Welcome to the forum, poppajoe!
The ML8 is a very solid machine, and I believe it would be well worth fixing it. If you can afford it, you might want to hang on to it, as you will always be able to sell it for a good price once it's fixed.
The Axminster lathes are all good quality, you just need to understand that the hobby lathes are not made for trade use, and the trade lathes are not made for professional use. I've never used the 1016VS (as far as I can recall), but I have used the bigger sister, the AT1416VS, and that is a very nice lathe, probably the best value for money in its market segment.