I’ve had one for eleven years. It’s been paid off for five. I get 40 mpg on a flat highway. It’s got 239,000 miles on the odometer and has had only regular maintenance and a replaced clutch at about 190,000. Best car I ever owned, hands down.
My Brother-in-Law gave me his old 97 Lumina. It now has 202,000 miles on it. He did nothing except the normal things which happen to all cars but no major maintenance.
The same week I got it, a warning light came on. As luck would have it, Wal-Mart was clearing out a code reader that same week. It was marked down from $100 to $25.
It indicated “insufficient flow in the egr valve” It took me a week to look it up on the internet and I eventually cut the magnet off a pick-up tool and chucked the handle in a drill.
The device worked perfectly. As I squeezed on the drill the flexible wire was wound in a direction which literally pulled itself through the channel. I ran it though a few times, sprayed a little carb cleaner and ran it a few more times and it was clear. The light went off and has not come back on.
now it runs very smoothly but I keep hearing noiese in the rear which I can’t figure out. It is front wheel drive so it might be rear shocks.