Well, for someone with no experiance I would recommend an electric car. They are much easier to maintain then nitro.

I currently own a Revo 3.3, a nitro truck, and it requires lots of maintance, just like an nitro truck. Although, it is part of the hobby and can be enjoyable if you like working on them and learning more as you go along. But overal, for a first car I would go with something electric, and inexpensive. If (s)he gets bored of it then you can choose to upgrade from there.

Good luck!