Uh..no. I'll disagree w/ that. Steve isn't gonna get over confident w/ the car. He has driven my car and did damn well. He is extremely cautious and I think if he bought a cheaper car like Sand~~Snake's, he'd want to step up in no time flat. Why waste time w/ a car like that when he has his eye on something he knows he wants like a LONG travel. Should I have settled for a standard travel VW car when I bought my car??.....no. I had never driven in the dunes EVER before I bought my car and am extremely glad I purchased the car I did rather than starting cheap. I would have probably gotten extremely bored w/ a car like your're talking about as I already know Steve will too.
In my opinion, you don't need a "cheaper" car to learn how to drive in the dunes. Trust me, I know you don't need a high dollar car either to have fun, but Steve knows what he wants. That's all.