Been keeping my eyes peeled for a while, and I finally managed to get myself a Kitchenaid mixer. Quite difficult to find good value used units anywhere in Australia outside of the major cities. Found the pictured 2009 Artisan in good condition for 247 dollarydoos, which I think is a good price for non-metro Australia. It's only the second used Kitchenaid I can remember seeing for sale in my area in recent memory... and the other one was way overpriced from a seller that didn't seem to want me to plug it in before I bought it.
Since buying it, I've done a deep dive into the servicing, repair and DIY accessory rabbit hole online. I've been loving MrMixer's servicing and repair videos, as he really shows how long lasting and repairable these things are. I've also been watching Dean Doherty's repairs and exploring the weird world of home-made low-load front hub attachments (the front hub is the main reason I've wanted one of these). Been thinking of fabricating a few accessories myself...
I've also run into some weird KA related stuff, including a video that claims that all Whirlpool-era KAs are built to fail and that the nylon sacrificial worm gear is some kind conspiracy.
Anyhow, time to put this baby to work.