I'll be payin off Colleen in a month or two. I want a second vehicle. This is what I found so far (all insurance quotes are with my GT, and per month):

91 Lumina 3kUSD 80kMi ins: 158

96 Olds Ciera 2kUSD 170k ins: 168

85 Firebird 2kUSD unk miles ins: 156

86 Bronco II 1500USD 80k ins: 175

94 Corsica 3kUSD unk miles ins:180

Now bear in mind that I KNOW these are high miles, but I want a beater that I can pay off within a year. Maybe sooner.

Well if your into offroading and things like that, I know from experiance the Bronco II would be a fun "project" vehicle! Drop a 306ci in there and that will make that Bronco buck!

If your looking for a second dayly driver, then the Lumina from what i've herd gets decent gas millage (im not a fan of them tho, just the styling of it) and the olds is alil to many miles for my likeing, that would just turn into a headache

My grandparents had a 91 Lumina and they didn't have any issues with it. And on top of that it was a prior rental!

So given your list of choices and the fact it's gonna be a DD then I'd say go for the Lumina.

The Bronco would be a fun project but you said your looking for a DD not a project.

Yep, herd nothing but good things for the Lumina, Just with me it was my personal prefrences with styling, lol, but good car to run into the ground

Grab the Lumina... good chance it has a 3.1 in it. Decent engine and it should last you. Parts are cheap as well if something does go wrong.

pick up a mid-90's monte carlo. you can get them cheap and they're a fun car to drive. I still miss my 95 z-34.

I see a good amount of luminas where I live, so it must be a good car, but I dont like the body style.

z34? 3.4 DOHC... avoid like the plague. They're great running engines when they run, they're a royal pain to work on when something goes wrong however. Not something you want in a beater.

I didnt mean for him to get a z34 specifically. I just really liked my z34 and yes, it was problem child. (Red too) The LS has a 3.1 and the 98+ had an available 3800.

id go with the lumina, and i say stay away...far away from the olds if it has the tech 4 in it

As I've worked on all of these at one time or another, in my experience the Luminas, Corsicas, and Cieras were good cars overall. I recall some Luminas having engines replaced under warranty, due to problems with the engine's bottom end. As an aside, I'm not fond of any engine with the coil packs and ignition module buried down by the starter, but that's just me. Also, avoid the 2.2L and 2.5L engines; 2.2L had a lot of head gasket problems and 2.5L sound like cement mixers, due to their gear drives, and the valve covers were constant oil leaking headaches. Run away, run away!!
I know of a couple of '85 Firebirds (both with 2.8L engines) that are decent running cars to this day. My buddy has one of them, in very nice condition, with a manual trans, no A/C, and the Performance Suspension. He plans to swap in a V-8 in the future.

Didn't some luminas come with the 3800 series I ?

THE BRONCO II !!!!!!... THAT WAS THE FIRST RIDE I EVER HAD AND I LOVED IT...BEWARE OF THE TRANNY THOUGH

Im guessing they did, but I know a few cops where I live have LTZ luminas, but I don't know what engine it is for the LTZ, maybe a 3.8?