I used that radio for a couple of years. Wasn't bad, but I had reprogrammed it (search for modify firmware gt3b). The only problem I had was the trigger in the reverse position. Because of the design, you can break the trigger off if you push it too hard into reverse. I put a bit of fuel tube over the forward part of the trigger to prevent it from happening again.

If he's only going to run one vehicle, might want to consider the gt2 series. I think they are on the gt2e version now.