brother qc 1000 vs babylock espire?

I am trying to decide whether to buy the Brother Quilt Club 1000 or the Babylock Espire. My local Babylock dealer is much more expensive ($500) than the local Brother dealer, so if I buy from one of them it would be the Brother QC1000. There is a Babylock dealer 2 1/2 hours drive from my home, that would take my current broken machine as a trade-in, and therefore be the cheapest. My local dealers won’t consider a trade-in. What are the differences between the 2 machines? What about the repair record for the 2 models? The Babylock dealer says the quality control of the Espire is better, even though the machines are made at the same factory, and that there are some other differences between the 2 machines. The Brother dealer says there is no difference between the machines, that the distributor (Tacony) drives up the prices of the Babylocks. Does anyone know, or have experience with these machines? What about the repair record for each? Have there been problems with the Brother company? Will I regret the 2 1/2 hour drive each way for servicing the Babylock, if I buy from the far away dealer? Thanks, I want to make a good choice!
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I have the Brother QC 1000 and I really love it. It's quiet. It has a basting stitch that is fantastic. You can program it to open with the quilt menu or the sewing menu. Comes with lots of feet and sews like a dream. I can't say enough good things about this machine.
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