That even if you said it only worked for 6 months that would average to $250 a month, and even if it broke down after six months you can get *some* money back from it, even selling it to a scrap yard. You simply can't get that value with leasing or buying a car that has any sort of monthly payments. If his goal is to "save money" by driving something in the mean time, wouldn't it make sense to actually save money instead of wasting it?