The Jato is far from a newbie truck.Speed and power + Newbie and weak parts = The worst combonation. The Firestorm and the MT2 are excellent basher trucks that are user friendly to newbies.That doesn't mean they aren't bad machines,trust me.These two trucks have all the power and durability you'll ever need.Other great racing trucks are the AE GT2 and Losi XXX-NT.
Traxxas is making a living in the RC market with all the advertisments you see on each hobby site,which is fine,but brands like HPI don't just make a fortune with their models,they care about the consumers wishes.The way Traxxas advertises looks real tempting doesn't it,but out of the box is when it starts to seem not so great.I think its safe to say that speed and power are the main attractions to this hobby,and thats almost ALL Traxxas models do.Once you start jumping and bashing them you'll see the weakness in Traxxas.
Don't be decieved by Traxxas' speed claims,look at the fine print and you'll see.(Especialy for their electric trucks)