You just got the deal of a lifetime on a scope!
But...it's, like 30+ years old...
So? In less than half a year I will be 60 and I still believe I'm useful!!!
These old analog scopes do have a few advantages and frankly it is good to have one around. I liken this to work where we have several instruments that get used occasionally. A long as they work there is no real reason to replace them. Does better tech exist, almost certainly. Is it needed to do the job - nope.
The same argument often comes up when talking about analog VOM's on the bench. Yeah a digital is better in 99% of the cases. However if you want to demo decay of a charge in the classroom an analog meter makes it far more obvious what is going on.
And, y'know, there's this "bathtub curve" thing. And, it's from eBay. I mean, did someone spill Coke on it 16 years ago? Did they cross their leads while measuring high voltage 22 years ago? Did they open it up and change components 7 years ago?
In a way you kinda have to expect that instruments of this age have had work done on them. It is sort of like buying a used car, at some point they all go into the shop.
I dunno, I can't see why someone would buy something like this. Seems like a huge risk. And nobody can look back and say "Hey, I've had mine for 43 years and it works fine, no sweat". Because it hasn't been around that long.
Good luck.
And yet I've had tools that I've literally have had since my teen years. I probably would of had instruments from that era but I couldn't afford them so no instruments 40 some years old. If somebody can save a few bucks buying used and gets started with good instrumentation early I'd say go for it. Buying used is a gamble no doubt there, but that is the case even if you are buying a home. Buy used you take on the responsibility for maintaining the device, it can be a good trade off if you have good tech skills.
To look at this another way when do you give up on old tech. Back in 1984 I walk into a new job in a factory that I imagined was fairly modern. Some of the machinery in that plant was relay based or running on old 5TI PLC's with 256 bytes of RAM if I remember correctly. Ended up maintaining those old 5TI's for a long time! In tech school I literally had one teach suggest that I didn't need to worry about tubes when asking about them. Yet that first job introduced me to an RF amplifier that needed a forklift to move ( I was most happy when it was replaced). just because something is old doesn't mean there isn't value in it. Frankly a quality built bit of instrumentation can have a very long life compared to some of the more harshly used industrial electronics.