Had mine for a year and so did a friend (bought at the same time). Within the first month had a grinding in the ball bearings. I don't do any beach fishing at all so i assumed that i got salt inside of it and cleaned it to no avail. A week later my friend's reel started doing the same. Now both of these reels were thoroughly cleaned after each use. Luckily another friend of ours knew a Daiwa rep., and we got all of the internals replace for free. Upon receiving it the worked great.....for about a month again..... I went as far as to replace the "sealed" ball bearings inside with ceramic ones i bought online, which did help, but has not totally absolved the issue with their crappy bearings grinding and locking up.

they use metal gears except for the level wind they use plastic gear wow lasted one trip not impressed used dawa products for many years this one is a dud !!