Since you asked for opinions, here is mine. I do not buy off of Ebay. I purchase all my engines at the local hobby shop. Why is that? Because for me, I would rather pay extra for a brand new engine than take a chance buying an engine that I may have to throw away. I have heard that there are good deals on ebay, but most of the time what I see ends up costing more with shipping than if I buy it new at the LHS. One engine I bought at the hobby shop had a bad front bearing out of the box. The shop manager ordered a new bearing, then replaced it when the part came in, as I was leary of doing it myself. That was the second engine that I have ever had. If I had that problem with an engine that I bought off of ebay, he would have ordered the part, charged me for it, then charged for installation. He also told me that if replacing the front bearing did not solve the leak at the thrust washer (which it did), he would replace it and send the old one back. Try and get that kind of service from ebay! It helps knowing where the guy lives too