I'm a technician and have seen thousands of these piano throughout my years. No I don't work for Yamaha although I'm sounding like a salesman for them. If you're looking for a piano for your home, church, school or whatever, I think you'd be hard pressed to find another piano that sounds, plays and holds tune as well as a Yamaha U series pianos. I personally like the ones that were made in Japan and I'm sure you'll find that most people feel this way. Yamaha made pianos in the US for about 30 something years and then closed the operation in 2007. Those are not my favorite pianos.
The ones that have been purchased in Japan, spent some time there and then are exported to the US seem to be the best value because they are sold att much more reasonable prices. They are called Gray Market which means great deal in opinion. What I would recommend is for someone to look for a factory refurbished used Yamaha U series piano. You can't go wrong as long as you don't over pay. As far as the gray market pianos holding up in the US, in my opinion they do a better job. I have only seen a handful of cracked sound boards on Yamaha pianos and it just so happen to be more common on the ones that were suppose to be made for North America. I like the ones that the company makes for their country. They hold up great. This is my opinion based on spending many years with these great instruments.

Recommended: Yes