Owning these machines is a mixed bag. I think if you are not willing to work on and fix the machine yourself, you probably should not get one. Manuals are available on Ebay (for the Bobcat branded ones) for about $120.
What struck me about the Bobcat manual is that the whole thing was very dumbed down with almost no information describing how a system worked, and without a bunch of diagnostic info on how to isolate a problem before tearing the whole thing apart. The manual pretty much explains how to assemble and disassemble components and thats it.
It seems that every owner at some time or another is going to have trouble with the hydrostatic transmission safety circuit, which is a switch on the dash, a bunch of relays and a hydraulic solenoid valve that disables transmission operation. From reading here, it seems that only myself and 1 other person got the safety circuit working when it went on the blink and it appears everyone else has done (potentially unneeded) very expensive repairs to the hydrostatic drive. The first thing I would recommend for any new owner to do is set up a "manual override" for the safety circuit or even bypass (disconnect) the safety solenoid completely. Its only purpose on life is to prevent you from starting the machine with your foot on the hydro pedal and I doubt anyone would do that twice without the safety circuit.
Other than that, it is pretty much normal maintenance. It is a metric machine, so if a cylinder needs the seals replaced, provided you have a digital caliper and a little gumption, one can figure out where to get all the seals and wearbands. Hoses can be had at the local hydraulics store if you bring in the busted one.
Because of the service and maintenance issues, most business people would not own one of these machines and that is the reason why ordinary people can get a late model machine with low hours for $12-15k, that originally sold for 3-4x the price. I'm pretty sure mine will still be doing useful work long after I am gone.
