The toy is prety robust looking and seems well made. It still looks the same as when we bought it, and that is amazing seeing that my son is quite rough with his toys. The car is quite big, and not really to scale with the smaller toy cars we own, such as the Hotwheels, which can be a bit of a problem when you are playing with it, as you have no other cars the same size to interact with. The friction mechanism on the car is very poor, virtually non existent. It is not the pull back and let go type of mechanism, but the rev up mechanism, and it just does not work well on this car, which after all, is meant to be a racing car! It pushes along the floor just fine, though.
The wheels of the car are quite large and have a nice rubbery "tyre effect" on the outer rims. We have had no problems with wheels getting stuck or breaking off. Roary is wearing a white plastic cap, which enables him to say five different phrases when it is pressed. This is powered by 3 x 1.5v button batteries, and I have not had to replace the batteries in all the time I have had the toy. The car voice is quite cute, although the phrases are a bit annoying after a while!
I must admit that this is not really a popular toy in our house, and does not get played with nearly as much as the other toys. After I bought it, my son lost interest in it very quickly, and also lost interest in the TV show too. I don't really know why he didn't take to the toy, as he enjoys playing with his other cars and toys regularly, but never seems to bother with this one. I do occasionaly hear Roary say one of his phrases, but that is usually because he has been knocked by another toy that my son is getting out of the toybox.
I can't really fault this toy, as it is well made and seems to tick all of the boxes. It just isn't a favourite in our house. I am sure that this toy would suit die hard fans of the show, but I think what lets it down most is the fact that you can't really interact well with other toys because of the slightly larger size.