[RobW]

I’d say 5 is a little young to expect him to be too interested in sitting too long building a car with you but only you know your son. I started my son racing at 6 and he was only really interested in the racing – in between races he was much more interested in playing with the other kids.

Just remember it is all about reliability - nothing is going to put him off racing more at that age than his car not finishing races or having to go home early as you do not have the necessary spares.

If you definitely want to go new and with a kit then £250 is do-able (as example above) but it is going to lead you to buy everything based on price which is not going to necessarily be the best option. He is going to need something strong and something you can get spares quickly and easily, preferably trackside. It is a bit of a balance as I appreciate you do not want to spend a fortune on something that is probably going to get a fair amount of abuse but if you go too cheap then you are going to spend a lot more in the long run keeping it running and risk putting your son off racing as you struggle to get spares.

Second hand Losi, Yokomo, X6 is the sensible choice but I know that does not meet your new-build criteria. Maybe compromise and buy a higher spec second-hand car and fit the electrics and rebuild the shocks etc together?