nice. It seemed a little better made. The dealer had a floor model that he has used in his shop for demos for 3 years. Right now company will only give 1 year warranty. I told him if they would consider a lifetime warranty call me. $5500 not the newest model but close enough that he uses it for demos.

What do you think?
Any hints on buying/testing a sit down machine?
Pros/Cons of each of these machines? I welcome the comments of the Sweet Sixteen users, especially about if you miss the upgrades the new machines have.

If you have a George please comment, there are a lot fewer of you. Is it worth an extra $2000?

Please give me the Good, The Bad and the Ugly! service for used machines not purchased from a dealer would be especially helpful.

Thank you,
Mary Jo

luvspaper

Love my Sweet Sixteen and that is what I paid5 years ago for a slightly used one and she has been a dream...i don't have the stitch regulator etc and don't regret it

I know nothing about George

Kwiltr

I have a Sweet 16. I bought it used with 13,000 stitches on it, so basically new. It does not have all the new features or stitch regulator. Quite honestly, I don't love the witch regulator they offer for that machine and once I got more adept at using the machine, my stitching looked pretty good without it. I now have over 5 Million stitches on it. It wasn't a smooth path to where the machine is today. I had a few issues with it. HQ was pretty helpful to me in getting things resolved here and there, but being in Canada, it was difficult to get local knowledgeable assistance. When APQS marked down the pricing on their Lenni, I couldn't resist and went to the longarm set up. I still have my Sweet 16 as I haven't decided whether I want to sell it or not. However, I have to say, I love having stitch regulation on the Lenni, but it's not a fair comparison to the 16. I don't know if George comes with stitch regulation, but I have to say, my Lenni has been fantastic out of the box. Not so,etching I can say about my 16. And if you can get the Lifetime warranty from APQS and their service, I think it would be hard to beat. Plus the dealer network for APQS in Canada is way ahead of HQ IMHO, a huge plus for me personally. I don't miss or see a huge value in the upgrades HQ has added since my machine came out, which I think is about 5-6 yrs old, except the hopping foot conversion kit and couching feet.

mjpEncinitas

Thanks Kwiltr

and luvspaper
I've talked to the owner of the HandiQuilter Sweet Sixteen and can go look at that next Sunday. The other Sweet sixteens I've considered are more expensive and have more stitches on them. Do you take you Sweet Sixteen in each year to get it oiled? Not the bobbin area but the other parts of the machine. The dealer told me the maintenance people could buy a kit with 8 different oils and a diagram of where each of them go. Does it need maintenance each year?

liking quilting

I bought my Sweet 16 earlier this month and am having a ball with it. Will be curious to see what other's say about how often they have it serviced. Learning to adjust the tension has taken a little bit, but not so much that it discouraged me. We bought it privately, and the purchase price included a hydraulic lift cabinet table. This machine & table were 2 yrs. old, very low number of stitches, and cost me $4,000. Good luck and enjoy your's!

Kwiltr

I've taken mine in each year for maintenance.

MadQuilter

There's an HQ group you could join too. Handiquilter is a great company. Sorry - don't know much about the George.

I am hoping to take a retreat at HQ this summer for the Sweet 16.