OK the RC cars is a good thing it tells me that you have mechanical ability That means that you could do work on the bow yourself. Next where are you? You did not fill in the the Bio, I notice that you think in Dollars if you are in the States then the range of older compounds is much bigger. As for me and older compounds I wanted a cheap compound because I was getting back into archery after a long lay off buget was tight and I wanted some thing that would throw an arrow 100yds that I would be able to pull. (I'm getting older now) so older compounds are some thing that interests me.
I got lucky I bought an old Oneida off Ebay and it could have been a bust but I found the Oneida forum on their web site and was helped by the guys there.I noticed that a lot of the guys on that forum still shot older bows so they last well. Have a look on Ebay.com, do a search on Oneida in the sporting goods section. You should find some thing, Look at
www.oneidaeaglebows.com and get on the forum there and ask questions to find out more.If you can get a reasonable bow.Find an archery club if you can and go along and see what is out there and get some help.
If you are on a buget then I would say shoot off fingers first for a while it will be cheaper and it will teach you more about archery but it won't be as easy as using a release. have a look at
www.archerytalk.com as well. more to follow later