Faults:

Non-start with no electric.

General Comments:

This was easily my lowest maintenance vehicle. I had it for 15 years and pumped relatively little money into it. It was comfortable as well as reliable.

Even with the 6 cylinder, very low on power though. No problem getting up hills, but you wouldn't want to pull out into fast moving, heavy traffic without a significant space cushion.

It did develop a slow oil leak somewhere after 100,000 miles, so I had to keep an eye on that. Around the same time, if you were in stop and go traffic on a hot day, the temperature gauge would make you nervous - it would almost be pinned.

In the end it would randomly fail to start. Might have been something electrical, as turning the key resulted in no response, not even the gauge lights, but again at that point the car had a lot of miles on it.

Faults:

Battery at 140,200 miles.

Drive belt at 151,650 miles.

Front struts at 156,300 miles.

General Comments:

Very good car all around; very quiet, fast, handles well for me, and is fuel efficient; gas mileage ranges from 27-30 mpg.

I want to say few mechanical problems, but it is fine because I have had the car for 4 years, and put as many miles on it as I have, and it has been really reliable, and still runs the same as it did when I purchased it.

Faults:

After I first bought the car, I had regular maintenance on it; battery, belts, tires and oil change.

Had to get a new alternator at 75,000 miles.

The engine started knocking real bad at 85,000 miles and would not go over above about 30MPH. That lasted about a month, and I was going to get rid of it because of that problem, but it stopped by itself, and I never had that problem again.

At 98,000 miles, my engine seized up, and I would have had to get a new engine. So that's when I got rid of the car.

Never got it over 100,000 miles.

The paint job on this years model was extremely bad! It chipped off almost 75% of the car.

The heat and air conditioning went out at about 78,000 miles.

It rusted easy.

General Comments:

I called my Lumina the "tank/snow plow/race car."

It handled very well in the snow and I'm talking about 8+ inches! Never got stuck in the snow the six winters I drove in that car.

I had hit a deer going 60MPH, and all I needed was a new headlight and hood.

Got rear ended 3 times, and never had any major damage. At speeds of about 5MPH, 10MPH and 30MPH.

For a bigger car, it was fast and was comfortable.

A lot of trunk space and leg room in the back.

Faults:

Nothing as of yet.

Oh wait. That pull out single cup holder kind of blows...

General Comments:

I bought the 1996 Chevy Lumina as a car to get me through the winter season. It was under $700, had decent tires, and most important, the heat worked. I figured it will have to last just long enough to get some cash saved up to get a newer car.

The Lumina has a pretty good sized dent in the hood, the rocker panels are pretty much toast, and the rear fender panel on the driver side is rusted through right above the wheel.

Other than that, the body doesn't seem in too bad of shape. When I bought the car, it had just over 200,000 miles on it. I was a little nervous about this, but I figured it would just have to last me through the winter. My work isn't but a few minutes from my house, and other than that, I just don't drive a lot anyway.

Well enough with the brief history of the car, time for the review.

Its been over a year, and I still got it, and other than basic maintenance, I haven't had to do anything but put gas in it. It runs like a champ for having now over 250,000 miles, and still has a ton of life left.

I have the base model with the 3.1 that is actually pretty decent on gas, and an automatic transmission that still shifts really smooth.

The interior is pretty rough, but it is really roomy and comfortable on the occasional long trips I take.

Being front wheel drive, it doesn't do too bad in snowy conditions either.

I have really only had one problem with it, and it has been the cup holder. It is too large for most cup sizes, especially coffee, which I like to bring with me on my way to work or whatever, and it really seems kind of flimsy, like it's going to break at any moment. But that is the only thing I could think of that I would really change about the initial design.