Anyone out there know anything about buying a kid a remote control car. There seem to be a million of them out there, I'd be willing to spring for $50 or so to get something fun, fast with a decent range that can take a little bit of a beating when my 6 year old drives it into the garage too fast.

AC

What type of Car do you and your son want? Street car? Truck? Rock Climber? How will the toy be used?
If you are going to be keeping it strictly on flat cement, tile, linoleum, carpet, etc, then you can actually get a decent learner car for less than $50. If you want it to be outdoor as well, then get one with 4 wheel drive, and those can go for $40 and higher. If you want to be able to climb a 20% grade or higher, get 4x4 and something that can climb over rocks so it won't lose power climbing a hill. These can go for over $50.
Just understand that you will get limited performance for under $50. However, as a first car, for under $50 you will still have a great time.
Do some research online, find the vehicle that meets your needs and have fun.

outdoor on the driveway, maybe the occasional foray (accidental) onto the grass.

something with some ooomph when it hits the grass and keeps going would be nice. i'd go to $60 if it was worth it! suggestions?

http://www.amazon.com/Control-Tri-Band-Off-Road-Crawler-Monster/dp/B0044T6CZK/ref=pd_sim_t_1

This is a good starter vehicle, can handle grass, dirt roads, regular roads, carpets (all types) and will actually do what you expect an R/C truck to do. This is one of the early ones we got for our eldest. He has since saved up allowances and B-Day monies and paid for a larger/faster/better one for over $100. But, before he bought that one, he played with the Rock Crawler quite often. The only negative to this model is that it does not use a rechargeable battery packs...it uses AA batteries. We ended up buying rechargeable AA's to go with this device which can be an advantage because you can always go get more batteries.

Also, with the 4x4, it WILL crawl over nearly everything...this is a great first R/C.

Also, it is currently on sale at Amazon for $53.99...normally $69.99.

Now one last thing...we did initially start with a simple $25 R/C car. Due to where we live, out in the rural areas, the car was limited to inside on tile floors, the oiled down gravel road out front and the flat dirt road areas. The minute it hit any hill, any incline, it failed. Considering we live in an area with abundant wood trails, inclines, grasses, dirt, rocks, etc...this limited where he could take the car. The Road Crawler was everything he could want and he was able to drive it nearly everywhere.

Love R/C's!! SUCH a fun hobby!

I have 3 planes, I am building the 3rd now.

Traxxas Stampede VXL 4x4 - (Check out the video!)

My Crawler

I highly suggest going with a traxxas in the future, when your son gets old enough to control one of those beasts! They are pretty indestructible, and most are waterproof. Just $$$.

Hope you and your son have lots of fun with new R/C!

Check out the airhogs site, they have some cool products.

thanks for the great input guys! Saybr I just ordered the one you suggested, I'll let you know how it goes!

JD

post pics or vids on facebook to show the fun...