Wow, what a great review....NOT. To state the quality of the plastic on a model he's never run is lame.
I can see that is uses a different center chassis then the exp models...but the rest is right off your tornado or volcano/vortex.

The tires do appear to be a bit stiff looking....but its a brushed RTR. that buggy wont do more than 25mph (more likely 20mph) and you dont need a high grade tire at those speeds.

Those shocks dont break that easy (the plastic top mount he mentioned)

And the suspension parts are same as on my tornado. Ive jumped my tornado pretty dang hard, and at speeds twice what the sandstorm can do without breaking stuff. Again, I do mount my links on the innermost hole on the hub to reduce stress but even so the plastic isnt that bad.

I hate when someone whats to call it "toy grade" cause of the materials. Toy grade means a model with no support, no spare parts, nothing interchanable or upgradable. thats not true of the sandstorm or any other epx models. While the materials are not as nice as your $250 traxxas, they are fine for the speeds the model will do.

But the author of that post wouldnt know that, as he wrote a scathing review without actually driving the models

Ive owned and driven a $100 radio shack car (from last year) and it was truely horrible. The plastics were a good deal worse than what comes on a redcat, you dont get a 2.4ghz radio, you dont get a 4.0mm banana plug (which is heaps better than a white tamiya plug) you dont get 4wd, you dont get something that can be repaired or upgraded and it was even slower than a stock exp (15mph)

If he aint happy with what he got for $140 thats his problem. but you cannot get a simillar model (quality/spec) wise for less money. Certainly not for half that cost.

Im defending alittle here I know. but seriously, for him to expect more than what he got for his money is stupid. Again, there are $100 rc's sold at walmart every year that are half the quality/design thats in the redcat.

I have a feeling that guy is used to far more expensive RCs. If you drive a corvette, you arent gonna be happy with a dodge neon.