this is the same dilemma i faced when i was considering a 5b. i know a few lads from my club track who've spent £K's on their HPI 5B's (or were HPI, they're practically almost as un-hpi as possible now with all the mods from other hop up manufacturers). but that initial chunk of money (around £750).... no matter how good a car is, and yes, I can appreciate its design and the amount of engineering gone into making it - but it's a model car at the end of the day and i can't justify spending that sort of money on one. anyway, that's just me and i don't wish to offend anyone who reads this who's spent mega pounds on their cars! then these so-called clones appeared...
after taking my time looking at them i decided to plumb for one, and quite honestly, i'm happy with it. as soon as it arrived it was whisked around to my mates who's still got a 5b which is "hpi" (and not modded to the hilt).. we compared allsorts and we were quite dumbfounded in that we couldn't see/feel any difference in the quality of the parts. the only difference is the radio gear fitted, engine had a different name, different body shell, and the wheel bead locks had philips head screws fitted instead of hex. (though i haven't used them, had a proline set ready to go on). oh and his has hpi written everywhere!!
from what i've seen on the track, the lads were replacing hpi parts quite readily, and dare i say it, alot more so than my FG ever needed. (hence their big budget spending!) i haven't had my shengqi for long enough yet to offer any review on how long things'll last, but i guess at the end of the day it comes down to the driver and how hard they want to push their car (or if they're just a crap driver and consistently crash lol)..
personally i'd go for that T1000 if i were u, i was considering one and like you i heard good n bad things. so far i've had just as much enjoyment from my shengqi as the lads have had with their 5b's. and we've all heard the horror stories from people who've bought (or heard of those stories/assupmtions for that matter) other baja's in the past and stated their downfalls, but i'm yet to experience them. no doubt i will at some point. as for your replacement of cheap parts that break, it happens with all manufacturers.
