I think what he is saying here is that this is what his SON said to him, followed by a LOL.
I took that as a joking statement from his son, not a father dangling a "car" out for his son.
My son makes sarcastic, joking comments like this all the time. I don't think that dad is trying to do anything underhanded here, just sounds to me like he and his son have a pretty good relationship, even though the only communication they have is through email at this point.
Maybe kid doesn't want him spending money he probably doesn't have. It sounds like the kid wants him to save that money for when he moves to NYC @ 18 and they CAN have a father son relationship.
Just my opinion.