Whoa thanks for all the replies!

I'm leaning in the same direction as most of the people are suggesting - which is going with a used truggy and fixing it up. I'm not a die-hard racer but I would like to be competitive.

Price is a major factor. I'd 'like' to stay around $600 but I don't know if that's realistic or not.

I have found a few nicer used truggys on eBay that I'm watching real close.

How does the 8ight T 1.0 compare to the 2.0? I found a good looking one of those for pretty cheap.