I wrote a review a few months ago about the Chevrolet Lumina since I've owned two and loved them. However, the trouble that my father is having with the Lumina he owns now is making me rethink my ideals about this model.

When my father bought his 1995 Lumina it had just under 25,000 miles on it. The car was in pristine condition as it was owned by a car dealer who rarely drove it (when he did it was on long trips). Everything about this vehicle was perfect.

My dad drives 104 miles round trip to work each day and uses his car for trips he takes to his company's farm and such. On average he puts 30,000 or more miles on his car each year. Given this it's expected that a car will suffer some minor problems in its lifetime.

Just after he bought the car he noticed that the under carriage's paint was flaking off. What was a flat black turned into a black and grey mottled look. Because this wasn't anything to complain to the dealer about (what's a little paint flaking where you can't see it) my dad passed over it.

At around 90,000 (roughly 2 years after purchase) the paint on the body of the car started to bubble and peel off in large pieces. Within a week the car that was once beautiful was now an eyesore and embarrassment. Because this was recognized by Chevrolet as a problem by father took the car in to the Chevrolet dealership.

When the dealer saw the car he immediately said he wasn't going to deal with it. Seeing a future problem my dad asked for a report to be signed and dated. This would prove that he had tried to get the repairs made in the time constraints put on the recall but was refused service.

For several months now I've attempted to get Chevrolet to repair their car. At first they were personable, saying a phone call would help the situation. My dad called and was "greeted" by a young man who denied that Chevrolet had ever had this type of problem (why the recall then?).. the young man half listened to the problems my dad listed and finally told him that the mileage voided the recall.

Towards the end of last week I received an email from Chevrolet stating that they had to follow warranty and recall protocol. "Because your father did not bring in his car before the last day of the recall we can not repair the damages to his vehicle. Mileage plays no part in this decision." Uhoh. He did get it into the dealership in time..has papers to prove this. Now the argument they had of "too many miles" has now been tossed out the window.

I emailed them with the offer of showing proof and they now want to take this back to the phone. This weekend I will, once again, attempt to get them to follow through on their side of the bargain.

Interesting note. My dad bought a Ford truck back in the 1980's. A few years after he bought it they had a recall on the paint job. This was a farm truck that was very abused after going through woods, gullies, and hay fields. It was the definition of a farm truck..with thousands of gouges and scratches..and thousands of miles also. Ford didn't hesitate at the appearance..nor did they flinch at the mileage on this vehicle. They painted the truck with absolutely no questions asked. After all, bottom line was that they had painted it with a bad batch of paint and it was their responsibility to fix their mess.

If you're thinking about buying a Chevrolet be careful. If it's a used Chevrolet check on all recalls..back to the day they were manufactured. Find out if the owner has followed up on the recalls before you purchase the vehicle. If they haven't followed up contact Chevrolet and find out, and get in writing, that they will honor the recalls.

We've found out the hard way that Chevrolet isn't on the customer's side when it comes to fixing the mistakes made at the manufacturer.