Painful experience has taught me that a good dealer is really important, as is putting in the time to learn how to take care of and run your saw. I had a good saw (CS-590), no dealer support, and bad information, and I suffered for several years.
I learned some things about making "difficult" saws run.
1. Never turn the ignition off, if your saw has one. You will leave it off one day and flood the saw. Use the choke to shut the saw off.
2. Engage the choke every time you start the saw. If it's hot, push it back in before starting. It will give the saw gas when you try to start it. If it's cold, leave it out. As soon as the saw makes any kind of noise indicating it's thinking about starting, disengage the choke and resume yanking the cord. Don't expect the saw to start and run with the choke engaged. It may not do that, but the choke will get it ready to start with the choke disengaged.
3. Treat your gas. I use Biobor EB, and I use Red Armor oil, which everyone seems to recommend. Sta-bil red does not work. Throw your gas out after a couple of months.
4. Start your saw once every week or so, unless you store it dry or with oil in the gas tank. Don't store it dry with gas station gas. Even no-ethanol gas forms varnish, and dry isn't always dry.
I just fired up three saws because of Hurricane Milton, and they all run fine, even though the gas is getting old. I have a couple of tools I rarely use, so I put motor oil in their tanks and ran it into the carbs to prevent gas from killing the diaphragms and forming varnish. So far, this has worked.
If you're not cutting much, consider a cordless Makita. I have one, and it's stupendous. Always, always runs. Cuts really well. No hearing protection. Stops instantly when you release the trigger. If you have 4 5-Ah batteries, you can do a lot of work without recharging.
