My experience with starters (Gulf Coast, so rarely snow and road salt) is that the brand doesn't really matter much. What kills them is if water or salt gets into the units. So, my first starter in my first Vibe lasted about 200k miles or so. The replacement lasted until about two months after I had to go through some flood waters. (nothing else on the car had a problem). The warranty swap on that one lasted until I passed it along to someone else, and I believe it's still fine.
I prefer to use a _new_ starter if I can afford it, simply because of likely better components (seals, mostly), and it should last a while longer. As I'm at 175k miles, it's about time for the replacement, and it'll probably last until I decide it's not worth continuing to repair. (I may start looking for another vibe to pick up and start refurbishing slowly, while they're still available with reasonable amounts of miles)
So, I was looking at TYC because I know they do some of the OEM for Toyota, and the Rockauto price wasn't much different from a remanufactured unit.
Coil packs? I replaced two coils with Autozone coils - one failed after another four years. Oh darn, horrible quality, yes?
Replaced under warranty. I wouldn't trust the low-ball priced ones for anything other than emergency spares.
Anyway - so nobody here has actually had one of the sub-$40 starters. That's what I needed to know. Now I just need to make the decision on whether or not to get one for spare stock. (It was nice when my family had two Festivas and I had a Mazda 323. Almost all of the base parts were the same, so it was reasonable to keep some spares on-hand as a just in case. )