crownd makes the point I always point out when purchasing equipment- your local dealer can make or break you. No matter how good a machine is, if the local dealer has no customer service, parts inventory, etc, your experience with the machine is going to be dreadful.

As far as foundries, the experience I've had is that the sand involved is a killer. It gets abolutely everywhere. I service a small brass foundry & they always buy a few year old unit & keep it going till the expensive parts start to go- then junk it & start the process all over again.