The Chevrolet Lumina was an affordable, mass-market Chevrolet that didn’t have much to offer in the way of style or performance. While we’re sure it served as a perfectly fine family vehicle for many of Americans, it’s not really the type of car one would buy to keep under a cover.
For that reason, we’re left wondering what the story is behind this very clean 1994 Chevrolet Lumina Euro currently for sale at Gateway Used Cars in Greeneville, Tennessee. This was driven sparingly, currently showing just under 60,000 on the odometer, and appears to have been very well taken care of. The paint and body look extremely clean and the interior is spotless. We’ve seen brand-new cars with only a few thousand miles on them that have more wear and tear on their driver’s seat than this Lumina.
The Lumina Euro was powered by the available 3.1L V6 engine, which produced about 135 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque. This model features the optional 4T60 four-speed automatic transmission, though a five-speed Getrag manual transmission was also offered in certain Lumina models.
While this Lumina may be old, it’s not so different than many of today’s similarly sized sedans, which have about the same passenger and cargo space and produce similar amounts of power. The Lumina Euro was also rated at 29 mpg highway and 19 mpg city, according to the listing, so it’s not so bad on gas for an old car, either. It’s definitely lacking on safety features compared to modern-day four doors, though, but one can only expect so much for $4,189.
Check out the listing for this clean 1994 Chevrolet Lumina at this link and feel free to let us know what you think of it in the comments down below.
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Comments
A blast from the past.
One thing that stands out to me is the massive visibility out from the drivers seat. The very low dash, door sills and because the safety standards were not as tough back then, the A, B and C pillars are not so huge. Compare that to a modern day Impala or (for size purposes) the Volvo S60 in which you must have the blind spot monitor and other safety systems just because the visibility is not nearly as good.
But what cool old car!
My family had a 1992 Lumina when I was growing up that we bought brand new. I always thought the Chevrolet Beretta GTZ of that era was pretty cool too.
The engine power figures should be 140 HP and 185 LBS Ft of torque according to both a Chevy brochure and various other sources like CR and consumer Guide magazine. 1994 also was the first year that the Lumina got the 4T60E which was the electronic version of this trans axle. Most of these did have ABS but a driver’s and passenger air bag were not available putting the Lumina at a disadvantage compared to the Taurus and GM’s own Pontiac Grand Prix which got dual air bags this year. The Cutlass and Regal got a driver’s air bag but didn’t get the passenger until a year later.
These cars had their pluses. One being the excellent side and rear visibility and an open airy cabin. They also rode and handled well for the time with the more solid W-body chassis. Brakes were 4 wheel disk across the board. The rear suspension used a fiberglass mono-leaf. The issue was the usual one. GM and the bean counters. The W-body program cost a fortune and at the time was the “next big thing”. The trouble is the usual GM issues soon became apparent. The interiors fell apart with pieces of carpet coming unglued, door edge moldings shrinking, misaligned interior bits and a general cheapness to the overall interior quality. The dash layout was not the easiest to see. The lack of at least a driver’s air bag was a letdown and over site on GM’s part when most competitors had them. The 3.1 liter V6 had good off the line power but soon became breathless as the RPM’s rose. The 4T60 trans axle was okay by this point, especially in electronic form with smooth shifts. The other big issue with these cars were the rear brakes which often were frozen in place. A revised grease by this point helped but it was telling that the all new 1995 Lumina ditched both the mono-leaf and the rear disk brakes for the new car. Even the 3.1 was improved in 3100 form with smoother, quieter operation and a much better power band and IMO was a better car overall than this first generation.
i wonder how long the intake has been leaking coolant into the oil
Yes, because no other cars ever have issues, right?
did not say that no others had no issues but this was an ongoing one for years and if not caught early a fatal one
That may be somewhat true. Just seems to be kind of a stupid comment IMO. But maybe I”m wrong. And btw, this was not a real difficult issue to fix and once done, you could get a bunch more miles on them. Gaskets in all cars can and will fail, and how the car has been taken care of will either prolong any issues or accelerate them.
Your confusing the 1994-2005 3100 SFI engine series along with it’s 3400 brother. The older 140 HP 3.1 liter engine didn’t actually suffer this issue but you still didn’t want to overheat these motors as with any that featured aluminum heads.
not confused these intakes leaked probably put one of my kids through school fixing them at $500 a pop 6hr job head gaskets were an issue also
The only midsize American car from that era I’d drive is a Taurus SHO 5-speed. I’d like the GM 3.4 DOHC even the Chrysler 2.2 Turbo 3 but the Yamaha motor stood the test of time.
I spent roughly 250,000 miles in two Lumina Eurosports sedans. They were company issued sales cars, a 1990 and a 1992 and both had the 3.1 with the 4 speed auto, bucket seats and a shifter on the floor.
Ironically both were silver like the pictured survivor.
The good – spacious, easy to haul people, and they would return an honest 32MPG out on the road. The tuned exhaust note on Euro’s was kinda cool too and with the larger tires and tuned suspension the handling was a cut above (they replaced the Celebrity so the bar was admittedly pretty low) most other GM offerings at that time.
The bad, OH BOY were there quality issues (I did not have gasket problems) with the interior panel and IP fit and finish, AC, and steering modules. I knew my service adviser on a first name basis.
Quick note – a transmission failure diagnosis (bouncing between overdrive and 3rd) was solved by my family mechanic by replacing the thermostat for about $40.
I agree with the writer, not a car to put a cover over but its nice to see that one survived the crusher. GM Oshawa turned these out by the thousands and I would believe this is one of the very few remaining 4 doors in this condition.
Another lump that will make a great boat anchor. But it gets good fuel mileage. The v6’s of today don’t do any better. Goes to show you that the internal combustion engine has long ago been refined as much as it can be when it comes to mpg.
I still have mine. Owned since new. 1994 Chevrolet Lumina 4 door Euro 3.1V6 with over 285,000 miles. That engine is BULLET PROOF!!!. Mine runs and sounds great. Oil changed on normal intervals. Yes it had the intake manifold gaskets done at about 113,000 miles, only time engine has been touched. Transmission has been rebuilt. All shocks and steering parts been changed. Still runs and drives as good as it did in 1994. Wish it looked as good as the one in the photo though. LOL.
I still own my Z34 and it is drove daily
Is this car still available for sale?