Brand new Nivas made in 2017 cost 7k$ in my country

Wheer I live(former soviet republic) it was/is common knowledge, that a soviet engine would need a major rebuild after the first 100 000km (62-ish thousand miles).

Mostly everything was made with loose tolerances, they did not cheap out on the materials(i.e. thick metal), however they compromised elegance and smart engineering for simplicity. In certain cases this meant ruggedness, but in others it was just bad design.

Now, it is not all bad. The brand new car in question might be revised in some ways or built by someone who actually gives a shit and takes at least a modicum of pride in their work. After having driven an 80s Lada myself, followed by an Audi of the same vintage, the difference was astonishing.

Another example, to illustrate my point, from the aforementioned Lada 2107. Below the steering wheel, on the left it had a big brass screw-thing.
I asked the previous owner about it's purpose. Turns out, the model in question(not sure if it applies to all the Zhiguli line of cars) had a penchant for burning themselves down due to bad wiring. Apparently, a battery disconnect switch was a common mod.

BLACK VOLGA
be the scary dude from the urban legends

which one you from? Baltics?

Bingo! Latvia to be exact.

Estonian here
Baltics are the only ones who actually see flaws of Soviet vehicles, everyone else just goes for the "it'll run forever" meme
As for the engine, I'm pretty certain an engine built in 2017 will be at least a little better than ones built in the 80s

Not true. My father would run as far as he can from anything made in USSR.

It's easy to fix sure, but it isn't as reliable as Soviet fanboys claim

That's why it's said.
Reliability != Ease of repairs
Commies are mental.

I'd argue that reliability is related to ease of repair to some degree, it's not the sole determining factor but it's more of a combination of the severity of the thing that broke, how easy it is to fix, and how much it costs in time/money and even then it can vary from person to person.

It's like how you'll find different people that claim two-stroke outboard motors are reliable or unreliable based on their technical knowledge, for those of us who can fix the thing it's great since you really only need a 10mm wrench and a screwdriver and you can fix pretty much any problem well enough to get the motor running, but to someone who isn't technically inclined there dead in the water regardless and would be willing to pay significantly more to have a four stroke motor that actually needs to be taken to a mechanic if something goes wrong but is less likely to just die randomly.

That being said as an American I'd kill to be able to get a new Niva over here, with how cheap they are it'd be competitive with used cars to make a cheap little weekend offroader and they're lightweight and small which is hard to find in tandem with decent 4wd over here, it's almost like it fills the original purpose of a jeep.

>urban legend
Dude, that shit is not made up. That was the way it went.
This, it might seem like a good first car, and i'm familiar with the "it still rolls after X years!!!" meme, but remember, it only works because gramps spends half an hour daily under the shitbox to fix it. Go for a westerner car if you can.
t. Had an UAZ. Glad it's gone now.

>>urban legend
>Dude, that shit is not made up. That was the way it went.
what is this shit about never heard desu

Nivas are still one of the best offroaders

Only higher ups used to drive Volgas and only higher ups of the higher ups drove Black Volgas. I think the secret services used them from time to time. So it meant that if one stops in front of your home, you might be in trouble.

My point exactly. A simple car can run forever if maintained properly. But a reliable car will run for a long time even if not properly maintained. Sometimes both definitions CAN overlap and they are dependent on one another. But it doesn't mean that they are one and the same.

classy af tho

This, they were used by secret service all around the eastern block. And the big ass black car made quite a scene because back then almost nobody had cars.

If you don't need the offroad capability, you will be better off with a Dacia. Much better off.

The Lada Niva is essentially a 1960s car.

Oh but I do need an offraod car. Summer home is a bitch to get to and picnic spots are also not paved

after the collapse of the USSR , mafia guys would drive them around too and around here, debt collectors still drive black Volgas

If you need that shit to get there only occasionally, the Dacia is just fine. My gramps visits his apiary on the daily in his Golf III, and he's just fine with it. If your job doesnt require you to go off-road, then you should stay away from the Niva. Hell, even the new Renault-based Ladas (what's their name again?) are a lot better than muh soviet steel.

the Lada Xray, you mean?
These cost like 11k here
and aren't Dacias a lot worse than Ladas?

Dacias aren't bad, they just use older tech than Renaults. So they're like a Romanian Lada.

