But you all ways end up with a much better vehicle starting with a kit! MANY up grades right out of the box and you can get a good radio and servos which on a RTR are poor.
One other thing HPI has very good instructions and building it is not a big deal if you have any mechanical ability at all. You all so learn a lot from just building it so when you do need to do a repair or maintenance you are all ready familiar with it.