Lada Niva's To Buy Or Not To Buy
s931...@pitvax.xx.rmit.edu.au
I am thinking of buying a second hand Lada Niva.
I am interested to hear peoples opinions on this type of car, if someone
has specs on it ie MPG (or KPL), approx price for new and secondhand (aus $)
Basicaly I just want people opinions on the car, and good or bad things/stories
about them....
Thanks In advance
--
Paul Snow
s931...@pitvax.xx.rmit.edu.au
amir...@kean.ucs.mun.ca
economy (and, consequently, car making plants and dealer's support
system) may collapse in any moment.
Except the price, I cannot see any gains in buying LADA/NIVA...
(May be, it is very simple and easy in repairing...)
Andrew,
still patriot of the country but not of its "lemons"
Lee Ward
unless theyre priced so low you cant resist,and they are in good shape..
Lee Ward
----
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Dimitri Shcherban
Hi,
I am thinking of buying a second hand Lada Niva.
I am interested to hear peoples opinions on this type of car, if someone
has specs on it ie MPG (or KPL), approx price for new and secondhand (aus
$)
Basicaly I just want people opinions on the car, and good or bad
things/stories about them....
Thanks In advance
--
Paul Snow
s931...@pitvax.xx.rmit.edu.au
***************
IMHO, better not to buy any car made in the country which
economy (and, consequently, car making plants and dealer's support
system) may collapse in any moment.
Except the price, I cannot see any gains in buying LADA/NIVA...
(May be, it is very simple and easy in repairing...)
Andrew,
still patriot of the country but not of its "lemons"
NB: Well, well, well .... I'm not sure in collapce of "autovaz" Too many
countries and too many peoples are involved...
***********************
The first rule of Buyin used cars is to stay away from the oddball cars
unless theyre priced so low you cant resist,and they are in good shape..
Lee Ward
NB: Correct in general, but I think you can see better from Australia.
*******************
Some general notes on the car in question.
Once I saw an advertising for NIVA (VAZ 2121) which stated that if you
want to travel offroads and have no money to buy Landrover - buy NIVA -
you will have the same for a lesser price.
I agree completely with a statement above, unless you are residing in
god-knows-where w/o any roads at all. NIVA was originally designed as a
car for mixed type of roads, where you have highways and offroads both.
It will not survive in 100% desert. The more offroads you have the more
attention this car needs.
It is usually classified as a light jeep, and among light jeeps it has
probably the highest abilities offroads. It was demonstrated by many
races and rallyes.
Two more very important points:
1) The car actually has 100,000 km (not miles) limit in it. It was
designed so. Engine, transmission, will probably last more - and it
strongly depends on road conditions - but CV joints, steering mechanism,
some other things will most likely fail. Or they must be checked out if
you want to go over this line. The cars for aboard are usually done
better than those for Russia - so you better ask arownd - but the general
picture is the same.
2) There is two very different kinds of NIVA. Besides minor differences
in engine modifications, tires and some small things there is a major
difference. About 1981 the car was significantly changed. It become
actually a different car, althow it looks the same and have the same
number - 2121. I know what I'm talking about - I had both cars - one of
1976 year and another from 1982. They changed almost everything
important: they changed body structure, they changed transmission, they
changed suspension, they even changed an engine in a little bit. The car
became much stronger - I do not wish to have a collision of my current
Honda Accord with my last NIVA - it will be mess of Honda. (Once I hit a
tree about 2" in diameter and broke it without any traces on the car).
Besides that the car become much better on the road and easier in sevice.
In another worlds - I recommend to buy NIVA from 1982 and later and do
not buy anything before that - assuming you will find anything that old.
Please, send me a private message, I will tell you what to check and how,
it you are interesting to buy this car.
Cheers, Dima.
