Ok, so I have to admit the brushed Arrmas are better than the Brushed Traxxas kits. I wasn't aware of the phillips and the bushings. I've never owned a brushed RC except crawlers. If you compare the brushless Traxxas models vs the brushless Arrma models you dont have that issue.
The only traxxas parts I replace out of the box because I know theyre gonna break is the a-arms (but then again I put RPM arms on everything, even my arrmas) and the front shock shafts and I also bash pretty hard. All the kits have some weak points right out of the box. Regardless though its a...
Either one will be fine but my personal pick would probably be the Stampede. The Pede is easy to work on, ton of after market support and can not only be converted to a Rustler or a Bandit also.