Gift or Grief?

[SamIam]

So, I have this friend back in my home town. I helped him out of a majorly bad situation back in the day and also loaned him some money which he never fully repaid.

This morning I got a call from my old buddy and the good news is that he wants to buy me a car. This is the second call from him that I've gotten re a car, so I think he means it. The bad news is that he wants to buy me a Chevy 4x4 truck for around $2,000.00.

And, yes, I'm looking this particular gift horse in the mouth. I certainly need a vehicle - I've been without a car for over a year now. I've started saving for a car, but I only have been able to put $500.00 aside so far. I figure that if I cut my budget to the bone, I can manage to put aside $5,000 in 12 to 18 months.

$5,000 should get me something dependable if not glamorous. But $2,000? I'm afraid that all a truck in that price range would gain me is repair bills. My friend is an amateur mechanic and he can probably handle most minor repairs. Unfortunately, I now live 400 miles away, and I'd be on my own for any automobile problems.

Should I take him up on his offer? Should I try to talk him into just contributing the $2,000 to my car fund? I don't mean to be ungrateful, I'm just worried about being saddled with a truck that will end up costing me more than a $5,000 one ultimately would.

Advise?