I had a 92 with th 3.1 really liked it seemed like a solid car had like 215000 on it when i sold it only complaint i had was it went through 3 altanaters pretty darn quick for some reason

 

I have been around a 93 & 99 Lumina, both with a 3.1 and both my parents old cars. The 93 was a good car, although it had overheating trouble when it was traded with 135,000 miles. I was very rough on it, and it was a fun car, although I didn't care much for it at the time. I am driving the 99 now, which is nice, because I don't have to put all that cheap diesel in the Dodge. It has a check engine light on all of the time. My parents took it to the shop to have it reset once or twice, then finally decided that it wasn't worth the money. Aside from that, it has had some small problems, but nothing too bad. Just spun past 100K the other day. I can get about 26+ mpg on a long trip and 23 mixed driving, and I usually drive kinda fast or uneconomically. Compared to my sister's Sable (with the 24V 3L), the power is disappointing, but the Lumina is easier to service a work on, it looks better, and it has a more comfy interior (better seats, radio, more room). Gas mileage is about the same.

 

Back then my parents owned a 91 Lumina 3.1, that car was fun to drive and very smooth then we sold it to my sister and what happened was during the winter season when she would stop, she would push the gear in (N), a couple years of doing this ruined the transmission and the converter and now its parked but that car was very reliable and had alot of room.

 

my moms got a 93 buick lasabre, its a great car. got the 3.8L v6 with just under 120,000 miles on it. its been a good car for her no major problems. i can agree MJD, my sisters got a 96 mercury sable with the 3.0 24v duratech, she bought it with 95,000 miles on it and just got it tuned up, this little engine screams. ive never driven a fwd car that will boil the tires like this thing does. although for longevity im gonna go with the buick.

 

my sister has a little 3.0 in her cutlass calais. that motor will screem too. it just flat out hauls the mail. the speedometer goes up about like the rpms do on my car. i think her 3.0 has 75 more hp than my 3.1. my 3.1 is a dog though.

 

My mom has a 1990 Grand prix withthe 3.1. Runs very good, and is very resposive. I ahve noticed that their must be different varyations in engine management cause some are a little slow, while others scream. My mom's car will hit redline before it shifts under full throttle. The older 3.1's seem to be more relyable than the newer style, as they don't blow the intake gaskets. Basically the same engine below the intake though.

 

Anyone else here witness the "blow-up contest" at the FTE Rally in KC this past summer? Drained the oil and coolant from a Grand Prix with a 3.1, started it up and let it run till it seized. You'd think it would go AT LEAST 3-4 minutes, right? WRONG! Try EIGHTEEN SECONDS!! I have heard of Luminas going lots of miles, but that's all I can say for the car. Compared to a Taurus, the seats are park benches with a little bit of foam padding, the handling and steering response is sub-par, far more major quality issues (talk to anyone about the Lumina's rear disc brakes failing, and the paint peeling), and far less creature comforts. The Lumina APV mini-van was one of the longest-lasting, highest-initial-quality vehicles ever built by GM, but I was never impressed with the sedan.

 

I'm going to disagree with that Jeff- although the comments about the sub-par seating, paint, and creature comforts are correct. Ford wasn't exactly at the top of their game when it came to quality during that era either, and we won't even talk about Mopar. We still see those stoopid Luminas come back with 200-300K miles on them. They aren't worth anything, but they were incredibly durable and reliable.

My mother had a '90 Lumina Euro, and Mrs. Bear had two of those dustbuster-shaped vans way back when. The Lumina got sold to an employee after mom passed away (8 years ago), and it's still running around with almost 200k on it now. And yeah, the paints peeling.

 

MarkII, My 99' doesn't have rear disc brakes, I've yet to have any paint peel off and this is after 124,500 miles (should be 125k by the end of the week). I actually purchaced this car because it didn't have rear disc brakes, or that stupid fiberglass rear spring, and the fact that it did have the 3.1L engine, and has basically the same features as the tauruses of the time but better looking than that year tuarus or sabel.

I know all about the rear disc brake issues because my Cutlass Supreme had them, which cost me over $500 to get the rears disc's working again, what a PITA.

Like I said earlier I do like our 02' taurus better in most regaurds but it also has 80,000 less miles and is 2 years newer. As far as features go they each have a few that the other does not. The taurus has a rear folding seat, a CD player (optional equ though), more than one cup holder, Courtousy Lights in the mirrors, a keyless remote, lights in the visor mirrors and two visors per side (so you can have one on the side window and one on the front window), a much larger battery, and a compartment to stick stuff like cell phones, CDs ect ect ect (the Lumina has none of these features). On the other had the Lumina has Auto Lamps, map lights in the rear view mirrors, auto lock button, and a quiter interior. Wow, when I actually put the Items on paper the Taurus has quite a few more, It probably should since its an SES model and the Lumina is the standard LS model, I still think when it comes right down to it they are pretty comparable.

 

I had a 90 Beretta with the 3.1 and that thing was a great little car. I sold it with 178,000 on it and the only thing I had to do to it was replace the alternator 4 times which was more due to me having aftermarket stereo and amps, other than that it was a very solid motor. The Lumina held up as well as any car of that day as long as the oil was changed and there was a little maintenance done to it.

 

The Chevy Beretta was another cool car by GM especially the Z24 Beretta!