All the tractors I bought were in great shape! But I bought from a reputable exporter and I'm sure I paid more than some. Fenders, wheels,seats,steering wheels and other stuff were taken off. I could have sold any of my tractors right out of the container and been confident all was well. However my market would not bear that. I spent quite a bit of time on each tractor just checking things out and cleaning. Also painted quite a few. all in all it was a lot of fun and if the dollar to yen was still good I would still be at it. I did not make much money but it was a hobby that paid for itself and that's all I really wanted. And I do still have my FX28d that came to me with only 328 hours on it. I think I only bought two tractor with more than 1000 hours. Most had under 700.
I know there are some shady dealers out there that sell junk. In fact that is why I imported in the first place.