Questions about starting the bassoon

I am not the one starting the bassoon, my dad is, but I am definitely no newbie to music, especially classical music, so any hard lingo will be translated by me to him.

For context:

He has 0 musical background, and is 56 years old. He wants to start the bassoon because he likes low instruments and he enjoys the bassoon’s sound. It sounds intriguing to him and he genuinely seems to light up and look happy when he hears one. He asked me about it and that’s why I’m here. He even tried making me start the bassoon when I was younger but we couldn’t find a teacher. I know a teacher now so don’t worry about that, he will have one.

Oh, and I’ll make him practise. He will have (and make) free time for it and I’ll make sure to remind him because I value practising as it works.

In terms of money, he is wealthy. While I don’t know his exact net worth, he does have a lot of money and is good with it so he will be perfectly fine spending money on it, he just needs to know about how much it costs.

Onto the questions:

1) How much do they cost?

2) Maintenance? How much is it to maintain them, clean them, how long will it take?

3) Similar to the last. I know that you should take instruments yearly just to get stuff done (restringing string instruments, pad cleans and general flute stuff for flute, etc.). This is very specific to each instrument, so what are the specifics for bassoon? Is the “yearly rule” still intact, and what does the “repairing” or “revoicing” entail?

4) How long will it take before he can practise to get better? On the flute its when you can form an embouchure and proper posture so that you can even play it. What is it like on the bassoon?

5) With all of the above, could he play it? I don’t subscribe to the “adults have a hard time playing musical instruments” thing, but the bassoon may be an exception. Answer honestly.