Reputation management IS actually a bit more demanding in CF 1.9 than previous releases, but as Rex mentioned, enough cash can overcome all obstacles. Of course, if you're a tightwad like me, you'd rather just kill enough faction enemies first to get the rep up to dealer standards, and save the cash. My newest character is doing this very thing; I've got to kill quite a few more Xenos to get the Hackers to sell me their thruster @ Leiden! See you in space