It's not a responsibility issue or anything else. He is waiting to get an apartment in the other city because we need him taking care of the farm for a few weeks this summer while we move our daughter in to college. What you thought you read in this post was not it. He could also pay cash for damn near any car he wants but he would rather save that money for a down payment on a house when he is ready. He spends money like every dollar out of his pocket comes with a knife to the gut.
Sounds like he is doing pretty well then and has a good sense to him...
Just break it down to the brass tacks... For the money he would pay for another car, it would take probably 10 to 15 years in fuel saving to pay for that newer vehicle...
Most folks I know who are very well off, drive older vehicles, and have more fun living and toy cars or trucks than wasting money on daily driver car notes or huge deprecation to impress people you don't know.
Whatever makes him happy and he can do it while he has the time in his life to do so, then so be it. That's very respectable he is handling the farm in this instance.
Personally If I were young, Id rock what he has for another year or 2, stockpile the cash for down payment on a house and then think about vehicle change.
Sounds like you raised a good kid and sorry for my response seeming a bit harsh, but that is how I am most of the time, harsh and to the point..