My 501x needs a fair bit of TLC to keep bits from falling off it
The front bulkhead has a habit of loosening a bit from time as does the rear shock tower, Im not really a big fan of threadlock and would really prefer to just have to tighten a couple of screws 1/2 turn every few runs than ending up drilling out screws.
As for an expensive sport, it is in comparison to some but really once you have the main bits there is very little actual running costs now that lipo and brushless has came in. As long as you stay away from minipins indoors the tyres for ages as does batterys and motors. In recent years the RTR cars have been getting better and started being clones of the racing cars instead of being designed for bashing. They might not be as adjustable but thats probably not a bad thing for beginners as the default locked settings are generally pretty good and they usually have the main things adjustable.