Let's Gamble!

[Kowalski86]

Recently I made a challenge to myself, instead of buying a $60 Bangood RC and spending $50 in upgrades, I picked up a $85 Rustler and spent maybe $15 modern wheel hubs while throwing whatever bearings/electronics at it that I had laying around.

This got me wondering, if you were looking to buy another RC for under $100, would you buy something used and spend some money fixing it up? Or would you buy a bangood-special (Rlaarlo, WPL, Hypergo, WLToys, MN) and spend $100 in upgrades?

[ADRay1000]

fixer upper

[Saito2]

Fixer upper too. Of course a quick look at local marketplace shows the cheapest Stampede at $350, the cheapest Bandit at $260 and the cheapest Rustler at $300, all used, means I probably won't be finding anything under $100.

[Kowalski86]

31 minutes ago, Saito2 said:

Fixer upper too. Of course a quick look at local marketplace shows the cheapest Stampede at $350, the cheapest Bandit at $260 and the cheapest Rustler at $300, all used, means I probably won't be finding anything under $100.

I could make a whole topic on how the used Traxxas market is completely bugged up. It's like they're either complete and more expensive than new, or beat up and completely gutted for $100+.

[MadAnt]

3 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

This got me wondering, if you were looking to buy another RC for under $100, would you buy something used and spend some money fixing it up? Or would you buy a bangood-special (Rlaarlo, WPL, Hypergo, WLToys, MN) and spend $100 in upgrades?

Buy a fixer upper, I've done it plenty of times.

[Kowalski86]

12 minutes ago, MadAnt said:

Buy a fixer upper, I've done it plenty of times.

That's basically what I've done from day one. For a time I tried out WPLs since they look realistic and they're cheap, but I never found the upgrades worthwhile.

[Juggular]

I'd stick with what I know: Tamiya. 

As we've all noticed, used price isn't what it used to be... My last good deal was in 2019.  I don't like having NIB kits sitting around. (No judgement on people who like it pristine in the box.)  Having a backlog of to-be-built kits put a damper on new acquisition.  I do have a WPL truck. I tried metal diff gears. They didn't fit well, so I gave up. No biggy. I use it to make our dog run around, so I never gave it a serious thought of upgrading it. 

 

[Kowalski86]

40 minutes ago, Juggular said:

I'd stick with what I know: Tamiya. 

As we've all noticed, used price isn't what it used to be... My last good deal was in 2019.

We have a cat that finds the kei trucks interesting, and I can load the bed with cat toys.

The only good deals that I've had lately are bundles, but that leads to the trouble of selling off all of the bits that you don't want.

[Andreas W]

I would buy something to either equip or fix up. For me that means a Tamiya (or a Kyosho). All my rally cars have come to me that way. All of them as far as one (that also was advertized as a fixer upper) were solid cars only needing electronics and the upgrades I would want to put in. 

[Kpowell911]

10 hours ago, Saito2 said:

Fixer upper too. Of course a quick look at local marketplace shows the cheapest Stampede at $350, the cheapest Bandit at $260 and the cheapest Rustler at $300, all used, means I probably won't be finding anything under $100.

This. Used Traxxas prices have gone crazy, this was pretty good for me as when I sold a lot of my Traxxas models (to buy Tamiya’s……) I didnt lose much money at all. However being as my favourite RC is the Rustler/Stampede 2wd, I now want another and theyre bonkers prices!

[Saito2]

1 hour ago, Kpowell911 said:

Used Traxxas prices have gone crazy, this was pretty good for me as when I sold a lot of my Traxxas models (to buy Tamiya’s……)

They have, except when I tried to sell my brushless Emaxx with Flysky radio which I struggled to get $175 for. Now maybe that's because it was an older platform, but it does pose the question, are these folks asking these crazy prices actually getting them?

8 hours ago, Juggular said:

As we've all noticed, used price isn't what it used to be...

No, it isn't. I see used original Tamiyas around me start at ridiculous prices and then slowly come down to the price of a re-re. A $350 Fox eventually became a $175 one, but at that point, just buy the re-re and have fresh plastic (unless you're a collector). The same thing happened in the old car market I used to play around in. Thanks to baby boomer lust and Barrett Jackson actions on TV, every rotted out 4-door is now a "collectable" just like every crumbling old Tamiya. 

Its a shame as I'd much rather put the time into resurrecting something old and giving it new life than just being a good little consumer and buying more and more and more. But when many Tamiya re-releases (not all, mind you) are reasonably priced, especially compared to some of the stupid used prices, its a tough case not to buy new.

