Ben - My SLX 25 has got to be 18 months old. It's used daily and is the pole I use for 95% of the jobs I do. It's been an excellent tool. Some may complain about the clamps, but since they altered how they glued them on and changed the barrell nuts (ahhhh) they've been fine.
The top 2" of each of the top two sections wears disproportionately fast, but this is the nature of the way I use the pole mixed with the fact its carbon fibre - CF seems fairly soft. It's no bother to fix new clamps on after sawing off a couple of inches from each section.
I'm interested in the engine lacquer - more details please.
As I said i've been absent for a while, what's this about a SLX ll...?