I have had this pencil since 1992 when I was in middle school.  I used it during all of my college time and beyond.  It still works like new nearly 20 years later.  The surface does get scratches on it over time but that is to be expected.  I would suggest buying a separate eraser and not using the built in one simply because it is cheaper to buy erasers than refill erasers for the pencil.  You can buy 3rd party lead refills and load them into the pencil from the front.