HOLY CRAP !! And we wonder why more people don't get involved or those that do drop out to quickly.
Way2Evl....I feel bad for you Man. The rediculous suggestions for all this high end garbage is downright insulting. Its the same sensation I get walking in to our local Hobbytown and watching some poor guy get conned into believing that an Xray is a great first car and if he wants to go 50mph he'll need that 8t motor and that Black Diamond esc.....and the list goes on. A few days later after the esc and motor are fried, the car doesn't go straight and he can't figure out the radio....the stuff goes in a closet or sells for dirt cheap and one more racer never happens.
Forgive the rant...it's not directed at you. You guys leading this guy down the yellow brick road looking at that $1300 dollar figure ?? You should be ashamed of yourselves.
This potential driver should have started out with an inexpensive used package or a simple entry level package that gave him a chance to do the things that really count......learn to drive and learn the basics of repair,maintenence and setup.
Way2Evl, I hope I'm wrong. I hope you have a coach or mentor of some sort who's going to walk you through all the missed steps. I wouldn't be saying this if I didn't see it happen way to often. Good Luck, I hope good things for you in the hobby.