Definitely don't want to spend that much money.. that's quite a bit.
There is a Traxxas Stampede XL5 on Ebay right now for around $170 shipped, brand new and ready to run according to the auction.
Ebay link
I know for most of you this is a huge hobby and dropping $600 on one is no big deal, these are just something for me to do when I'm not working on my real car.. so $600 isn't really feasible for me. It doesn't need to be hardcore and really fast, just sturdy and fun to mess around with.