My E-maxx (the old type before the wider suspension versions) was 5 years old before I did major upgrades to it (brushless, racing chassis etc).
It had about 3-3.5 years of racing and probably more time spent bashing.
Bashing includes hitting trees, poles, walls, head on collisions with other E-maxxes, jumps with ~10ft air to flat (including landing upside down), running it flat out none stop on grass for a full pack (that was with the old sanyo 2400's, but then I'd put another pack in and do it again), doing jumps at a skate park (not doing stupid stuff though), plus lots of roll overs and normal crashes.
When I upraded to my car to take brushless I realised I was using an all original transmission (including bearings), original spur, slipper and pinions, chassis, chassis rails (though I noticed 1 was broken when I pulled the car apart -I don't know how long it had been like that), ESC, RX, TX, motor plate, steering knuckles and pilow balls, shift servo, some parts of the drive shafts, bulkheads, wheel hexes and nuts and probably a few other parts.

Whoah, that was longer than I thought.
I broke 2 shock towers (one was proline)
a few turnbuckles (though I put the proline suspension kit on a few years ago and haven't broken any of those)
No suspension arms have been broken - proline or traxxas
Second set of motors just started to die before I went brushless ( I used a fan most of the time though)
A couple of bumpers and bumper mounts
A few of each skid plate (fronts more often though)
2 diffs (they still worked, they were just old and worn)
5 or 6 drive shaft components (mainly rears). I did my slipper up tight and did a lot of wheelies on grass.
A couple of shocks. Worth upgrading to something better though if your going to do jumps.
And obviously 3 or 4 bodies.

I haven't used a lot of different types of rc cars and I don't know why people say E-maxx isn't that strong, but I cound't have been happier with the way mine lasted in stock form. Hardly anything ever when wrong and I always fininshed races. Parts usually wore out gradually rather than break sudenly.

If you get an E-maxx get good batteries (if you don't already have them). I don't think the motors will last as long on 14 cells, but it's deffinately faster than 12.
You can get stock parts very cheap of ebay if you like it in stock form.
I probably had more fun with stock than brushless, because it was so reliable for me, but brushless is much more powerful and with great power comes great responsibility.

Whoah, that was longer than I thought.

Thank you....very much! That was the kind of info I was hoping for.
I was having a hard time with the notion that a new Emaxx was going to "self destruct in 5 seconds..." (mission impossible reference...sorry...) after I opened the box.
I'm not all about 'beat your truck' like a lot of folks. I try to take care of my stuff, but have fun using it as well.
*I broke my first a-arm on the xxxt today...dammit! :005:

As tempting as nitro-power is, I really think I would be happier staying electrified. And the Maxx wins that battle. I'm going to wait and watch for a little while longer before I decide how much more $$ I can afford to spend right now. That's not to say that I won't get sucked into the whole G3R thing when it comes out...:004:

update
 

Well, I drank the kool aid and bought an Emaxx at RCX last weekend.
I switched plugs and made a jumper to run on one battery (I was curious about the half-speed thing). Got it set up and ran it on one batt the first time. Then I ran into the battery tray issue (mentioned on another thread = http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6259 ) when trying to load in my 2 good packs.
After a little modding this morning, I got to run it w/ 2 packs. Wow! This thing is FUN!!! :027:
I'm very pleased with it! Better than I expected.
I already ordered a set of side-by-side packs and a 977 charger, and I'm thinking about trying to build a couple of 7-cell packs. I've never built a battery pack, but after browsing the Traxxas 'how to' section, I think I'd like to try it.
The only other 'problem' I see so far is the stock steering servo. It really is slow to respond when in the rough. I'm trying to figure out what a good upgrade servo would be. I've seen many mentioned, but would you guys have a favorite?
Anyways, I'm glad I got it!

My favorite is the hitec 645. Not the top of the line, but very, very good for $40 - $45. And should work well in the e-maxx.