More in line with the original thread's intent, cheapo overseas RCs are pretty much made to get your hard earned money away from you. They are often designed cheap to lure the buyer in with cheap pricing (all the more tempting as we watch inflation zoom away from our stagnant wages, and tax cuts for the rich will somehow fix that?!), and if they break, who cares? Those manufacturers are here today, gone tomorrow. Someone like Tamiya (or even Traxxas) are here for the long haul so they typically don't try to build total garbage as that would be shooting themselves in the foot. Its not to say they don't make mistakes or that some cheapo RC might not actually be good from time to time, but I think the companies have different goals and priorities.

[Wooders28]

I'd only buy a bangood special etc, for a gift for a young relative, test the water if they're going to get a p̶r̶o̶p̶e̶r̶ named brand RC in subsequent presents!! 

Most new builds, I buy upgrades straight from the off anyway (bearings, pinion esc and motor ), so getting a used doesn't phase me at all, sometimes it's part of the fun (?) sourcing / bodging (finding other parts from other manufacturers fit etc) or manufacturing parts.

Some new kits have come in quite cheap, once I've sold the nip tamiya esc and motor, an Amazon offer DT03 came in real cheap, once the nip motor, esc, wheels and tyres where sold on, (my 2011 Avante motor will be hitting ebay shortly, to off-set a brushless motor).

[ADRay1000]

10 hours ago, Juggular said:

I'd stick with what I know: Tamiya. 

this too. and RC10 (I know, good luck finding one under $100)

[markbt73]

Always fixer-uppers for me. A few months ago, I picked up one cheap Chinese RTR at a surplus store for $40. It lasted three runs before something broke. I kept the two 1600 mAh lipo packs it came with, the wheels/tires that happen to be 12mm hex, and threw the rest away. I was briefly using its radio gear in a Grasshopper, but the servo died after three more runs.

eBay is littered with sub-$100 fixer-uppers, if you dig a little. There's a Kyosho Raider available right now for $70, and quite a few Traxxas Rustlers and Duratrax Evaders as well, and of course Grasshoppers and Hornets aren't hard to find in that price range.

Step up a little bit to around $150, and you're in the range that nearly all of my purchases in the last couple of years have been in. And I've never had more fun with the hobby. I've gotten an old FF-01, two ORVs out of a pile of parts (though I did have to replace quite a few thinigs), a Traxxas Hawk, an MRC MT-10M, a Turbo Optima, a Raider, and a whole fleet of Grasshoppers/Hornets/Lunchboxes out of another parts pile, all for under $150 each.

[Kowalski86]

1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

 I see used original Tamiyas around me start at ridiculous prices and then slowly come down to the price of a re-re. 

More in line with the original thread's intent, cheapo overseas RCs are pretty much made to get your hard earned money away from you. They are often designed cheap to lure the buyer in with cheap pricing 

For my recent Hornet project, I had to buy a set of two filthy vintage models for roughly the price of one kit to save any change. I'm hoping to have one good car and a "clunker" to sell off cheap to recuperate some funds.

What I find perplexing is that some of these "cheapo" RCs aren't even cheap anymore, the recent Rlaarlos and other brands sell for the same price as a brand new 2wd Traxxas. It's just that the "cheapo" is either 4wd or comes with a brushless system.

[MadAnt]

10 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

For my recent Hornet project, I had to buy a set of two filthy vintage models for roughly the price of one kit to save any change. I'm hoping to have one good car and a "clunker" to sell off cheap to recuperate some funds.

Used old beat up Hornets and Grasshoppers should always be bought cheap, but some sellers think they have gold because it's "vintage", when in reality it's borderline trash. The logic I use factors in the cost to repair vs buying a very nice example, plus some other things.  I hope you got a good deal, sometimes the dirt and filth protects things from the elements.

 

 

[Kowalski86]

1 hour ago, MadAnt said:

 I hope you got a good deal, sometimes the dirt and filth protects things from the elements.

I want to say that I got a "moderate" deal, I was hoping to have enough parts to build two Hornets, but I may end upwith one good one and one scrapper Frankenstein thing. Thanks to parts compatibility I was able to simply throw on the Hornet wheels/tires from my EVO.

The trick with eBay is to find the real enthusiasts, which can be difficult when 85% of the sellers on that platform are just grifters who can't hold a real job.