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I agree. Don't spend any money on that Lumina. You bought one of GM's worst cars ever. Used as a police car makes it even worse.
I think I'd look for a used Ford Focus or Mazda Protege. My BIL bought a used Mazda 626 for $2500 and although the interior doesn't look good it is very good mechanically.
The Mazda 626 had one of the worst automatic transmissions known to man, I see them for sale more often with blown trannys than without.
Why is everyone saying the 2nd generation Lumina is such an awful car? It's very unspectacular, bland and loaded with crap interior trim....but aside from being unremarkable, it's fine. The GM 3800 V6 was on Ward's 10 Best Engines of the 20th Century list for chrissakes! This is nowhere close to being one of the worst cars GM ever made...
If this Lumina was used in a patrol/pursuit capacity I would be more worried about suspension and/or CV joint/axle wear....but unless it was a marked cruiser I highly doubt it was anything more than a take home car for a detective. Fleet vehicles usually have routine maintenance done and the miles are very low for an 11 year old vehicle (90k). The fuel system wear is premature, for sure, but it still isn't anything serious. The 3.8l motor means this car also came with the sturdy 4T65-E transmission and HD suspension components.
I wouldn't be comfortable sinking 2 grand into it either, but see if you can do some of the work yourself (fuel rail and filter are a piece of cake) or get some friends to help out. With the Lumina, you at least know what you're getting yourself into....it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to spend that same amount of money on a car with more miles and potentially just as many problems.
A Volvo 850 S70/V70 would work well as well if you are willing to learn how to fix things yourself. 30 mpg highway and much safer than a tiny Toyota. The biggest thing with cars is fixing them yourself will save you a ton of money.
Can you do any of the items yourself? Labor is what costs the most.
A fuel filter is usually an easy fix, it usually just unscrews from the underside with a wrench...usually inline with the fuel line.
The fuel pump, if it's in tank would require a drop of the tank and r&r....done it on my Buick Regal, piece of cake. Just make sure the tank is almost empty and borrow a floor jack to take it down/put it up...or call up a few friends and buy 'em beer and pizza to help.
Not sure why you'd need a new intake manifold....they're usually made out of aluminum or cast iron and don't just wear out....at best the intake manifold gasket might be leaking...if one went bad yes it would allow some coolant to bypass and make it's way into the lifter valley which would eventually end up in your crank case.....not sure how much labor on your car it would be, I've only replaced them on 350 Chevy's while doing an intake upgrade.
Where is the fuel rail leaking? IIRC where the injectors go into the rail is an o ring. If those o rings go bad it'll leak.
Have you had another shop check out your car? Something is telling me whoever looked at your car is blowing a lot of smoke up your rear trying to get you to spend more than you should.
I trust the shop I went to, been going there for many years with my other cars and they always treated me good. I'm not sure where the fuel rail is leaking, but was told by the shop that he could see where someone tried to fix it by welding it but didn't do a very good job which is why it's leaking again.
The intake manifold on this car isn't out of any type of metal... It's plastic, yes, plastic. Crazy of GM to use plastic on the engine.
Unrelated, but I don't have much of a social life here, so I really don't have any friends I can just call up and ask for help, and I've never worked on cars before so I am pretty much stuck with taking any car I have to the shop unless it's something very simple.
You know beater are not has easy has they once where to find.many people do not have the time to do DIY because they could be making more money. For these types a beater can become a really money pit with the cost of repairs. The thnig is to know the person you buy from and know what has been done to maintain the vehicle. For the guy that lies or has the time to do repairs that is fine but not for someone whp doesn't and times work more money than its worth.
I had an '82 Toyota RWD Corolla. It was great fun until the rust demon ate it. I once had it at Louden, NH speedway and was cornering at close to 90 on the main track. Spooky as the front end was lifting and the care was pushing like crazy.
Both of my cars are beaters. new cars are not worth the money in a place that salts the roads. I buy them almost dead and drive them until they stop casting a shadow.
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