Buying a new reel

[89sporty]

I have already settled on buying the Shimano 6500 bait runner before reading about it here. I have used the shimano ax2000 series reels for my fresh water fishing for 10 years now and have the nothing but praise for the way they have performed. I imagine I would still have my first one but it met an untimely demise at the bottom of a lake whilst I wasn't paying attention. I'm expecting the same quality for the 6500. The reason I need a new rod and reel is a thief got my old green Penn setup. That one did me very well for a long time and I would buy the new Penn bait runner but its hasn't proven itself yet.
I am going to Redtop down in Bourne. Thney quoted me $129.98 over the phone and that includes spooling it also. The other place that had them instock was in Falmouth and they quoted 122.99 without the line. I figuire 7 bucks savings isn't worth driving over the bridge for and the line would cost me at least 5 anyway.