It is very roomy, and comes with all of the basic features you would expect from a sedan- ABS, Power Steering, Power Windows, etc. Large trunk. Also, the weight of the car means you can get through snowy areas rather easily. It also has a very smooth feeling to it.

There are a few annoyances. There is no tether on the gas cap, so i forgot to screw it back on and lost it once, a new one costed me 13 bucks. A lot of people, including me, have had some problems with the left turn signal. It stopped working correctly about 8 months ago, but the problem fixed itself about two weeks later. It hasnt been messing up since. Also, the paint likes to chip off on the front bumper. I dont know if that happens with all luminas or just mine, but i think it has to do with the fact that it's white. Ive heard rumors that Chevy applied some pretty Cheap white paint to its 1997 models. Another problem is that the right power window likes to mess up at times.

This is not a bad car for the price you can get for it these days. I have had some minimal problems but nothing out of the ordinary. Aside from the fact that I get hassled by my friends for owning a "Grandma Car" I think it is pretty nice. It can seat 6 people comfortobly. I have managed to squeeze 10 people in it at one time. I dont know how legal that is,(you can tell i am a teenager) but the point here is that it's roomy. It has 120,000 miles on it and still drives fine. It has a large trunk so I can haul around all of my things easily.

Strong 3.1 V6. Large trunk and interior.

This car has been in my family since new. We have 220,000 miles on it right now and it is still a daily driver. We had to replace the intake gasket at about 60,000 miles. There have been no other problems with it at all. This is a great car with a strong motor. If you know how to take care of a car this one will last you forever.

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1996 chevrolet corsica, 2002 chevrolet impala

I get 33 MPG in the city. Its very quiet. Has a powerful 3.1L engine and is low maintence. It has a lot of room and doesnt look ancient.

Gas guage doesnt register correctly below a half of tank, and turn signal doesnt work properly when i turn left. But its a 97 and those parts have never been changed. Isnt a Lexus.

I am a Student and I bought the 1997 Chevrolet Lumina in August of 04 and I love my car. I put three thousand miles on it a month. I bought the car with 112000 miles in it.

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My first car.

Good gas mileage for a full size car. Good basic transportation. Good grocery getter.

Only buy used if you have documentation that major parts have been replaced. If you see one with a weird fuel gage that is an indication of that gas tank/fuel pump problem. Also, check antifreeze, if it is low, you've got that intake gasket problem which I guess is common. I wish I found this website 6 months ago, I would have dumped this car. Once you make one major repair, you tend to follow it- Good money after bad. Well I guess the next person to own this car will end up with a good one. I'm selling it in the spring. Probably will get enough to pay for the repairs. The car only has 55,000 miles.

Grandma car- purchased with 14,000 miles in 1999. Excellent first 5 years, no repairs. Then it fell apart-- in the last 6 months. Gas Tank/fuel pump $1000, ignition module $250, speed sensor for ABS $100, intake gasket leak $500. Wow, what a feeling!!! All my other vehicles are toyota, 2 trucks and a celica. I'm glad I don't own any other GM products

Smooth and quiet ride Powerful 3.1L V6 engine Front bench seats and a long cabin give lots of passenger space. Plenty of features Still running strong after 201,000 km (125,000 miles) Large cup holder for trips to 7-11

Two reinforcing beams on either side under the hood must be removed before accessing fuse boxes / battery. 10-year-old factory CD deck worn out when purchased Ignition system uses a Passkey II system (a key with an electronic component in it); new ignition keys must be obtained from a dealership. (~$35 USD)

Disclaimer 1: Price in Canadian Dollars. Disclaimer 2: This review describes the LS edition of the Lumina. This car impressed me the minute I got behind the wheel. It has a spacious interior with plenty of room for six people, a solid but forgiving body that gives a smooth and quiet ride, and a large, deep trunk that's great for holding sports equipment, camping gear, or just a big trip to Costco. It has a lot of features that makes driving it pleasureable and comforting: A/C, cruise control, power windows/locks/trunk, ABS, and passenger-side airbags. The steering wheel has unique grips at the 10 and 2 positions, which just improves on the feel of the car. After ten years and 201,000 km, the car's 3.1L V6 is still running strong. The only two imperfections I've seen from this used-car purchase are: a) the turn signal doesn't return when signaling left; and b) the 10-year-old factory CD deck was no longer able to read CD's. I'd challenge any car, though, not to have a few of these easily-repairable problems after ten years.

