Most of my current collection is new. I've had one case of cosmetic damage that wasn't mentioned but you could see it in the pictures when I went back to look (ebay). No big deal. It was bent stairs on the front of a steam switcher. I just fixed them in a vise. I was getting it for pennies compared to new.
The two cases of malfunction was the same engine. It had no sounds but it was supposed to have them. Turned out the wire had come unsoldered from the speaker. Put it back on, now it makes a ruckus. I love it! Then I tackled the reason it didn't smoke. Turned out that the smoke unit was missing in action. I would have demanded a refund but the price was cheap enough that I can buy a new smoke unit and still be ahead of the price of new.
Beyond that, I have had nothing but positive experiences; including a guy that messaged me afterwards on ebay to check if everything arrived as I expected. I'll be glad when I can afford to buy new but used has been a great way for me to get engines I want.
