Desert Viper from radioshack
 

my dad has a 4wd twin motor desert viper he got from radio shack a long time ago, and ha wants me to fix it if possible. i dont know much about rc cars, but i do know that when i put charged batteries in them, they should work, at minimum they should at least show signs of movement, but its just dead. has anyone had any experience with stuff like this? i figure something electrical is disconected, but i dont even know where to begin.

Usually on those RS cars the ESC/receiver and servo controller are all in the same PCB and not fixable..

Whaat no way. As above everything in those types of cars in on one chip or not really accessible and it only takes one muffed connection to stop everything so your chances of actually finding the problem, and then fixing it are about nill.

so... what kind of parts and how much money could something like this be replaced for? or is this just not worth it?

Just not worth it. Put it on a shelf and enjoy the memories. It is a toy grade RC. This website is more dedicate to scale race cars. This is a great hobby, albeit an expensive one. If you want to get into racing see if there is a track near you. See what classes are popular and common for beginners. If you are interested in just driving around your house, look into a monster truck.

One of my first rc cars was a Radio Shack Buggy Special back in like 1985... My dad bought me that because you could order parts for it... I got new tires, new motor, new body, and a new transmission.

Check with Radio Shack, I'd say there is a slim chance you can still get the parts you need to fix it.