Arduino RF car cotinue to move, code to stop it?

In this code :

        if(buf[i] == '1')//if button 1 is pressed.... i.e.forward buton
      {
        forward();//go forward
        Serial.println(" = forward");
      }

Replace 'if' with 'while'.
ie.

        while(buf[i] == '1')//if button 1 is pressed.... i.e.forward buton
      {
        forward();//go forward
        Serial.println(" = forward");
      }

This is because once 1 is sent , the receiver retains the value , you need to change the program so that when the button isn't pressed , it sends 0 . Thus the code with while will work.