One thing sticks out about this post.

"In the woods"

Define "in the woods". Are you guys busting out the truck on a break from running trails on dirtbikes/in a 1:1 4x4? Or is this some reasonably hard-packed area in the middle of your subdivision where the kids hang out and play Ninja Turtles?

The Savage XS Flux seems to fit your needs/wants, as does the Stampede 4x4.

The problem is, you don't seem to understand how deep the rabbit hole goes, as Morpheus would say.

If you buy a Stampede/Slash 4x4, you'll quickly tire of the sub-standard third-world-country charger and the antiquated 3000mah NiMh batteries (if this puts it into perspective, ThunderbirdJunkie was racing with 2400mah NiCds in 2001...not much of a jump in capacity for a jump in battery chemistry), and you will desire LiPo power. This will put you in a bind, wishing for a couple hundred bones to blow on a charger and some batteries.

ITBJHO, you might as well snag an HPI Savage Flux XS. It's not hard to work on, replacement parts are now available through your LHS within a week (A-main hobbies takes a week to get anything to you unless you pay them extra to treat you special, so you might as well deal with your LHS.)

If you race dirt bikes, then playing with and working on toy cars will be a breeze when it comes to working on your stuff, unless you pay somebody else to adjust your valves...in which case ThunderbirdJunkie wishes he had your money to piss away on nothing, since setting valve lash is easier than chain tension or changing oil filters that reside in the crankcase (dunno if modern thumper dirtbikes have changed since the early 90s XRs, but whatever)

Basically, the way it sounds to ThunderbirdJunkie, you want one of two things:
Either a toy to abuse and put away wet and never work on it (get the Stampede 4x4 and a decent charger)
Or an actual hobby-grade car to abuse, and learn your youngins how to wrench, and not being afraid of wanting to spend a little more money for a superior product.

Either way, you're going to be spending more than your budget, and you haven't genuinely researched your options.

For your purposes, it really sounds like the Traxxas S-maxx is right up your alley. It's nitro, but you can get it rockin' and rollin' for under 400 bones at your local Hobbytown USA. If you don't have an HTUSA near you, the HPI Firestorm 10T Nitro or the HPI Nitro RS4 MT2 or HPI Nitro Bullet would be a good alternative.

For your budget, there's no way to get anything decent and keep electric power.