Cost is a good point. I know of a couple of transit systems that bought & rehabbed used light rail cars too - less expensive than buying new especially if you're not going to need to keep them for 30 years. Caltrain runs a fairly tight operation, so I suspect that these cars have been inspected and whatever defects they may have won't take a boatload of money to fix - which is already in the budget if the articles are correct. Hopefully, the platforms that need work will be finished by the time the cars arrive ...

BTW people, while to many of us a million $$ is a lot of money (more than 10 years of income for the vast majority of people), it isn't in the transportation game. That'll buy: traffic signals and turn lanes for a major intersection; 2-3 left turn lane projects on rural highways; 1-2 pieces of heavy construction equipment; 2-3 transit buses; 20-25% of a new light rail car; 2-3 modestly-scoped research projects; 5-6 consulting (maybe 7-8 staff at Caltrans) civil engineers for a year; etc. So what Caltrain is paying here is a fair price, really.