No worries. The scratching issue can be PIA. My Nikon 5000 ED corrected for it pretty well, but other than that the R8/9 are sweet.
CW isn't known for bargains, but they will negotiate ;> That said, more than $900 for a CLEAN R8 and it's too much. R9 - unless you're going DMR, I don't see it as worth any real premium.
You can also look at an older R or SL series bodies - many, but not all (electronics seem to be the big issue), have reps as GREAT rigs. However, not all lenses (e.g. 3cam, ROM, etc) are entirely backwards compatible.
Just looking at his site as I type this, some VERY brief highlights:
1. ROM lenses will not, for example, mount on an SL/SL2 (one of his fave bodies) but 1,2 and 3 cam units will. ROM can be reverse-converted, but just replace the ROM unit with an older one.
2. R4 variants for known for many issues
3. R3 is a Minolta body
4. R6 and 6.2 have a strong following
Doug Herr or some of the other long-time R body users will be able to give you MUCH better details and Doug's Leica R website (just email him for a password) is worth it's weight in gold
All that said you can buy an adapter and mount it on any EoS film/digital body or a leitax kit and stick it on any Nikon Fx film or DSLR body for far less money and with zero issues.
