ad url: Used 1998 Chevrolet Lumina For Sale | Gillman Subaru Southwest Houston | VIN: 2G1WL52K0W9303378
That price is close to six times what it’s actually worth…smh.
A real roach of a vehicle came across my social media feed earlier this weekend shared on a Facebook car group as an example of a dealership that’s most likely to throw on some heinous markup on their desirable new inventory.
Gillman Subaru Southwest, a car dealership based in Houston, has the stones to list this Light Driftwood 1998 Chevrolet Lumina (former police vehicle) with 190,779 miles for the astronomical price of $5,995.
“How bad is the used car market?,” you might ask?
Exhibit A.
Here’s a screenshot of the ad on the off chance it actually sells, and it’s not listed.
And here’s a gallery I chose out of the 25 photos which, I might add, are all exterior shots.
It’s like they’re embarrassed to show what’s inside or under the hood.
In the featured photo above, keen eyes will notice this guy having a laugh at the camera man who’s probably saying, “Who’s the dope dumb enough to pay full price for this heap?”
Back in 1999 when car journos were giving the front-wheel drive Lumina an honest go, the Lumina was an above-average full-sized sedan.
According to New Car Test Drive,
“The Lumina has all of the basics and none of the frills. It is sturdy, reliable, roomy, and inexpensive. It scores at the top of the charts in crashworthiness and at the bottom in theft rates.”
A V6 under the hood of this former cop car means it has the bulletproof 3800 series II, a Ward’s 10 best engine from 1995-1997. Engineered with a durable cast-iron design that put down 205 HP and 230 lb-ft, the Series II is both reliable and has good enough power, a firm foundation of any car meant for police duties.
The above mentioned is all well and good but those reviewers were wringing out brand new Luminas.
This one down in Houston is a different story, 24 years later, close to 200,000 miles, and most its clear coat dissolved by that unforgiving Texas sun, this Lumina’s lived a hard life.
More importantly, what this ad doesn’t list is how many idle hours this engine has.
6,000 idle hours, like this Crown Vic window shopper on Reddit came across, is not out of the realm of possibility for former police cars and, if we use Ford’s 1 hour = 33 miles driven formula, this Lumina could have the equivalent of close to another 200,000 miles of wear and tear.
According to Kelly Blue Book, a fair asking price for a 1998 Lumina is between $535 and $1,666.
How this Houston dealership came up with $5,995 is beyond me.
I mean, yeah, the used car market is bad.
But asking $6,000 for a beat Lumina, that’s unconscionable.
