A quick Question about buying Used

I just want to ask a really quick question here about buying a new vs. used 5D Mark II.

Here in Japan, a new 5DII is only about $150 more than a used one. I want to ask for that price difference, should I just go for a new one then?

I know bodies hold up really well and many people buy used (I even got my 40D used), but there's still a chance that the shutter "might" fail and I'm SOL with a costly repair. And of course, I don't know how it was treated by the original owner (except for cosmetics).

What do you think?

Let me flip that around on you, would you be willing to purchase a $150, 1 year insurance on a $2,000 item?

Assuming warranty works similar in Japan, $150 difference but get a full warranty i think it's better to buy new.
It's hard to believe the used 5DMkII still retains that much value in Japan. Usually in a wealthy region, the used stuff is a lot cheaper than the new counterpart, in general i mean.

At that point I'd buy new.

Buy it new. My question is, why is the gap between new and used so small in Japan?

Possibly Canon is having a rebate in progress in Japan? I know I bought 4 new Ls while the rebates were going as the "spread" between used and new was in the $100-200 range for a while.

For $150, I'd go with new. that's an easy one.

rick_reno wrote in post #14091215
For $150, I'd go with new. that's an easy one.

+1...

+ another 1. For the difference it's not worth taking the risk.

Always go the new route if you can when it comes to electronics. No warranty = No purchase.

Get it new. That's not enough of a savings to warrant not getting it.

Persian-Rice wrote in post #14090865
Buy it new. My question is, why is the gap between new and used so small in Japan?

The gap is so small because the price of a new 5DII is actually around $1900 even with the strong exchange rate.

Used 5DIIs are around $1750-ish here.

And thanks for the advice!