Thanks for your reply Rob.
There are 2 local shops here, but no good options, I think. One sells Tamiya and Kyosho cars and kits, with no parts in stock. That is, they just order parts as needed, which I could just do.
The other has 1 TLR Mini 8 buggy, 2 nice Axial vehicles and lots of HSP cars/trucks. Again, the staff could offer no support knowledge and they have zero back-up parts for what they sell. They just sell them, and help kids order stuff as it breaks.
Thanks for your suggestions. I'll have a look at Tacon and HoBao, and contact HoobyPartz and NitroRCX about shipping direct to me, so I don't have to pay the 3rd party shipper from the US.