Comments: 1-15, 16-28
Second day I got it, the passenger window motor burnt out.
Air pump a week later.
Tie rod replaced after 4 months.
About a year into ownership, I had to replace the exhaust manifold gasket.
Rack and pinion destroyed after a year and a half.
Air Shocks replaced.
Serpentine Belt replaced.
Ball Joints and Tie Rods replaced 2 years ago.
Motor Blew last year.
Replaced two starter motors and an alternator since owning the minivan.
Steering is always off. (To the right)
Passenger door handle busted.
Mass air flow sensor replaced.
Windshield turning white around the edges. My mechanic says it's common for these cars because they usually rust around the windshield first pulling a layer of the windshield apart.
Countless other small repairs I just don't have time to mention.
You may think I drive this minivan pretty hard. The truth is, I baby it because I can't afford the repairs. I've never missed an oil change!
My dad bought a Lumina APV against my recommendation and now he's paying for it. Blown motor, windshield problems I mentioned before, busted door handles, and many other miscellaneous problems.
Don't buy one!
Well I admit the Lumina isn't the best, and a few things aren't perfect. Most of the problems are user error. Broken door handles because someone tried to open a locked door too hard. etc. I own two Luminas one (1990) with 121,000 miles. The previous owner had to replace head gaskets at 39,000 miles and at 75,000 miles. At 121,000 miles I'm having no problems. The other Lumina (1991) has 136,000 miles. The previous owner had some problems and broke a few things, (door handles, windshield wipers, spare tire hanger, etc) but I fixed them all with almost no out of pocket expense. Paid only for parts that were missing. So as you see from two of the same vehicle there are very different results. User error is to blame for most auto problems. The Chevy Lumina APV is a great Family vehicle.
I agree with the comment above. My mom owns a 1994 Lumina APV. It has the bulletproof 3800 V6 and 161,000 miles on it. My mom has owned the van since it had 15,000 miles on it. In that time she has had the transmission cooling line go out (due to Minnesota's salt usage, this was replaced under a recall as it corroded away), replaced the starter and three alternators. Of course the passenger door handle does not work from the outside (thank my brothers). That's it. Nothing else has gone wrong with this van. It looks great due to the plastic/fiberglass body and it still has a fair amount of punch. This has been a great automobile.
I bought a 1995 Chevy Lumina APV 3 years ago. I have had to do the brakes twice which I consider routine. My driverside door handle broke. I have had to do both wheel bearings. But all of the parts on this thing are original. It has over 160,000 miles on it. Its taken me to Pennsylvania and back to St. Louis, to Florida and back and two trips to Chicago. It's a trustly little van! I consider the miles I put on it partially responsible for the amount of routine maintenance I have had to do on it. A friend of mine who works at the Tranny shop said they have a great tranny/engine combination in them. (I took it in mistakenly when the wheel bearing was "humming", they promptly let me know what it was and I fixed it accordingly)
I would recommend this van to anyone, especially if you have more than two kids that need the space to spread out!
I have a '93 APV Lumina van, 3.1L and I am very happy with it. I bought it used in '95 and never regretted it. Granted, it is now 11 years old, and it is starting to make a lot of rattling noises, but hey, that's expected of an 11 year old vehicle, (and badly kept roads as in the province of Quebec. For you American folks, that's up there north of the border). I still have the orginal exhaust system. I've changed the brakes twice, alternator, and the back hatch with a new lock, (a notoriuos problem with those locks on the hatch). Half of those repairs are routine on any vehicle. The fact that you can live this far north where salt is used constantly on the roads as in Montreal winters, and still have the original 11 year old exhaust system, is unheard of! Why do you think they stopped making the polyethylene bodies, because it was too good. No other manufacturer joined the party, so they pulled the plug on it and said this won't make us money. Lumina APV van owners will hang on to those vans as long as they can.
So if you find one out there, I say go for it!
Sorry to hear that about the first owner up there who had bad luck with his, 'cause I've run into many happy owners of Lumina APV's who also don't want to give up on theirs.
