I did have an issue/problem on my 2-10-10-2....The cleavis pin on the front truck was factory built too low and was shorting out on the center rail so I've sent it to Lionel to repair. Also one of the marker lights was bent, but that I, nervously, bent back into place.
2 out of 3 of my Lionel Legacy/Vision Line engines I have bought over the past 3 years have had to go back to Lionel to get repairs done. I think it's part poor quality control and the fact that they are possibly getting beat up by the shippers. I hate sending them to Lionel to get them repaired, because I'm afraid something else might break on these fragile things in shipping when they send it back. I also don't know how long they will last before something else breaks on them either.
It makes me leery to buy anything at auction that says new in box that's over a year old and not covered by warranty. Because, that doesn't mean it will work and you might not be able to get it repaired if it's over 10 or even 5 years old. I know it's the chance you take at auction, but I like to run my engines and my skillset for the new circuit boards is not as good as it use to be....especially without being given schematics to troubleshoot. Collectors that buy it for the sake of having it on the shelf or keeping in the box without a test run, could have purchased an expensive paper weight. Then, the person that buys it next at auction that wants to run it, better be prepared to fix it...if they can.