Owners have filed 2,178 complaints on the Chevrolet Lumina, covering 1990–2001. The system named most often is Service Brakes (672 reports). Worst years by volume: 1995, 1990, 1991; cleanest: 2001, 2000, 1999. 150 reports describe a crash, 53 a fire, 16 a death. On average the car was 5.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Lumina
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 2,178 Lumina complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Service Brakes 672 Read
Concern: 1999 low mileage chevrolet lumina. Problems with the ABS and traction control systems. Corrosion or defective wheel sensors can cause total loss of braking at slow speeds. My customer explained that his ABS light was on for several months. He had driven threw his fence after turning into his driveway. He…
No summary listed for abov evehicle
While going 30mph another vehicle cut in front & stopped suddenly. Driver in the lumina applied brakes & hit right side of ranger (door & bed). Neither air bags deployed upon impact. Seat belt caused slight trauma to heart area
Engine And Engine Cooling 233 Read
The contact owns a 1999 chevrolet lumina. While driving 25 mph, the contact noticed smoke coming out of the vents in the passenger compartment. She stopped the vehicle, opened the hood, and noticed flames coming from the engine. The fire occurred without warning. The fire department was called and they extinguished…
Gm safety recall complaint: I backed out of my driveway drove about half a block and smelled smoke; returned home, parked and saw smoke coming from under the hood. Raised hood and found engine own fire in small flames. I proceeded to pour a small bucket of water on the fire and it went out. Coincidentally, I had just…
The contact owns a 1998 chevrolet lumina. The consumer stated about 1/2 mile away from her house, the vehicle started sputtering. She pulled the vehicle over and decided to walk home. When she returned with her husband the fire department was putting out a fire from her vehicle. The consumer notified the manufacturer…
Steering 198 Read
Engine stalls causing vehicle to hit a parked vehicle
While making left hand turn into a parking lot, the steering wheel locked up. The driver hit a parked car and both air bags did not deploy. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for analysis and the mechanic noticed that rack and pinion needed to be replaced. *ak recall#03V527000 *sc *jb followup letter sent by…
Ten months after the rack and pinion bearing/ steering recall 03V527000 repairs were performed it failed. While making a left hand turn the steering wheel locked up, causing the vehicle to go into a spin and crash into a guard rail. A mechanic inspected the vehicle after the crash and indicated that the rack and…
Electrical System 129 Read
Possible electrical wiring system failure resulting in vehicle fire
No summary listed for above vehicle
Consumer parked vehicle in garage for about 6-7 hours when a fire started burning down consumer's home. Insurance investigator claimed fire started due to daytime running light wires shorting out. There was no indication of defect
Structure 122 Read
During a left front impact both rear doors came open and left rear wheel hub broken off axle no other damage to rear of car
Driver's side automatic door lock switch inoperable, blew fuse/ froze and won't release, resulting in a fire
The contact owns a 1993 chevrolet lumina. While driving 70 mph, the contact heard a clunking sound coming from the front of the vehicle. He attempted to pull off the road, but was unable to control the vehicle. The contact crashed into the center median on the highway. A dealer and a mechanic have not inspected the…
Visibility 112 Read
Faulty windshield wiper equipment, causing poor visibility during a rain storm, resulted in a minor crash, last month received a recall notice (97V-017)
While driving in rainy weather windshield wipers quit working. Dealer has seen, and replaced module and a cover
While backing out of a parking space and without any indication air bags deployed. *ak the front widsheild was shattered when the air bags deployed
Power Train 111 Read
Transmission seal failed, causing leakage/fire
Got out of vehicle with door open and vehicle in the park position. Vehicle went from park to reverse, went about (30) feet and hit another parked car
The transmission completely seized up. The car was able to shift into any gear, but the car would not move forward or backwards. The planetary gears (2) were stripped. The transmission had to be rebuilt
Seat Belts 105 Read
My daughter was involved in a fatal auto accident. She was the rear passenger of a chevorlet 1995 lumina. She had on her seat belt. Her girlfriend also in the rear, distracted the driver who lost control of the car and hit a telephone pole. My daughter received a fatal blow to the head, liver lacerations , fractured…
Upon head on impact the rear seatback bent forward and crushed my daughter between the seatbelt and the rear seat. Dt
ABS braking system problems. Plus the driver seat belt didn't lock because she hit her head on the steering wheel. Please describe. Tt
Lumina years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2000 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 7 | 6 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 20 | 8 | |
| 1996 | Air Bags | 18 | 1 | |
| 1995 | Air Bags | 36 | 6 | |
| 1994 | Air Bags | 6 | 2 | |
| 1993 | Air Bags | 10 | 10 | |
| 1992 | Electrical System | 14 | 9 | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 14 | 5 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | 19 | 4 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 840 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.6 |
| Worst single series | 17 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.0 years |
A model average of 2.6 hides a worst series at 17. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Lumina?
By complaint volume, 1995, 1990, 1991 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Lumina years are the cleanest?
2001, 2000, 1999 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Lumina have?
2,178 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1990–2001. Of those, 150 describe a crash and 53 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.