I've had an iX500 for a few years. You're right, and it's also a complete tank. I deployed several of them to a doctor's office that had to scan lots of paperwork every day, and they all worked perfectly all the time, every time.
Fast, stack of pages, but also compatibility with different destination types, ease of setup, and no cloud account required (looking at you Raven) and your PC doesn't have to be on for network scans (direct, not passthrough).
But yes, the scanner is pricey. It was definitely an investment.
They're the Brother laser printer of scanners.