Just did this with my 10 yr old.
He saved his money and went and bought a Traxxas from best buy. It was garbage.
Fought to have it returned.
Went to hobby shop in Poco (Sebs) and bought a Traxxas Rustler. MUCH better. Just shy of $300 all in.
Have rocked it around in the bike park and BMX track where its a riot. Around the cul de sac is more just burning rubber and blowing donuts. Gets stale fairly quickly. It does 70km/hr with current gearing set up on stock battery.
Be prepared to spend money to maintain! Have smashed it a few times (currently sitting broken). Parts are readily available but my average cost the last 3 trips for parts is $30. Nice part of the repairs is that each replacement part has been an upgrade to the broken one. Feel it may be a bit of a racket! Built with made to fail parts.
I dig it because he repairs it. Good learning tool for how minor mechanics work and the whole "you fuck it up, you fix it" lessons.
Good luck in your hunt and hope he enjoys!