Also that is the concept and

>The car was created on the basis of the Dacia Sandero hatchback produced by Automobile Dacia, subsidiary of the Renault–Nissan Alliance which has control over AvtoVAZ, but features an original design, engines, gearboxes and various options, unavailable for the Sandero in the Russian market.

>i want one. but burgerland
checks out

I want one also, but sadly import costs of one old enough to import is more than the value of the vehicle; which makes it less appealing.

Is it true the KGB had the V8 from the Chaika in a few of those? As a burger, I am completely jealous of a RR layout V8 car.

RR layout? Did they put the V8 in the trunk?

It would appear I have mistaken that car for another. I am still learning about Eastern European cars since we got next to none over here. I've been a fan of the Niva and the 210X Ladas for a few years, but just recently realized theres a bunch of cars that hit my favorite stylistic queues.
>tfw too poor to start a Lada import business and garage.

Yeah they did put special motors in KGB cars. They even made a special Lada VAZ-2105 for the KGB
youtube.com/watch?v=5F9XkImWSEs

That's cool car but I think the VFTS is cooler or the Finnish Turbo 2107 Ladas.

Izh 2717 is cute.

You put a "c" there.

translate.google.fi/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://lautomobileancienne.com/lada-2107-turbo-konela-1984-1986/&prev=search

Managed to find something. 1.5l turbo doing 110hp on the 2107 but allegedly also 1.3l turbo 2105s were made with about 85hp.

Nah I meant the Granta/Kalina/Vesta. Probs best deal is the vesta. I figure theyre cheaper than Dacias there since theyre made locally, but I may be wrong.

Wrong Volga

hueheu

Ummm, no. GAZ-3102 is the one. I don't really want a GAZ-24 (Unless it's the GAZ-24-10)

the facelift one looks retarded. '74 is best year

Here's your new (you)

I used to want a Lada because they had a exhibit at the Canadian Auto Show and I got a pamphlet. Did you know they used a GM fuel injection system for good cold starts.

>tfw burger
>tfw no cheap new 4x4 boxwagon
If these were available in the US nobody would look at the XJ twice.
t. heep owner

get this

rbth.com/lifestyle/326503-chelyabinsk-8-wheel-aatv

If you're into shit breaks and not going above 120km per hour, then sure.

I'm 100% certain this thing would get stuck in mud.

looks cool, my car is from 2001 and has a 1980s design

I know a guy whose brand new Niva broke on the way from the dealership. On TWO tries.
But shoddy QC aside, they're quite capable off-roaders and extremely moddable due to simplicity.

>Are they a good first car?
Oh hell no. For starters, they have no safety measures beyond ABS.

>Granta/Kalina/Vesta
Those are indigenous Ladas, not Renault-based.
The first two are crap, Vesta is a step up (to more or less a normal low-end car by US/Euro standards)

Yes, as well as an automatic transmission disguised as stick. But they were FR just like normal Volgas, there's enough space under the hood to fit a V8 without cutting the entire car apart.

There was also a limited series of police interceptor Ladas with dorito engines.

It was an fr but there was a rr v8 car in the soviet union. It was the tatra 603

603 goat
doesnt it have only like 200 hp?

Its a 2.5 liter air cooled engine from the 50s. What do you expect?

Tatras are rare as fuck in the USSR whatcha mean

>Probs best deal is the vesta.
>Vesta is a step up
Whoa, Vesta shills have arrived. Now we only have to wait for UAZ Patriot threads.

What's wrong with both of them? They're excellent for their price. If I had 9k instead of 7, I'd probably buy the UAZ Patriot instead of the Niva.

I didnt say the Vesta is good. It's the least worst in his situation.
>UAZ Patriot
Cmon now.

25+ year old one. Shipping + all other fees will be

Russia or where? Anyway, I'm in Novosibirsk and I've been using an X5 for the past 10 yearsish. Not what I'd use doing some crazy offroad mountain racing shit. But, it's more than adequate for going outside the main city, summer home, etc.

Maybe consider getting a decent used car instead of a new, mediocre car. Niva is not a bad offroader. But, it's shit for everything else. It's old, it's not comfortable, it's not pretty, and it's not fun for city use.

Used E70 X5 is about 450K rub here / $7.5-8K. One without N62 shouldn't give you much trouble. Audi Q7 starts at about the same price too. Both are nice SUVs. Pretty, fast, fun, comfortable, and can do unpaved roads no problem.

