There are several things that can sause this, low batteries can somtimes cause this with some of the toy cars. A loose connection, maybe the previous owner got the Tx or the RX wet and it did some damage. Maybe the crystals were damaged by the previous owner, there's a lot of things that can cause this to happen. Start with the most basic stuff, and then move to the more advaced stuff if you know what you are doing or feel comfotable with doing so. But I have a feeling that maybe there is a losse connection or the RX got wet maybe by the previous owner running the car into a puddle after is just got dun raining or something of the sort.