"How reliable is the 1996 Chevrolet Lumina?"

"Based on 312 NHTSA complaints, the 1996 Chevrolet Lumina has a median complaint mileage of 102000 miles. The most common issue is Automatic Transmission."

"What are common problems with the 1996 Chevrolet Lumina?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 1996 Chevrolet Lumina is Automatic Transmission, accounting for a significant portion of the 312 total complaints filed."

1996 Chevrolet Lumina: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 312 complaints

312

Total Complaints

102,000mi

Median Mileage

Automatic Transmission

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

70,000 25th Percentile

102,000 Median Mileage

139,318 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Automatic Transmission

Frontal

Air Bags

Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip

Unknown Or Other

Gasoline

Engine And Engine Cooling

Cooling System

Engine

Switch

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHEN STOPPED AT LIGHT OR HILL WHEN BRAKES ARE APPLIED, VEHICLE WILL MOVE BACKWARDS. TT"

"DESIGN/LOCATION OF HORN MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO LOCATE; ALSO, DIFFICULT TO PUSH HORN; SAFETY HAZARD, COULD CAUSE ACCIDENT. TT"

"FALSE DEPLOYMENT OF AIR BAGS. *SD"

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Air Bags 16 complaints

Median: 102,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 33 OH: 24 FL: 20 MI: 17 NY: 16 TX: 13 PA: 13 AR: 13 MO: 12 WI: 11

Who Files Complaints?

37.5%

Original Owners

62.5%

Second+ Owners

Chevrolet Lumina — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
1990	615	126,500	Caliper	38
1991	482	110,000	Caliper	25
1992	483	122,354	Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip	20
1993	344	139,168	Antilock/Traction Control/Electronic Limited Slip	22
1994	189	114,656	Caliper	8
1995	670	111,500	Automatic Transmission	66
1997	438	82,968	Rack And Pinion	45
1998	276	96,781	Steering	12
1999	131	72,000	Manifold/Header/Muffler/Tail Pipe	12
2000	35	77,300	Automatic Transmission	1
2001	25	58,000	Automatic Transmission	0

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28