I've owned my 18" smoker for roughly 10 yrs now and have used the heck out of it. The faults are minimal and can be easily overcome with a bit of patience. Initially when bought, the middle section was out of round, Weber immediately shipped a new section and also included a new lid and water pan without question. I've not been disappointed at all. I think that the issues of it being out of round or a few missing parts is to be expected when you consider how many of these things are built and shipped yearly, I was okay with the minor flaws. This thing works like nobodies business and I just bought a slightly used 22" to add to my collection.