Perfect for mothers Day! Elna sewing machines are swiss Taiwan made and excellent quality. For those who are looking for a higher tec machine than the previous pfaff deal.
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Other notables:
Elna used to be European made, but then it was bought by Janome, and many if not all Elna sewing machines are now rebadged Janome sewing machines produced in Janome factories. However, Elna's logo says "Elna Swiss Design", so I'm really not sure how that works to put the "Elna Swiss Design" logo on rebadged Janomes. According to Wikipedia, "Janome Sewing Machine Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese company that produces sewing machines, with manufacturing plants in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand." Therefore, this model is not made in Switzerland.
I remember seeing this exact sewing machine under the Janome branding at Costco. I cannot remember the price though.
Found a page for Spotlight that confirms "Country of Origin - Made in Taiwan"
http://www.spotlightstores.com/sewing/sewing-equipment/sewin…
Taiwan is actually fairly good, higher wages than Australia, and excellent quality control ……
@garage sale: Yes, I agree. Taiwan has better steel mills, which explains in general why their machinery is a bit better quality than Made in China… But we're just talking about the incorrect point that the OP made, "Elna sewing machines are swiss made".
I have a brother sewing machine and all the staff in spotlight I go to reccomend brother. They use it in their classes and it does not get returned with problems. My mum needs a new sewing machine so this is tempting.
Supposedly, Elna has a five year warranty, although this model is not listed on the Elna website, even under "previous models" http://www.elna.com/en-au/models_sewing.php. Maybe parts would be more difficult to locate, but realistically who will pay to get a >5 year old $299 sewing machine repaired?
I've got a $299 brother, and when it dies I will more than likely get new rather than repairs …. unless I can get the parts and do it myself.
The Brother warranty is around 3 years, but the PR series only gets a 1 year warranty.
Ask a local sewing mechanic are they any good…..Current era you don't get them fixed just throw them out..
I have one bad experience with singer.
I bought a new machine in Feb. broke down within one month. Spotlight sent it to singer to be repaired. after a month they sent a new machine back to spotlight. When I went to collect it was a different very inferior model! Spotlight guy rang them and they said they don't make the model anymore and would take months to repair as they don't have parts and would need to order from USA.
Spotlight staff were nice and said I could just choose any other machine in shop and he reccomended brother. Got the brother NS35.
I would never buy a singer. Had such a bad experience. It's not the same quality as in my mums days. Company was bought out and now producing bad quality machines
Nothing says "happy mothers day" like a discounted appliance. ;-)
FYI This model is made in Taiwan I think.