TMR_LUMINA Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Hey guys i am new to this platform. not new to building motors or building cars. but new to luminas. or W bodys. My Daily Driver is a 1994 pontiac sunbird LE 2 door with the 2.0 Liter ATX... My summer car/track car is a 1994 dodge Stealth RT TT. with to many mods to list. 6 speed MTX.. my sunbird is a total POS and i am sick of it. I have the option to buy my sisters 1992 4 door Lumina with the 3.1 V6 ATX. the lumina only has 51K original miles!!!! my sister is the second owner and barely drives it. it has brand new tires as of last month. brand new plugs and wires. new brakes and a few other little things. so anyways. it is dent free/rust free. spotless gorgeous car. and she will sell it to me for 2500$ I want to know...are these decent cars? as I put miles on it what will break first/need to be replaced. How fast are these cars. i know they are not track bound cars or fast cars. but is it going to struggle to get up to high way speeds like my sunbird? what is everyones opinion on the 4 door 1992 lumina. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadfoot Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I would buy that in a heatbeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxie500XL Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Well, as far as speed... I'd rate the 3.1 in a Lumina as "slightly better than adequate". It's no race car, but it won't be straining nearly like your Sunbird... And, with decent maintainence, they're durable. My brother-in-law had a '92 Lumina Euro with the 3.1, and drove it nearly 400,000 miles before selling it to someone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhatTheFehl Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Check for body rot in the rockers and on the rear trailing arm mounts, w-bodies love to rust in these places. Overall these are pretty solid, reliable cars. The brakes kind of suck but you can upgrade to the 94-96 rears and 96+ fronts pretty cheaply and easily with junkyard parts, and they are much more reliable. Turn signal switches sometimes go bad, you can usually get away with cleaning and resetting the contacts, though I have never done that myself, I just replaced mine. That's really about it... keep the oil and coolant changed and the transmission serviced regularly and it should last you a good, long time. They aren't the fastest thing on four wheels but IMHO they are very acceptable for a DD and should be a big upgrade from a 2.0 liter. I would only suggest you take it for a test drive and find out for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMR_LUMINA Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 thanks for all of the replies. Its my sister so shes not trying to screw me over and im not going to offer less than the deal she is already giving me . but the original owner was like 70 year old lady and garaged it its whole life. and my sister has put 5000miles on it with no issues. i think i will buy it. it has fresh black paint that her boyfriends shop did. because the original baby blue was ugly lol. but its black and i will throw some black hub caps on it and tint the windows. throw in new speakers and and a nicer radio and just keep it for the next few years. i just need something to get through college with and i refuse to take my stealth lol. I did read that the 3.1 gives out 140 horse and 185 torque. horse is at 4400rpm and toque at 3300rpm. the sunbird puts out like 105 horse lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertISaar Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 "speed" will also be determined somewhat by the trans... in 92, you could get the 3.1 with a 3T40 or 4T60. the 4T60 got a 3.33 final drive and the 3T40 got something like a 2.86... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 I would buy that car in a heartbeat. I loved mine, it was the most reliable car I've owned. I was never unhappy with the braking power, however I was replacing brakes probably every 11 months or so. They're cheap enough to where it wasn't a huge deal. Where are you located? Rust free is another huge plus. Pics of the 3s??? Welcome to the site btw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMR_LUMINA Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 located in michigan. ill put pics of the stealth on photo bucket and then share the link. just give me a minute. 3S cars are great but reliability is not always where it should be lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Haha I've heard. My roommate has a 91 VR4. I'm sure he'll find this thread eventually and say what's up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted January 29, 2013 Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 Should be a good, reliable vehicle, and you should get decent gas mileage as well. As long as you aren't too hard on the throttle. As mentioned above, just normal regular maintenance and it should be trouble free. Brakes are cheap and easy to replace, so that would be the last thing I would worry about. I would also suggest checking out the rear suspension- trailing arm mounts mostly but the rear rockers and around the wheel well like to rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMR_LUMINA Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 they are fast. but damn expensive to keep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMR_LUMINA Posted January 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2013 ill be sure to check for everything you guys have mentioned. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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