All I want for Christmas ... or my need for needy machines

Picture from www.singer500a.info

All I want for Christmas is a Singer 500a Rocketeer with all accessories. I dream of boxes of little cams (which, unlike my accessories for my Bernette and White ATS2000 I will NOT loose within the first month), a dozen precious little feet, and a buttonhole attachment that makes perfect buttonholes each and every time. A girl can dream, right?

So I've been scouring ebay, craigslist, and various other sites for ones to suggest to my parents as my possible Christmas present. So I've been looking. And looking.

And realizing something rather disturbing about myself. You know how some women seem to pick disfunctional guys over and over again? I'm like that with sewing machines. Inevitably I'll find a listing for a machine, fall a little bit in love with it, and momentarily ignore things like "this machine doesn't actually have a motor" or "the needle doesn't move" or, well, little things like that. I think "oh, I can fix that!" and flag the machine (which is never a Singer Rocketeer - probably the only thing that's saved me from buying them outright) as a possibility. While, yes, I do actually need a machine, I don't need one with any issues of any sort. I already have three sewing machines and one serger, each with issues. That's why I need another machine. The Bernette has bobbin case issues that I can't fix and needs a visit to the "local" dealer 45 minutes away. The Viking has motor issues that probably require a new motor despite the last repair guy saying that that particular model has such fatal flaws with the cams that I should just put her out of her misery. The Kenmore, which was aparently a lemon of a model, is out of time and takes almost a complete disassembly to fix. Which I've done. Four times. And it's still off. Same repair person said not to bother, the machine isn't worth the repair cost.

So you see why I need a new machine, one that actually works and DOESN'T come with it's own subscription of issues. So why, as I shop, am I so drawn to machines missing fairly important parts or that "only need some oil and a little work done" (i.e. they don't form a stitch and I have no idea why so someone else deal with this thing) or that need a complete and total overhaul? Why can't I fall in love with a fully functioning machine? Sigh.

Back to look at the listings. And if you know another good place to look for machines (besides local SM repair places - I'm on that) I'd love to hear!