I have recently started playing around with my old vintage RC10 (yes, I know it is old....18½ years to be exact, but it still runs) and it has reinvigorated my interrest in RC's. I haven't yet decided on electric or nitro, but I am leading towards the nitro. I don't mind the tuning and would prefer to not have to charge the thing every 15 minutes. That being said I have been all over this site reading opinions about the MT's, but still find myself at somewhat of a loss. I have no clue which vehicle to go with. I do want something that will be fairly durable, but replacing the occasional part is no big deal. RTR or Kit does not matter to me either (although I think half of the fun is building them). Availability of mods and parts would be a big plus as well. I do have several Hobby shops in my area including one national chain, HobbyTownUSA. Looks like the MT's are available in both the 1/8 and 1/10 scale variaties. In browsing the net I have come up with 10 nitro and 3 electric MT's...I'm sure there are more. Can anyone offer some opinions on which ones I should consider? Budget is ideally no more that about $500. Anyway, here are the trucks that I have come across (please feel free to mention others as well):

Nitros
Associated Monster GT
CEN Genesis
Duratrax Warhead
HPI Savage
Losi LST2
Sportwerks Mahyem ST
Tamiya TNX
Traxxas Revo
Traxxas T-Maxx
XTM Mammoth

Electric
Losi Super Truck
Traxxas E-Maxx
XTM X-Factor 2

I'm quite new to rc but from my breaf experance I would say make sure you get something that one of your local hobby shops stock parts for.You should deffinatly go nitro though!!
hope this helps..

It all depends on what you want to do. Just play around or get more into racing? I agree with rangi... go nitro. My personal preferance would be for a larger engine. Preferably .28 or larger. That doesnt mean that the Traxxas cars are bad... quite the contrary!!! They are really quick. But just read around the Traxxas forum and see how many guys are looking for bigger engines. In your list you left out the Thunder Tiger MT4. I know Ass. make a truck that is almost identical to the MT4... just not sure if it is the one you list. I have only ever seen one Warhead, but it impressed the heck out me. Losi has a brilliant reputation... so does CEN and HPI. I upgraaded from electrics a month or so ago and had to go trhough the exact same thing you are going through now. In the end I settled on the Sportwerks Mayhem ST. It might not be the right truck for you though, especially if you will be focusing more on bashing than on track play. The Mayhem ST doesnt have the ground clearance of the other but it makes up for that with a brilliant suspention and a low center of gravity. The .28 motor is awsome and out of the box you get 3 throttle bodies to help you set up the truck for various track conditions. Spares are relatively cheap and the truck is very rugged with LOTS of anodised aluminium part. Hop ups are plentifull and easy to retrofit.

In the end... You will have to find the one that fits your stile of driving. All of the trucks in your list have good points. Very very important...... Spares availability!!!

Ok, lets refine this a little bit more. First, I have no intention to race the truck at this time. I'm just too busy between family and my job to be able to. That leaves us with bashing. A lot of the truck's time will probably be spent in the park behind my house, however, I intend to take it with me when I go to visit my family. They live in the middle of nowhere with lots of fields, woods, hills, and rock/gravel/sand quarries. I need a truck with a bit of durability that won't break everytime I accidently hit something.

The local shops offer the MGT, Warhead, LST Aftershock, LST2, Hellfire (a bit out of the price range), Savage X, Revo, and T-Maxx. The Aftershock, Warhead and MGT can be had for the lowest prices ($350, $360 and $385). The Savage falls in the middle for $430. And the Revo 3.3 and T-Maxx 3.3 bring up the top end for the spectrum at $496 and $450 respectively. The Hellfire and LST2 are a bit out of range at over $600.

As these are the vehicles available locally, I feel I should limit my choices to them out of parts concerns (If anyone feels otherwise please feel free to say so). I don't feel very enthusiastic about having to order all of my parts and waiting to receive them. The basic, "most broken" parts for all of the listed trucks are readily available on hand and others can be ordered for 2 day delivery. As for the unlisted trucks, I may be able to order some parts locally, but most would problably have to be gotten via the net. Given this, what would give me the most bang for the buck? I must admit that I'm kind of leaning toward the Savage X, but the lack of reverse has me thinking. I mostly likely won't need it, but you never know.....It could be useful in a pinch. The T-Maxx supposedly isn't the most durable of trucks from what I have read and heard. The Revo seems a bit under powered compared to the others. Any other opinions out there?

I think you will need the reverse. Specially for bashing. You do get reverse as an option for the Savage. No idea how much it costs though. Ive never seen an MGT or the Aftershock run... So I cant offer anything there. Like I said.... The Warhead really impressed me. It has a big block engine, you can lower or raise the ride hieght very effectively, It has reverse, adjustable shift point....

I am sure that what ever you choose you will be very happy.

Associated or Traxxas, best parts support....

The MGT is bigger than the Tmaxx

The Tmaxx is Faster than the MGT

I have both....

I keep reading reviews and downloading videos of the cars in action. I've cut out some of the trucks as options and am down to 4. The Warhead, MGT, Savage X, and Revo 3.3. The Warhead at $360 and MGT at $385 are looking like good starter trucks, but I am wondering how much I'll be longing for an electric starting system. The Savage X is missing reverse which could be a costly item.....about 30 for the module and then new electronics b/c I'll need a 3rd channel. Of course the Revo includes both, but runs $500. More opinions please guys. I was hoping to purchase a car today and get the break-in accomplished at the store's track. I'm going to create a poll of these 4 and see what comes out ahead.