I've purchased 4 planes in my short career and they've been arfs. I've had great luck with them all.
Started with a Super Star 40. Beat the heck out of it and kept fixing and flying till I finally lost wing in air and it was history. My fault of course.
Second was Kyosho PT-19. Awesome plane. Built very light and excellent first low wing. Still have it. Had to rebuild nose once or twice.
Third was great planes AT-6. Built lot cheaper than Kyosho but nice overall. Tail feather could have been built stronger and canopy is very brittle but other than that good plane.
Fourth is another Kyosho. Corsair. Another awesome plane. Flown it twice. Course hobbico retracts suck but....that's another story.

Point is I've had nothing but good luck with Arfs. Glad they're around or I'd never been in this hobby.

Do though want to build a kit though.

duke