couple of things not to do:-

- take youre air filter off ( if a piece of mud or dirt or anything like water gets in there you might aswell send ure engine to the graveyard) only take it off if youre seeing if youre carb is open or youre pooring fuel into the engine.
-insert after run oil through the carb - i herd it can cause air leaks but im not sure. take the glow plug out and insert it via the engine head
-run youre engine lean - this can damage the engine seriously and cause broken internal parts happened to me on the first run of my nitro colt i started it up without radio gear on and it went full throttle had to pay 50 pounds for a new piston
-run youre car 100 mile away - the range is normally 300 metres which is long

Things to do -

Air Filter Oil - rinse youre air filter ever 7-10 tanks with fuel and then place after run oil on normally tornado.
After Run Oil - these keeps youre engine lubed and clean insert via the engine head not the carb as it causes air leaks
Maintanance - regulary maintain youre car cleaning the transmission area mainly as this is where stuff wears but very occasionally do i strip down the whole engine, i normally just take the engine off and clean with cotton bods.
Batteries - charge youre batteries regulary as if youre car battieres go flat it wil lgo full throttle all the way until it hits summit solid.
failsafe - buy one to prevent the above.