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On october 29 2002 at 57,557 miles my intake manifold gaskets leaked and were replaced at a chevrolet dealer at a cost of $624.00 labour plus parts. Today april 26 2005 at 77477 miles thay leaked again.Now I am being charged to repair this leak that was done 20,000 miles ago. It appears that GM is building a very poor product leaving the consumer to foot the exorbitant repair bills. I am posting this information so that anyone who had this repair done may expect to have it done again in the furture and may even have the opportunity to have it done several times more. No wonder GM is losing money and shuffling management and the foreign car companies are making a fortune. I hope GM reads these postings

Otherwise. . . The Lumina is a solid ride and car. I have always bought GM products and my dealer is always tops.

BUYER BEWARE OF THE 3800 ENGINE FROM GM!

GM will not admit to having a serious problem with their 3800 engines. If this message stops just one person purchasing a GM product with a 3800 engine - GREAT. Do your research! GM is not standing behind a faulty designed engine that the plenum gasket fails very frequently. I took my car in for an oil change and got it back $700 later. The upper intake plenum had failed. This is a common problem that GM is soaking its customers. I asked about the newly purchased 97 Grand Prix with a 3800 - whether it would have the same problem and my dealer said, "most likely". GM needs to correct this problem. My Lumina only had 70K on it. My Grand Prix has the same. The dealer said the problem happens mostly between 60K and 80K. This is not a isolated case! I have coworkers that have been through the same ordeal. One person tried restarting their engine and cracked the starter. One person had the engine freeze up. He showed me the intake manifold with the hole wore through because of the plenum. I noticed that my low coolant light came on and needed an oil change anyway. Toooo late. I needed a new intake manifold, gaskets, and it ruined my water pump. I pleaded with our dealer for "justice" because our extended warranty just expired 3 months prior to this. I also questioned as to why GM has not recalled this plenum part? He said that probably it was because it wasn't considered a safety issue. Not to mention GM dealers are making millions on replacing this defective part and the other damage it has caused?!

Still running at 150,000

I have had to replace many EXPENSIVE parts.

My car has over 150,000 miles on it, and is still running good. I have had to replace a lot of parts on it however. I had to replace a gasket when the coolant started leaking into the oil (gasp!) for example. If you are looking for a more dependable car, I would suggest a Honda Civic or a Toyota Camry.

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Honda Civic, Ford Taurus

Big, comfortable car, good handling with better tires.

Too many repairs in the last few years, it is getting too costly to keep for the future. I'm looking as small SUV's now, will only buy a Honda or Toyota, as my other car, a 2001 Caravan has also had a lot of problems, all within the first 3 years of ownership.

Big car for not too much money. Overall pretty comfortable. Car handles very well. Original tires went 50,000 miles, now have wider Michelins. Brakes need a lot of pressure to stop the car fast. Some minor interior quality problems - the driver visor clip pulled out of the roof, and now I just leave it loose, doesn't even vibrate. Power mirror control also is loose on door - heavy-handed wife helped it along, I think. Turning radius is really large, can't make u-turns on small streets. Fan motor is noisy at two highest settings, and when you put the heat up high, you get a lot less air blowing out of vents than when temp. is lower. Otherwise, the interior is fine, and dealer took good care of me for the warranty period. Unfortunately, extended warranty was a good investment. Saved money on repairs because of it. First five years the car was fine, really not many problems at all. But after eight years, lots of problems. I have been through 3 steering racks, a heater core, 2 intake manifolds, recently the turn signal had to be replaced, mechanic had to disable the gas/octane sensor as car wouldn't accelerate past twenty without severe hesitation, and also had a big problem with bad gas. Apparently a no-name station had lots of water in their gas (can't prove it though), and it rusted out the fuel injectors, other parts got damaged, and had to get a new catalytic converter, too. $ 3,000 for all that, and I wonder if other cars would have sustained that much damage. Otherwise, engine and transmission are running good. Plan on getting rid of it soon, as too many things are starting to wear out.

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1986 Pontiac 6000 s/w, 1990 Olds Cutlas s/w, various other GM cars, but time for a change.

Replaced turn signals switch twice, intake gasket at 74000, AC compressor at 80000 miles and now they say the engine at 84000 due to coolent eating away at the heads and other aluminum parts.

Enjoyed the car but many problems.