i would definately recommend buying a brand name car such as hpi, traxxas, losi or team associated. although the price might seem daunting at first, you really do get what you pay for.
for example, my main car is a traxxas brushless e-revo and my mate has a no name monstertruck he got off ebay for a quarter of the price (i got my e-revo the day they were released so it was much more expensive then). my e-revo is faster, handles better and is all round a better car. it can do standing backflips and has tonnes of aftermarket parts for it aswell as parts being dirt cheap. my mate actually had to buy 3 of the same monstertruck so that when we went for a bash, he could use the other 2 as donor cars for parts, and thats only for a day of heavy bashing, so for one day of bashing hes spending $100's on parts while my truck has never broken anything, and i drive mine way harder than he does
) 