Dont look at kits if thats all you want to spend. Kits are 1000 to 2000 al said and done. Ask some of the guys around here that have kits how much they spent!
www.ultimatehobbies.com has the mugen MBX-5, the Hyper 7 Pro, and the Kanai 2 all on sale for under $500 right now. find the one your LHS stocks the most parts for and buy it. they are all very good buggies and you can't really go wrong with any of them, especially if its just for bashing. and if you want to race, all are good enough for that too.
i'd get the pbs instead of the pcr because i've heard many people just having problems with the lay-down servos. also i'd check out the new sportwerks mayhem buggy. it's around the same price and comes with a kickass radio as well.
what have you herd bad about the lay down servos? i have the pcr gone pro with a ws711 in it and I've never had a problem with the lay down servo mounts.the way i see it the lay down servos takes a lot of stress off of the servos.