I bought a starter set with a German ICE 3 4-car set (around 150 Euros, less VAT but add postage to Oz). The powered car had 8-wheels driven and there were electrical couplings to feed power to the head and tail lights at each end, and the coaches are full scale length. Detail and finish were of a very high quality, which surprised me as they are supposed to be at the lower end of the market. I bought two more centre coaches, which cost rather more per coach than those in the set.
There are cheaper start sets with small 0-6-0 locomotives and 4-wheeled wagons, which look to offer excellent value for money. Price online 75 Euros.
Of course, these are no good if you want only British models, but I have been dabbling with European models for a while now, trying to keep the costs for this side interest down a bit. As such, Piko have impressed me with the quality of the mechanisms, even on the "cut-down" cheap Hobby series models such as the BR 218 diesel I have, which has solid side windows and moulded handrails (cost for this diesel was less than 60 Euros) - it has a heavy chassis block, smooth central 5-pole can motor with flywheels and 8-wheel drive, although, annoyingly, it also has traction tyres which it really doesn't need.
I haven't stopped buying better quality British models, but the quality of the cheap start sets is way below that of the German ones described above, to the point where I would be hesitant to recommend any of them.
