Hi, my name is James and I'm a bassist living in Buffalo, New York. I play in quite a few groups, and also work as an instructor at a music school that provides free lessons to kids in the community. Playing the bass, I need a vehicle to get my equipment to and from performances. I was lucky the last few years to have an older Saturn station wagon, affectionately named Bluto.

Recently, while I was away on a music tour, my family tried to help me out and get my car in shape to pass NYS inspection. Instead, they were informed my rear subframe was no longer attached to the vehicle and could not be reattached ever again. I kind of knew it was broken, but not to what extent. (Hit a massive pothole with hundreds of pounds of equipment in the back last summer. Crazy noise. Just avoided potholes after that.) Dropped off old Bluto at a junkyard earlier this week.

My partner and I are sharing a vehicle now, but this will be an issue going forward as she returns to work and my schedule gets busier again. I'm looking for enough to buy something relatively cheap, in decent working order, and have some money left over to make emergency repairs. Funds will also be used to make repairs to her vehicle. (even brakes are expensive these days).

A quick Google search says the average used car in America these days is $25k (lol what). I'm hoping to find something in the $5,000-$8,000 range, that will not need too much work.