Looking to buy new turning center

Hi all,

Here's a topic ripe for extended responses.

I'm looking to replace my 2 axis turning center with a 3 axis/live tooling machine. The catch is I want to do it as inexpensively (not cheaply) as possible. It would be nice but not necessary to have an A2-5 spindle nose and VDI30 tooling. There are a few machines on ebay in the $30-50k range that could fit my needs. Item numbers are: 360703586968, 360984528567, 251543035223, 221456226168, and 400749585514. I feel comfortable with a Hardinge as they are not too far from me for service. I have no experince with Kia or Eurotech.

Are machines in this price range generally going to be clunkers? New machines in this config are $100-130k for a Haas or Hardinge which is well beyond my budget and i'm not looking to lease or get into yet another montly payment. Any opinions on these machine models? Weak points? Anyone have a decent machine they are looking to sell or recommendations on different brands/models?

Thanks for any info.

Chris
Cosentino Engineering Home Page
US Moto2 Bike