Need help picking out Off-road electric basher for my 14 year old dauther

[sur3fir3]

I am looking to buy an electric off road rig for my daughter. Normally I would just buy an HPI, but with all the issues with parts that are happening I have been debating purchasing something from another brand.

I have 300-400 to spend on the rig. I would like it to support 3s, and be brushless. A 50% power mode on the ESC would be beneficial. I am looking for anything that can take small to medium sized jumps, without much worry of breaking something.

At first I was very interested in the MERV, but after some research I have seen many people complaining on how easy their chassis snap. Dealing with weak shocks or A-Arms is one thing but a weak chassis? That will get expensive very fast.

I also took a look at the duratrax evader, I like the guarantee, but I've never had good luck with duratrax.

Losi was a bit out of my price range for brushless.

When it came to associated, my daughter didnt really like the 10t4 all that much.

I dont mind buying something that needs upgrades, but I would like to not have to replace 80% of the rig with upgraded parts just to make it reliable. I appreciate any and all input.

 

[Phins Fan]

If shes primarily going to bash I would look at the Stampede 4x4. Pretty rugged from what I've seen and aftermarket galore. My son has the Evader and it is a bit cheap but solid for his purposes. I drive the T4 and love it for a light stadium truck rig. How come she doesn't like it?

 

[REVO-5309]

If you look in the right places parts incl chassis are cheap. Google dollarhobbyz. Iv bought from there and parts are new and perfect condition. They strip new cars to make a small profit over all. But there way cheaper than amAinhobbies And most of eBay.

I'm buying a Merv in next couple weeks and to avoid rolls you need to put stiffer springs in and thicker shock oil. They handle jumps pretty well for a small/cheap truck. If you break a a-arm then replacements are cheap or u can go with rpm arms which have a life time warranty.

---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------

Chassis is $17 and full set of a-arms are $15. can't go wrong with that.

 

[hamz9561]

I have a mERV VXL and run the snot out of it. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the greatest driver in the world and tend to hit curbs and car tires among other things and haven't really done anything but have a lug nut strip. I only run 3s on the little beast so I am not easy on it.

 

[wacmartin]

I'm with phins, stampede 4x4 vxl has everything you want with great parts support aftermarket and stock. I love my aftershock but don't have much time for nitro, so I'm thinking of picking one up for bashing after a 12 hour shift to let off some steam. Not much light left after a 12 hour shift and I want to utilize as much sun as I can. One thing I don't like about the stampede is how high the body sits but I've seen some ways on YouTube to fix that. Damn I wish I had some extra money right now, damn bathroom renovation is killing me.

 

[sur3fir3]

If shes primarily going to bash I would look at the Stampede 4x4. Pretty rugged from what I've seen and aftermarket galore. My son has the Evader and it is a bit cheap but solid for his purposes. I drive the T4 and love it for a light stadium truck rig. How come she doesn't like it?

She said she didn't like the T4 because of how it looked, I explained its a great truck and We can buy other bodies and etc. I havent touched a 10T since the original, so my knowledge is limited on them as well. I am going to take a look at the stampede. I had looked over the stampede in my research, when I have more information on it I'm sure I will have another question.

 

[Greywolf74]

The Stampede 4X4 is a great basher is you want something entry level to see if she gets into it. Rustler might be another thing to look at as you can get bodies and tires for it to make it look more like a car and less like a truck. MERV isnt bad either if she wants something a little smaller. Most of the kits mentioned here are all decent beginner kits that arent too expensive and have good aftermarket support. I think you and her would be happy with most of the offerings lsited here.

 

[Will26]

I agree with hamz, the merv is a good choice. When I owned one, I bashed the HECK out of it, and I really mean it. Drove it into trees, ramped it all day long, flips and everything. Never broke a part in the 3 months I owned it. Lol. IMO the merv is a very good option if you haven't bought anything yet. Parts are cheap to replace too. And it runs 3s. But I wouldnt suggest trying that

 

[sur3fir3]

I still have a few weeks before I make a concrete decision. I don't want to get something she isnt happy with. Disappointing myself with a bad rc purchase is fine, when its for my daughter that is a different story.

Thank you for the advice so far I am leaning towards the Stampede or the MERV. Now that I have it more narrowed down, I am going to research needed upgrades and see if the Stampede is worth the extra $100, or if the MERV will suit her better with $100 of upgrades.

 

[Extreme RC Mods]

The merv is too small imo, I got one for my daughter but I ended up keeping it for myself and getting her the traxxas grave digger upgraded to the 3s vxl. The GD can go just about anywhere where as the merv is restricted due to it's size.