you make a great point dbow. The real reason I didn't purchase a race-bred car is because I wasn't sure if I could handle nitro cars. Let's say I went and bought a mugen MTX-3. I play around with it and smash it. I would be mad that I spent all that money, and couldn't sell it for as much because I wrecked it. Now let's say I bought a cheaper car, maybe a RTR TC3 or my car. I crash that and want to sell it. I would be much less mad about wasting less money. For example, when I was younger (around 13) I bought a $200 BMX bike because they looked cool on TV. I spent all summer mowing lawns to buy it. I rode around and did tricks. I tried doing a harder trick, messed up, and smashed my $200 bike into a brick wall, bending the frame. If I had bought a cheaper bike, I wouldn't have been as mad. Anyway, I haven't smashed my RC car yet, so in a few months I might get a race-bred car, such as the mugen. I'm not going to put any more money into the hpi other than fuel, plugs, and after run oil, and maybe rims.