I understand the pay cash theory. My point was that he still believes you can get a semi reliable car for $1000. I drove a lot of beaters in the winters when I was younger, back in the 70's and 80's you could get a halfway decent car for $1000 but that was 40 yrs ago. I believe he may be a little out of touch with the current vehicle market.
I see plenty of people that leased a vehicle for a decent monthly cost and have the advantage of driving a modern, reliable, warrantied vehicle with advanced safety features for the same monthly outlay that other spend trying to keep a beater on the road (tires, batteries, repairs etc)
Driving a beater only works if you have the time, skills and resources to keep up with it. I got my Cruze for a decent price but I have also done a bunch of work to it. New tires, TPMS sensors, engine fan repair, trans service, coolant service, brake fluid replacement etc, all the things that are needed to keep an older car reliable in my opinion.