I bought a 1994 Lumina minivan used with 73K miles on it. (3.8L V6) I've owned a Nissan Sentra, a Ford Taurus and Dodge minivans. But, this Chevy has been my favorite car. It hasn't been trouble free, however. It now has 133K miles on it and I have had to replace tie rods and tie rod ends, a water pump, and I'm on my 4th alternator. (Always get the lifetime warranty!) I replaced spark plugs, wires, brake pads, rotors and tires as necessary. I repaired a broken passenger door handle, driver's seat bracket, an AC hose and clutch and I had to clean corrosion from the driver's side window switch from rain getting in when I forgot to let the windows fully up. With each repair I'm surprised how easy this car is to work on.
Appearance? The car is 10 years old and still has NO rust or dents thanks to the composite (plastic) body panels.
Performance? I modified the air intake with a 4" ram ducted from the bumper to a custom airbox with a K&N cone filter. My city mileage went from 15.5mpg to 18.5mpg! And, this van has very good acceleration and power.
Comfort? Seats are OK. Leg room in front is good - in back only OK. I replaced the middle seat second row with a custom subwoofer box. It still seats 6 thanks to the modular seating. I upgraded the (already nice) stereo and speakers. A portable TV/VCR unit fits perfectly between the two front seats for the kids on long trips.
Downsides? It's only cheap if you can do your own repairs. Good luck finding parts in the junkyard! (Not many of these cars end up junked.) And, the ride is not as smooth (soft) as, say... my 1990 Dodge Grand Caravan. (3.3L V6) But, I would recommend this car highly.
I am thinking of picking up a used 1991 Lumina APV for $800. I'm pretty convinced that once I make the needed repairs (old battery, both front inside AND outside door handles don't work, passenger door striker bolt broke off the door jamb, headliner sagging) that it will be a good van. How do I know this? Because at 307,000 MILES (not km, this is 494,000km) it runs, drives, shifts, turns, stops, and the AC is still cold. The interior is still clean. The body isn't falling apart. My 1991 Aerostar which I paid $1050 for, is rusting, the bumpers are loose and cracking, the interior is falling apart, and I've put $3K into repairs in one year. I'm looking forward to losing my A* and getting an APV. Will post here when I hit 350K or so.
I'm in Orlando, Fl. I bought a used 1994 Lumina APV van a year ago, with 58000 miles (true miles) I had the brakes done, alternator replaced, belt, battery, speed sensor, the oil changed, new coolant and gas filter all this done at the local Mobil oil center, and it now has 71000 miles, the engine 3800 V6 gets 360 miles to the tank of gas on a trip. I love it, the windows tinted for better air conditioning in Fla. I park it right beside my 04 Corvette, they look very nice together. I love my APV.
I agree w/all of the above except for #1. I have a 1990 Lumina w/over 230K miles and it is the most trustworthy, dependable vehicle I've ever owned. Certainly not w/out it's frustrating series of repairs over the years, but what car doesn't have them? It was my father-in-law's and I jumped at the chance when he said it was for sale, and like the posting above me, it does look nice parked next to a Corvette (s)..63, 75, 77, 78, 93 and 96!!! The Vettes are all for sale, the Lumina is a keeper!!!
I am in Toronto Canada. I agree with all the comments above, including #1. True I have now crossed 330 thousand kilometers and it is still running very well. Last month it started a very slow oil leak, which I still have not looked at due to the snow. I now need to replace my 2nd handle this time on the passenger side, but it is quite simple to do and for under 20$. GM realized the problem with their handles and the replacement part is much better. I too went through most of the repairs listed above, but in time. The van is almost 16 years old and most repairs that were done seemed to be regular maintenance. The wiper motor blew 2 years ago in January when the wipers were stuck in ice and by the time I got outside to get them loose the motor had stopped forcing. I felt partly responsible for this one, but again was very simple to replace. All that said I would recommend this van.
