I've had a 5.5qt. Cuisinart mixer for a couple of years now, I bought
it because the people on this list scared me away from the new KAs
and I can't justify the expense of a more expensive mixer. I only
use it a couple of times a month for bread but more often for other
things. At one time last summer when it was extremely hot I found a
drop of oil in the bowl once or twice but nothing since then and it
doesn't seem to be leaking anywhere. This mixer works really well and
has the added benefit of a timer and also a fold button where it just
goes around the bowl for a second, really nice for folding in flour
or confectioners sugar! It's a little noisy but I guess the KAs are
too. The motor seems very strong and doesn't slow down when kneading
dough. If you could get this for free (lucky you!) I wouldn't
hesitate to get one. The only question would be which size you would
really need, if your batches of bread are multi-loaf size you may
want the 7 quart size.
Hope this helps!
Judi