my lawsuit strat. Found it at my favourite used gear trading store. This was around 2009 or so from memory... back then where I live, lawsuit stuff wasn't getting near the attention it is these days, so it was priced like the lower end used fenders in the store. I think I paid around 700 AUD, for a 1980 build it was in great condition. Some of the best workmanship I had ever seen (every fret end is a work of art, in fact the whole neck is), and I thought the price was silly for the amount of strat I was buying so I grabbed it. Even later model MIJ fenders I tried didn't quite have the buttery feel in the neck this has. Anyway, they've jumped hundreds in price in the past few years here after everyone started getting on board, so not only did I feel I was picking up a quality instrument for a steal, its value has increased by nearly 50%. It's a keeper though so I have invested in modifying it to my tastes.
+ My new purchase, my SE standard 245. For the money I don't think I had ever played a new guitar that was so good. Really, really great instrument. Feels great, plays great, sounds great, like I keep saying the best praise I can give it is I don't think it will be getting any mods or upgrades (aside from new bridge studs) because I like everything just as it is. Of course, in this case as EveryAxeAGem said if I sold it on I wouldn't gt my money back, but this one is also a keeper, and in regards to the quality of instrument you get for the price, in a relative sense, I feel it was a positive ratio.
I had a Jazz bass built for me around 08 or 09 from an MIJ fender neck and body, and after market hardware. The cost of buying the parts and having a local luthier put it all together, do the fretwork, drilling, wiring, setup etc was still far less than even a Fender standard would have cost, so there to me was another really great instrument for a relative steal.
**Edit the strat pissed me off tonight for the first time in 8 years:
I had to adjust the truss rod. Which, because it is a faithful 60s copy, is a heel joint cross nut deal. Let's just say some design aspects should be dead and buried, not reproduced