I can relate - i took repairing espresso machines as a hobby since the pandemic. The parts are not complex at all and even 60+ years old E61-machines can be serviced easily (apart from not so cool stuff like asbestos as boiler insulation, leaded solder for boiler + fittings and mercury pressure switches).

But even todays machines (depending on manufacturer and origin) are very serviceable. Especially italian made ones.

During the pandemic, I tried to work on my Jura, a Swiss automatic espresso machine with an integrated hopper and grinder. Totally failed :(

It's a great machine (got it refurbed and it's lasted nearly a decade already), but not at all easy to take apart. It's a lot of electronics though.

I take it the manual ones are easier to service?

For sure I have a La Pavoni and I can get parts lists, diagrams, and everything else I need to rebuild the whole thing if I needed to. https://www.lapavoni.com/en/technical-documentation

Great espresso machine! Very pretty and takes almost no space + heats up promptly. I had a pre millenium "professional" model until last year (not my daily driver though).

I had a Dalla Corte mini as main machine but couldnt resist a great offer and upgraded to Ascaso Baby T recently :)

What surprises me about the Italian coffee machines is you can buy many of the parts at a local hardware store. They look home made. The Chinese ones seem to be 100% custom parts, maybe to account for price at scale.