As every knows, I am definitely a noob as well. I started with a Tornado, and I had problems, but they were all operator error. I have had a lot of down time, but nothing I haven't gotten over. I love my Tornado, and don't ever plan on letting it go. I liked it so much, even with all the problems I have had, that I am upgrading to a Monsoon. I don't know if you are like me, but I have had many electric junk cars, that you break or get tired of after a week or so, but nitro is so much better. I regret only one thing with nitro, and that is that I waited TOO long to get one. I will soon be an owner of 2 Redcats and everyone I talk to, I tell them that Redcat is the way to go. Especially for what you are getting for the price. Don't worry yourself too much about problems, just remember what went wrong, and try not to do it again. Like I always say, live and learn. Happy bashing everyone.