I'm not trying to say that Vesta is a *good* car. It's still an economy shitbox with cheap plastic interior, weak engine and the worst (but thankfully optional) autotragic gearbox of all time, but at least it doesn't feel like a 90s relic assembled by baboons like earlier models.

>recommending a 10 year old X5 or Q7 to a beginner
>a 10 year old *Russian* X5 or Q7

Bruh

You can get really lucky and find a nice one with non-faked mileage, but 90% of those on sale will require another $8k in parts.

Most people aren't shitty people. Just don't buy from big bellied, sunflower seed eating Boris with a knife.

No way in hell I'd buy a brand new pos niva that I can feel my ass rattling in. Get a half decent car.

Yes it is really worth them.
But beware of the gas consumption.

Most people selling these old luxobarges are re-sellers, who do tend to be shitty people.

>No way in hell I'd buy a brand new pos niva that I can feel my ass rattling in.
Some people prefer that to a car that can require several thousands worth of repairs out of the blue.

>Most people selling these old luxobarges are re-sellers, who do tend to be shitty people.

There are a lot of non-scummy private sellers. These are some of the most popular SUVs in the country.

Most of the people I know who own them bought them used and haven't had too many issues.

>Some people prefer that to a car that can require several thousands worth of repairs out of the blue.

Again, just be careful. Yes, if you buy some N62 engine X5, if your valve stem seals need replacing, it'd cost you about $1k here in my city. But, that is one of the biggest repairs on that X5.

The Niva is just not a good value at $7k. If you insist on getting car like that, at the very least buy it used. Good condition models can be had for under 1k easy.

The niva is so unbelievably bad that I cannot believe it can still be sold new. In crash tests here, it scored a 0 on collisions. Literally no points. If you're the passenger and you get into a frontend colliision, your head is likely to whip into the glove box and there are no airbags so the crash dummies almost always received some sort of hardcore brain injury.

On the drivers side, again, no airbags at all in the entire car, and the positioning of the steering wheel, columns, and so on also almost always cause a variety of damage to the driver. It usually fucks up your head at the very least, almost always causes severe damage to your legs and lower body.

The Niva is a literal death trap with absolutely zero safety features.

If you want to die to save $1k in possible repairs, be my guest. But, personally, I'd get the significantly nicer car that isn't looking to murder you.

As if a 10 year old X5 is going to have any airbags still operational

Buy a new one if you're concerned about shelf life? They are under $100. Better than no airbags lmao.

Also, you do know that the shelf life label is generally just a precautionary measure, right? Even if your car is from 1990, your airbags are likely to still deploy in 2017.

I don't know why you foreigners have such a hard on for our shitboxes. There is a reason even we don't want them. If you want to die being a Russian patriot, go join the military. But, if you have some sense to you, don't step foot in an old Lada.

>Even if your car is from 1990, your airbags are likely to still deploy in 2017
If your car is a big old BMW in Russia, your airbags likely look like this.

A decent X-5 is impossible to get here. I am in Estonia, and my budget is around 7k Euros (almost 500k rubles for you russkibro) and there is no way I can get an X-5 that needs no fixing as is.
Cheapest semi decent X-5s all cost 12k Euros at least.
Sadly I am not looking for quality, I'm looking for a reliable SUV that'll be brand new and worth my money

>UAZ Patriot
UAZed for it, U got it!!

All hail Russia

truly!? that's awesome.

The X5 guy is either memeing or smoked too many Russian car stereotypes.
Sure, Niva is a pretty shitty option, but there's a shit ton of options between that and beaten-up luxobarge. Is Dacia/Renault Duster sold in Estonia? It's less of a shitbox than Niva, and is reliable when equipped with a non-turbo engine.

I see your 1980/2001 and raise you 1965/2017

If you are a shitty city dweller that never goes in place where a car like this is actually need then dont bother.
If you are not just never let go of the gas and the car will take care of you on the way up.

Friend in Tallinn said he got a nice XC90 for about 6500. Might be worth checking out some used Volvo; they won't kill you, don't feel cheap, are reliable, can do basic offroading, and not very expensive.

They're all over 300 000km mileage. God knows what they've been through, but I guess they are a preferable alternative to communism

Saw a black Volga of this type in Russia, with chrome accents, chrome deep dish wheels, and a loud exhaust. Was really cool

What is citi golf
>that mk2 design
>that modern interior