$400, not $450.
I think some people are missing the entire point here. No one is ever going to need an entire replacement pump unless you are wanting to DIY your own skimmer with another company's pump, or something really strange happens such as someone breaks into your house and steals your skimmer pump, but leaves your skimmer body. The only thing you could really ever possibly need would be parts, if something were to be dropped, break, etc. When was the last time any of you heard of an Askoll 1500 or 2000 motorblock failing? Sure it happens, but not very frequently?
The pump is under full warranty for two years, and has a part availiability guarantee for 10yrs. If you take care of the pump as you would any other pump in your system, there's no reason this thing shouldn't last for close to that 10yr time frame. That doesn't go for just the Red Dragon, but any half way decently designed pump available on the market whether or not it's for a skimmer or for just circulating water.
As an example, I just replaced a Sedra 5000 on a EuroReef CS8-2 this past Monday. That is the original pump that shipped with the skimmer and we set it up new back in November of 2000. We performed regular maintenance on the pump, kept calcium precipitation out of it the best we could, and never let anything get sucked into it, and the pump held up just fine. The same can be said for an old green Gen-X / Mak4 pump that I am personally still using that was new in '97. The pump has had regular service it's entire life and has never needed a replacement part and is just as strong and quiet as it was when it was new. I also have a 16yr old Rio pump..... ok, only joking, but I think you guys get my point.
I don't care if it's butt-ugly as long as it does its job well. 
