David,

JL has a great line. the problem with the F-20 was an isolated problem from wht i can tell, and even that was taken care of after some testing.

I personally flew more than 8 different JL (F-16, F-15, T-45, Gripen, F-20 etc) jets and probably about 5 FEJ (F-15, F-16 etc) jets - trust me the JL are built much better quality wise, and in all honesty, the ones i flew also flew better than their (heavy) FEJ counter parts.

If you want to compare issues - read some FEJ threads. there are endless design and manufacturing issues with them.
My friend had his tail pipe explode on his brand new FEJ F-16 on the first start and the model burned. he is waiting for a new one for over a year now to no avail.