Thank you @jb for advice. I might go see it. But 790€ is a lot of money. considering that I missed a 1 year old machine never used for 850€.
Good reading with lots of info dating few years back… I guess I’m not alone worrying 
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Go check it out and see how it looks, maybe gently wobble the encoders and see if there’s play, fire it up and test it out if you can…
If they treated it well it should be fine. Mines 3+ years now and seems like it’s got a long way to go, it doesn’t travel much though and I take super good care of it…
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Definitely check it out before buying, but I wouldn’t worry that much. I almost never buy new and most of the stuff I use was at least 15 years old when I got it, usually closer to 30, and I’ve virtually never had unexpected problems. Even when I’ve taken a risk on something sight unseen with known issues because the price was too good to pass up, the issues have almost always been less serious than described. In general, if it’s reasonably well made and hasn’t been abused too severely and wasn’t made with any parts that are known to be defective (hello, MPC1000) or have a short usable life it should be fine, and the OT is pretty good on all those fronts.
But yeah, definitely check it out thoroughly first, because even used these things are really expensive.
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I bought a used one earlier in 2017. I’ve had no problems with buttons, encoders, or the fader. I don’t know it’s history. Heck, I’m not even sure of its warranty status. I’m really bad about registering warranty stuff.
The main problem I’ve seen on mine is that one of the first of the red ‘page’ LEDs doesn’t light up. Generally not an issue, but a little bit annoying when progressing through a longer loop - that indicator that I’m back to the beginning isn’t there. Small oddity.
Of my four Elektrons, I bought my MD and OT used; and MnM and A4 new. I bought the MnM new in 2016 when the price dropped. It’s the only one I’ve had encoder issues with (one out of the 8 doesn’t slip into ‘fast mode’ quite as well as it used to).
BUT! I’m thinking of buying a new Octatrack MK2. It’ll be the first time I spend over $1000 on an Elektron machine. But the Octatrack has suddenly become the heart of my setup(s) and such a critical piece that I’m starting to get a little uncomfortable having one with an unknown history be the heart of things. So knowing what I know of the OT and its importance to me NOW, I’d be less likely to buy one used; but I wouldn’t know what I know now if I hadn’t bought a used one and have it worm its way into my life 
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My experiences with used Elektrons have been far better than experiences with other used gear (MPC500 with a bent pin in its CF slot; Electribe EMX with slowly rotting encoders; MS2000 with shorted-out power connector plug).
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Thank you all for your invaluable advice. I’m going to see an Octatrack on Tuesday.
Note to myself: Hold function while turning on to run test mode
Wish you all a Merry Christmas 
and a Happy New Year.
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Tbh if it works right now then I don’t see any need to upgrade. Especially considering the QC issues Elektron has had lately on their new machines. You’d be trading one dead LED for a machine with any number of unknown issues.
Top tip, when it lists options on the test mode menu you select them with the trigs, I was trying to scroll with the endcoder and using the arrows. Took me a minute to guess why I couldn’t do anything
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Thank you, didn’t know that.
Yeah, agreed. Plus the LEDs in the MKI should be very easy to replace if you want to (and chances are it deosn’t even need replacement (or just a solder reflow if you’re lucky, the ED itself might be fine). In the MKII they’re probably surface mount LEDs that aren’t really user serviceable. Replacing a through-hole LED is really easy (although the OT isn’t something I’d recommend working on as your first soldering job, because it’s a bit o a risk; that said, I learned to solder by replacing all of the switches and faders on a Moog/Realistic MG-1 using a badly oxidized, bottom of the line Radio Shack soldering iron that nobody should ver have used for anything and it worked out fine and was still going strong a decade later when my friend I traded it to last year traded it for some eurorack modules this summer, so I wouldn’t say diving right in to a risky job is impossible but I wouldn’t recommend it, even with something as simple as a single LED). But yeah, it’s definitely not a reason to replace what you have. Anyone with a bit of practice and a halfway decent soldering station could do it in a couple minutes for a few cents.
My feeling is that plenty of three year old Octatracks were used for less than twenty hours. Then languished in someone’s room till they guiltily sold it. FOr ex there is a used mkii for sale in my region and I’m sure it’s because the buyer was overwhelmed with the initial learning curve.
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