ORIGINAL: Foxy
I just couldn't disagree more with the OP. I think you totally get what you pay for in this hobby. Every so often bargains turn up, but in general, the difference is worth it. The difference for example, between an Exceed and a Mugen MBX6 or an Xray XB9 is just a universe apart, and to make the Exceed as good as other of those cars, you'd have to spend more than if you'd just bought a good car in the first place.
Where I will say people are wasting their money is buying top of the line gear for bashing. More power to them, its nice to be able to afford to do that, but at the bash spot, the difference between the cars becomes largely academic and down to who smashes into more/less stuff.
I don't really agree with "you get what you pay for in this hobby" sometimes that is completely true, but sometimes you pay top dollar for a turd with 4 wheels (and you KNOW who THAT is) but sometimes the minuet differences in chassis design, weight distribution ect, that you pay out the nose for don't always improve performance much or at all, what is the difference between a 4 steel disk, 2 fiber disk and a 2 carbon fiber lightened disk setup? almost none, they all work the same even after torture testing fade is still non-existent.
are you really going to win a race if you drill two holes in all your out-drives? no, are your servo's going to fly apart and your chassis go all spongey if your tray is aluminum? no. is your car going to be super fast and get 30 minute run times if the drive train is as centered as possible? no. are aluminum screws going to make your car so light it will fly away in a gentle breeze? no, are your super ultra hyper polished ceramic, titanium diamond infused bearing with hyper moly tribuliethalaneoxide lubricant going to make your car so efficient, by running it you solve the world's energy crisis as your car is now a perpetual generator producing so many gigawatts you can power 3/4 of the globe? no. those dodads are fine and dandy, but the amount of money you pay for it is absolutely nuts.