said by jsbaker: Had a 96 lumina for about a month before as a loaner, was a nice car but seen a lot of them with issues. It's a GM so it never would ahve been an option on my plate anyways. My sister has a 2003 Taurus and it has had some issues but she has 5 kids who don't care and a husband who is an idiot so I can imagine they had a lot to do with the problems but yes those two are known to be problematic.
I personally would never buy a Lumina or a Taurus just becuase of the reliability factor. I don't know what your price range or space reuqirements are but there has got to be something better
Well, neither of them is my first choice, but I have very bad credit and very little job history so it's not possible for me to get a loan. I need a car to get back and forth to my new job so it's not as if I can save my money and pay cash. My only option is buy here pay here places and there is only one that I know of that isn't a complete rip off. I know several people who got cars from this place and never had any issues and were treated very well. 
