[Jeff Perry]

Sus, there is obviously something seriously wrong with that particular lens (or at the very least they guy who "fixed" it the last time, especially since he left something inside it the first time). If the lens is a "made-for US" lens with a 5-year wanrranty, and that was a US Nikon service center that "repaired it", you should demand a new lens, and not a refurbished one.

As for the quality of the I have two of them and they are the work-horse lens for both me and my girlfriend. She almost never uses anything else, unless I "force her to try something different", and on any given outing she out shoots me by 50-100%. Between hers and mine, we probably have at least 30-50,000 images made with those lenses, and have never had any problem with them. That translates to a lot of VR and AF actuations. While they are a bit on the pricey side, IMHO, they are well built and worth every dollar.

Hope you get a new one.

Jeff