Purchasing Used High-End Storage Arrays?

sphealey asks: "I have an opportunity to purchase a used disk storage array in the terabyte class (which we need) originally manufactured by a leading vendor. The price is reasonable, and the seller is offering to provide installation and a 90-day warranty with the system. The unit appears to be complete and functioning. My question is, what are the pitfalls? And which are likely to occur?

"What I have considered so far:

• Original vendor charges outrageous fee to license necessary client-side software.
• Original vendor charges 're-entry fee' of some sort to place unit back on maintenance and support.
• Shipping and installation nightmares are worse than the usual for this class of equipment, and there is no original vendor to turn to for assistance.

Do any Slashdotters have any experience in this area? Any success or failure stories in purchasing used big iron?"