1999 Chevy Lumina - some questions!

[Mojoed]

Have the opportunity to buy a 1999 Chevy Lumina for $1200. It's got 138k miles, seems to be in decent shape, some loose trim, but no rust, etc.

Looks don't matter really. The car would just be for people who come to visit me, as I live ~750 miles from most of my family/friends. I asked my brother in law his opinion (he's a car salesman), and he told me not to pay more than $400 for it, as they suck.

I'm looking for more opinions please! I just don't want to flush $1200 down the toilet if these things do indeed suck. If I can get a couple/few years out of it, then it would be worth it to me. What kind of reputation do 1999 Lumina's have?

Any other info would be appreciated as I'm posting from work (no internet at home, out of range ) and everything other than AT is blocked.

Thanks!

 

[Bignate603]

It's a late 90's chevy. In my experience that means the trim will fall apart inside the car like you wouldn't believe but the drive train will keep on moving forever as long as you do normal maintenance. The GM V6 engines may not be the most amazing engines out there but they are reliable.

Your brother in law as a car salesman probably wouldn't give more than $400 for the car as a trade and would have trouble getting it off his lot (not a huge amount of demand for that car) so it would just get sent off to auction. Edmunds suggests the market value of the car is around $3k, though I tend to find both their estimates and KBB to be high. Even if they are $1k off though you're still looking at a decent deal.

I will recommend that you get it to a mechanic you trust before you consider touching it. You're not getting such an amazing deal that it would be worth replacing a transmission or other large component. If everything major checks out I think it wouldn't be a bad deal as a vehicle to get you from point A to point B. It's not going to be a fun car but it would be a functional one.

 

[rdp6]

I'd consider renting a nice ride when you have visitors. Why keep another car on insurance, have to deal with it in your garage/driveway, take care of maintenance, etc.

$1200 gets you a lot of rental car time and a lot less headaches.

 

[Mojoed]

Originally posted by: rdp6
I'd consider renting a nice ride when you have visitors. Why keep another car on insurance, have to deal with it in your garage/driveway, take care of maintenance, etc.

$1200 gets you a lot of rental car time and a lot less headaches.

Good point rdp6, this is something I have thought about, but I very often have visitors. Pretty much every week. As far as the insurance goes, it's very minimal, like $50-60 per year extra since I'd be getting a multi-car discount.

 

[CrackRabbit]

If it isn't an LTZ model with the 3.8 ltr V8 I would pass on it unless owner can provide documentation on when the intake manifold gasket has been replaced.
It's a very common point of failure for the 3.1 ltr motors that were in them and kind of expensive to fix.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Neighbor has an older lumina (early 90s) and he's replaced the engine in it. But then, the car has nearly 400k. Original transmission. It is getting really rusty now, but at 15+ years of daily driving year round through snow and salt it isn't surprising it is getting rusty.

Most of the time, if it is taken care of properly, you should be ok. It is a 10 year old car though so you don't know how well it was taken care of. I'd get it looked over by a good mechanic before you buy it.

 

[Mojoed]

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
If it isn't an LTZ model with the 3.8 ltr V8 I would pass on it unless owner can provide documentation on when the intake manifold gasket has been replaced.
It's a very common point of failure for the 3.1 ltr motors that were in them and kind of expensive to fix.

:thumbsup:

Just the kind of information I'm looking for! You guys never let me down. The owner told me the intake gasket was replaced ~2 years ago, and has the paperwork. Going to pick up the car today!

Thanks to everyone else who posted here as well.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Originally posted by: Mojoed

Originally posted by: CrackRabbit
If it isn't an LTZ model with the 3.8 ltr V8 I would pass on it unless owner can provide documentation on when the intake manifold gasket has been replaced.
It's a very common point of failure for the 3.1 ltr motors that were in them and kind of expensive to fix.

:thumbsup:

Just the kind of information I'm looking for! You guys never let me down. The owner told me the intake gasket was replaced ~2 years ago, and has the paperwork. Going to pick up the car today!

Thanks to everyone else who posted here as well.

Oops I mean V6, Enjoy your purchase. My mother had a 93, bought it with 78k on it drove it for 100k and then gave it to my sister who put another 40k on it before killing it.
They aren't much to look at but should be good for a beater car.