Buying an RTR is a very easy way to get going in the hobby, but there is a big catch involved. You will need to maintain the car, pretty much from the first time you use it. I have had a lot of people approach me over the years when they find out I run RC cars (nitro and electric), and the line is often the same... "I bought this car, ran it a couple of times and then something went wrong, so it's been in the cupboard for weeks/months/years. Can you fix it please?".
Usually the problem is something very simple to fix, but the owner doesn't know the basics that they would have from reading the manual, and especially from building a kit in the first place. I built my first RC kit when I was 15, no one else I knew had one and the internet didn't exist back then so I'd didn't have any help to call on. I wasn't massively mechanically minded, but I coped OK - a good logical approach, taking my time and working out how things worked as I went.
In all honesty these things aren't anywhere near as complex as you'd think, and theres a whole community of people out here ready to lend a hand if you get stuck. Which ever route you go you'll have a blast, but for my money I'd get the kit. Once you've finished building it you'll know exactly how it all goes together, how to fix it when it breaks, and the sense of achievement when you run it for the first time and think 'I made that' can't be beaten.
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