Dang, that's what I was afraid of..... why does it seem like NOTHING is ever fixable without large doses of money?!? Where oh where are the cheap-and-easy fixes?!? (Or am I merely going senile, and fantasizing about good old days that never were! Wait a minute, don't answer that.....

)
New ones it is; I think you're right about not knowing how much life is left in used ones. And, like you said about your own, I've gotten five-plus years out of 'em, so it's sorta expected. Sigh.