My 1990 Ford Taurus had served me well, hauling me all over the land with fairly little trouble. However, the seasons change and cars, even good cars, begin to show the ravages of time. At 180,000 miles, the ol' Taurus was ready to retire. Or die, I wasn't sure which- because at every stop light smoke came spewing from under the hood. Ugh. People were giving me alternatingly dirty or sympathetic looks as I rode about town. Really, I never intended to become an environmental nightmare!

So it was time to visit the car lots. Ugh. Gasp. Do we have to?

I needed some ammunition to counter the car salespeople. I am a really easy sell, (and so is my husband), so we have to be very careful when we shop. A good salesperson can wrap us around a pinkie finger faster than you can blink. I needed consumer advice and quick! So I turned to epinions.com and started perusing the car epinions. It wasn't long before I had it narrowed down to a few choice models. Now, I can't exactly say that I purchased my vehicle because E-trustme said that it was a good car, but the information really helped. After reading that e on this make and model, I was really kind of set on finding myself a Lumina.

And we did. My husband might tell you that I bought this car because it is an extremely pleasant shade of lavender. This is not the case. I bought the car because it is a solid investment. (Well, as solid as cars go, I guess.)

Mileage
I am extremely pleased with the mileage this car gets. V6 engine, 3.1 L. On average, I get about 28 miles/gallon with a mixture of city and highway driving. The tank holds about 15 gallons, so I appreciate that I don't have to fill up as often. After all, I am a busy woman on the go- who has time to stop? (Uh- that was a joke...)

Interior
Dual Air bags. Count 'em two cupholders... What more could you want? Ok, the interior is rather plush and very very roomy. You could fit 5 people relatively comfortably. The driver's arm rest has a compartment inside so you can put your Cds or whatnot in there. The plush is protected with some sort of stain guard so that if you spill your beverage, it is rather easy clean up.

The trunk is massive. You can't put an elephant in there, but it sure holds a lot of groceries.

The Ride
Smooth like butter. In my former vehicle, I was subjected to very rough shaking at any speed over 45mph. Good for making milkshakes, not so good for comfort. In the Lumina, I found myself trucking down the highway at about 80mph. I only realized that I was speeding like crazy when I noticed that the cars that I was passing were mere blurs in my periphery. Ha. Ha ha. Naturally I resumed legal speed.

Miscellaneous
This would make a great family car. It's roomy, comfortable, dependable, and retails at a fair price. Unless of course you want a mammoth car like an SUV or a minivan...

As far as repairs go, we haven't had any yet. My car is at a piddley 30,000 miles currently, so I will be sure to update as the inevitable develops.

Did I mention that my car is lavender?

This epinion was written as a contribution to Vormancian's Epinions Works Write Off. I hope that you will find the time to check out some other fine work by the following writers:

MrsNormanMaine, Benho, Owling, deaser26, dequebec, Social14, Suehappy, Lisa_J, Epicure, pageclot, kcfoxy, kuuleimomi, Stephen_Murray, Drlolipop, Xeno3998, sumo_rhino, Barnz, mike.holmes, repulsemonkey, Joubert, KingpinLJC, eplovejoy

It's bound to be informative.
Amount Paid (US$): 6000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1995