P.S. There was a question about gas consumption - 9.8 l/100 km on a
highway. It ai funny, but it is not important how much is the load on a
car. The gas consumption depends only on how fast are you going and at
what gear :-)
Some other data:
4x4 hatchback body. Looks like a crab - whide and short :-) Total weight
1100-1200 kg fully loaded w/o driver and passengers.
engine: Usually 1.6l, inline, carburator, 12 valves, 80 hp. Output 15kg/m
at 3000 rpm, the engine is relyable up to 4500-5000 rpm, working interval
2000-3000 rpm. Clearly overpowered car :-)
Transmission manual, 4 speeds, from 1:2.75 to 1:1, all synchronized, but
5th speed feels necessary on highways. 2 extra speeds in distribution box
(is it a right term?) one 1:1 and another about 1:2.25. No
sinchronizators in there! In addition differential between axiles can be
locked. Inaxil differentials can not be locked (in most cases it is not
necessary :-) Independent suspension for front wheels only.
Driving and service: Very stable on the road, including wet and icy, but
if control is lost it is very difficult to gain it back :-) Not very soft
on ride, count each bump, but suspension is much stronger than for
average car w/ springs and shock adsorbers. Can carry 600 kg of cargo and
driver and passenger. Consider this car as a light 4x4 track with a
hatchback body :-) Almostr impossible to get stacked. For 10 years I
managed to do so only twice :-) Buy some reasons flat tire is a very rare
thing too. Brakes: good: car can be effectively stopped by parking barke.
Bad: The barke system in whole is too sofisticated and needs to be
serviced often. Very easy in service, relatively to what I am doing now.
Engine has a timing chain, and a radiator fan driven by belt. Difficult
to overheat, at least if air temperature is below 30 ^C. The amount of
electric stuff reduced to a minimum, but car has some funny features -
the signals change brightness according to a daytime and it has a smooth
regulation of dashboard lights brightness :-) in transmission and
suspension the extra oil can be pumped in almost all vital parts and by
"saturday mechanic". Can be repared in field, and the fix will last
enough to reach the garage. I can send a list of spare part you must
carry to do this. All systems are easyly acessible. Plenty of space under
the hood :-)
********* Well, enogh :-)
V...@vm.temple.edu
England was using Nivas for their off-road needs. Of course, they
could have used Ford Crossworths (sp?) instead but they probably
thought Ford was too expensive.
For the money, a Niva is probably the best alternative to Jeep
Wrangler/Land Rover 90 you can get. It's fueld economy is not
great but quite high for this class of vehicles -- it's about
11l/100km city, 8l/100km highway. The 1.6 liter engine is quite
durable and easy to work on. It's also the biggest in LADA line.
I've heard that they had plans for a turbocharged version but don't
know if they implemented it (they had plans for many things;-)
The 4WD system is effective but noisy. It's quite capable off-road,
too. The suspention is probably the best feature, since it was
designed for use on terrible (TERRIBLE!) roads in the S.U.
The car can easily upstand cold weather, but, as far as I know,
doesn't offer any kind of A/C.
There have been some troubling electrical problem on all LADAs,
so make sure that everything electric still works on the car you're
looking at. Also, check for any rust under the car and on the lower
parts of the body. Make sure that you have a dealer/service center
near were you live because part availability has always been a problem.
Best wishes. Vlad.
P. Rebreyend (sommerstud.)
>
>For the money, a Niva is probably the best alternative to Jeep
>Wrangler/Land Rover 90 you can get. It's fueld economy is not
>great but quite high for this class of vehicles -- it's about
>11l/100km city, 8l/100km highway. The 1.6 liter engine is quite
>durable and easy to work on. It's also the biggest in LADA line.
>I've heard that they had plans for a turbocharged version but don't
>know if they implemented it (they had plans for many things;-)
8l/100 km on highway !!! You must drives slowy!!
I think it's more because I had a Lada 2106 with the same
engine and I did between 8 and 9.5 on highway but my car is lighter,
smaller (best Cx and sCx) and has no a 4WD transmittion which
takes power. Anyaway, it's depend how you drive .
Now, they make it with a 1.9 l diesel engine from Peugeot,
about 65 hp.
>Best wishes. Vlad.
P. Rebreyend