Part support is a big problem, you have to mail order 90% of it. Back in the 80's when Tamiya was king of RC everyone had parts. Unfotunately that is not the case now, for part support, HPI or Traxxas is your best bet.

On the other hand Tamiya is unigue so if you can wait for parts, it's as good as any other. They have some excellent engineering going for them so they are durable. A friend of mine has the TNX whixh the Nitrage is based on and it's rarely been down for parts.