If you do buy refurbished drives, ideally get manufacturer refurbished ones that come with a manufacturer warranty. If you're in the USA, ServerPartDeals is a great store for it.
Manufacturer refurbished drives tend to be pretty reliable because they've been tested to meet the manufacturer's specs, usually including a deep stress test, and come with a warranty from the manufacturer.
The thing that sucks at the moment is that refurbished drives cost more than the new ones used to cost.

