Paid $350 w/HSC for mine, complete with the EMG pickups already hack-ass installed by the previous owner with scads of electrical tape. As for issues, it had 2 large chips in the body (now it has more, lol, a lot more), Some small rewiring, and my special trem overhaul later (after much pondering about the mechanics), that off-set waisted shredder was born, and it has been 100% perfect ever since.
I never really disliked the finishes, I kind of find it facinating because it looks more like Fender just dipped the bodies in some thick plastic coating colored their version of Sonic Blue or Fiesta Red rather than primed and painted the body. My Jaguar's finish is thinner and seemes a lot harder to chip for some reason though. I don't mind the dings though, it's got some good "mojo" going on with it, lotsa stories.