I bought one cheap about 9-10 years ago, or so. Mine always functioned, at least for about 500 rounds. Pulled it out of the gun closet after a short break a couple of years ago. At that time I found that you can hear a click when you pull the trigger, but there's no dimple on the primer, and no firing.
The thing worked okay until that point, and I haven't taken the time to figure out what the problem is with mine. With that said, it sure has some cheap-n-ugly construction to it, and they cut every possible corner to make this thing at the price they sell it for. I doubt I'd ever buy another Hi-point myself. I guess they work if you just really need to have some kind of gun, and can't afford something better. I'm not a gun snob, but I tend to demand at least a little quality out of my guns!
Personally, I'd save your $200 and buy something else. The Hi-points are okay, but they're still a bottom of the barrel gun. I think you'd be better off buying a used milsurp Mosin or Mauser for that price!
In fairness to the Hi-point, until it stopped working at the approx 500 round range, it was an accurate little gun (when the sight's windage was cranked hard left) and it didn't ever malfunction while shooting.
EDITED TO ADD: Until I saw this thread, I didn't know that Hi-point actually had anything in the way of customer service. I'll probably try sending my gun in to see what they say sometime, and I'll post my opinion of their service after I do. Of course, I'm not real keen on the idea of spending a bunch of money to ship a $100 gun across the country...