Yeah, I'd probaly order from tower if you end up choosing a redcat. Not much of a chance that there is one local to you, although you never know.

I don't own many rc cars, and don't use them much either , but I own 2 redcats, a caldera (nitro) and 1/24 sumo. The sumo breaks steering knuckles all the time, but other than that it's good. You can buy better ones, at the cost of the the entire thing. The caldera is good, it works, and the only thing I broke is the drive train, and the engine that only lasted one gallon (but I'm sure that the electrics last much longer). The exploded view is really confusing, and I never used it, I just take out screws untill I find the problem. So, from my experience they are not all so bad. The engine blew, but likely due to my awful tuning. (I had to adjust it all the time, and still do on the os 18. How come my airplane engines never need to be touched after one tune?).

I really don't think that there is ANY rc that will last 2 years without breaking something. Do some searching online, find out what people are breaking the most, and stock up on those parts.

Hubert