Well I kind of agree with everyone, INCLUDING the first comment. I bought this 1995 Lumina minivan brand new over 10 years ago and started having minor problems right away during the 3 year warranty period: both headrests were pulled through the foam to the metal beneath, the passenger side electric window stopped working twice and the dealer replaced the motor twice. Then when the warranty ran out, the window stopped working AGAIN, I did not want to pay to fix it again so it has remained closed for the past 7 years (I believe there is a wiring problem and it was never the motor after all because sometimes it worked and then it would not).
However, it has been reliable as far as major things like engine and transmission, etc. However, even though it's 10 years old, I have only put 65,000 miles on it because we mainly use it for family trips, not commuting to work. Lately though, it has been plagued with things just falling apart. Besides both the passenger and driver side door handles breaking off on the inside (which seems to be a common occurence), the CV boot cracked which required a whole new axle to replace it, a flange on the transmission rotted away and needed to be replaced, the remote entry quit working, the cruise control stopped working, the air bag light stays on, the LF wheel bearing came loose and required a hub replacement, the heating/cooling lever seems to have come loose so you can't reliably move it from true hot to cold and the plastic inside the hatch door has cracked and broken off in many places.
So, I feel it has been reliable as far as major breakdowns of major components go, but also that it could be considered a lemon in regard to all the cheap, minor breakage that occurs with the model.
I would agree with all the comments including number one. I purchased a 1995 Chevy Lumina Van and the wiper motor went out almost immediately. The passenger door handle has to be replaced also and the passenger window has not been opened in over two years because it too went out. Also, the air condition broke the second week of purchase. This van gets me where I need to go, however I would like a little more reliability when it comes to the accessories.
I have driven a 91 APV for over a year, my in-laws owned it for 6 years so I know the history. 3.1 motor, throttle body rebuilt, cat converter replaced, rack and pinion replaced, pass. outer door handle 2 times, hatch handle once, windshield has been cracked for almost 7 years and still hasn't leaked. blower motor has gone out twice. Other than routine maintenance, nothing too serious has happened. It is the ugliest thing ever, but it's at 185,000 miles and still kicking on the original motor and trans. The only time it broke down was when I ran it out of gas!
In reply to 13th Nov 2003, 07:34:
Comment from reader in Ontario... The passenger door handle linkage is easy to fix. Remove screws from inside panel. Remove panel. You will see where linkage came apart. Simply put it back in and secure with proper fastener.
Well, I highly disagree with the comment posted on 1st Mar 2006, 16:22 I have a 1995 lumina ls minivan with custom decals. they put them on because of some event in 95. to the comment on 1st Mar 2006, 16:22 I say you just bought a lemon because the only thing that ever happend to mine is the passenger door handle broke and all you do is fix the clip, a five min job. the van has 72,000 miles and still packs a punch. I recomend this van to anyone, we live in wisconsin and it's a good front wheel drive van. I hope if you get one its not a lemon becasue its one of the best vans chevy ever built and I hope they remake the van. see ya kids.
February 3,2007.
I ran across this comment area while searching for door handle replacement parts for my 94 Lumina van, of all the vehicles that I have owned in my life, this is by far the best and my favorite, I have had parts replaced and done minor repairs, and am currently trying to get both front outside door handles fixed, (neither will open from the outside) but all in all I can't complain, I bought this van in 2000 for $5,000 it had 73,000 miles on it. today it has 209,000 and I hope it runs a long time yet, the interior is still in wonderful shape (no tears, worn area's) the exterior is great. Looks sharp sitting next to my neighbors 2006 Dodge Caravan (he has had as many repairs and problems in one year as I have in seven). It still gets good mileage, I have never had anything done to the engine. Personally, I feel this is the best vehicle Chevy ever made. Thank you to the Nov 13 and Jan 2007 tips on fixing the door handles, if anyone cares to give more detailed tips on fixing the handles I would greatly appreciate your e-mail to lkrandkl@hotmail.com, I have a wonderful son in law that takes pity on his limited income mother in law and tries to do as many repairs on the van as he can. Thank you.