Offroad-Express

Hey everyone... Im currently looking at a lada on trade me... its an 89 carbie model.

just wondering, I dont know a hell of alot about them (other than my feet are too big, but I will learn to live with it) whats good and bad about them. they will go most places from what I have seen, but not much hope in pulling anything out. there rust is an issue I know, but what else can you guys teach me on?

any advice would be wonderful cheers

Hi
and welcome to ORE alot of good guys on here as for your you wanting to know about Lada's would be good to have a chat to this person SP450andLE he has a Lada which he is currently working on, I dont want to comment as I know nothing about them and what I have seen hasn't impressed me.

Cheers

I'm here!

Generally, they are pretty good.

The rust isn't too bad, so long as it isn't left to get out of hand, it can be kept at bay.

Usually, the price reflects the condition quite well.
Cheaper ones tend to be poorly maintained, so niggling troubles will always be present, whereas a slightly more expensive one will/can go great, and be reasonably trouble-free.

They have great flex from standard, which is a good thing.
They also have a very comfortable ride, and handle bumps etc better than any other small 4wd I have driven.
They also handle very well due to the full-time 4wd.

Engines are strong, as are the gearboxes, except for 5th gear, which can jump out of gear if it is used at speeds under 90kmh-ish.

I think if you are looking at a cheap, useable 4wd that will knock the socks off bigger, more expensive 4wds, then a Lada is a good choice.

Also, Ladas can be modified (lifted etc) very easily, and cheaply.

Another also, they are OK for pulling stuff out, so long as it's not a stupidly heavy vehicle stuck in the mud (because the weight plus the drag from the mud makes for a difficult job for a 1600 )

Heaps of info can be found here:
http://www.ladaniva.co.uk/baxter/NivaMainPage.htm

And if it's the blue on on TM you are looking at, it seems ok, especially seeing as it has a current WoF.
Just make sure the brakes are working good, as they are supposed to be awesome when they are working properly, but if they aren't working great, they can be costly to fix (as I have found out )

thanks for all that!! yes it is the blue one on trade me.... unfourtunately I cant check it out until I would win it since I have no car (dam Mrs pissing off for 2 weeks) and working. but the guy sounds pretty straight up and I can hopefully get it for a good price, otherwise I will keep on looking.

I should say, at this stage Im not looking at some monster 4x4 but more a hunting hack. however that may change..... I have heard a rumour or 2 that the 2L escort motor is a pretty easy fit??

just to keep the thread in ballance the're unreliable things that that are terrible to drive and work on and theres a reason they are the butt of 1,000,000's of lada jokes, I've never owned one but I've knowen a lot of people that have brought them over the years


happy buying

I had one and with out exagerating there was not one time that i drove it when I didn't need to push/tow it at least once.

I have owned em and other 4wd's the bonus's, if maintained they are very good for a standard entry truck but they are like old english cars you have to spend time to keep them going
Don't waste your time with and escort motor and box, they have a devorced transfercase so pretty much any RWD car motor and box is and option I had a CA18 nissan motor and and auto (nice and cheap and big power improvement )
Don't get to carried away the axles and diffs are tiny
If you want to learn to weld they are good starters as the sheetmetal on them is old school heavy

If on the other hand you want to go out and play and then ignore your toy then look at a suzuki, hilux or a paj they are alot more reliable and comfortable inside

welding: I am a ex-spray painter so rust repairs etc no issue at all.

suzzies seem a bit higher in buy price (but then maybe if I save longer and spend more now... it will be cheaper in the long run) I dont want diesel (too expensive RUCs and Rego...) and wont touch the big V6 motors so really does come down to the suzzie or lada i guess. a good lada seems to be around 1k, a good suzzie seems to be 3-4k so this is my dilema.

the other thing to think about it what your using it for. If its just a toy that you can break each time you take it out and have some fun fixing it then great but if you plan on it getting to work each monday then i'd be staying away

well I live at work... dont want to do real hard 4x4ing just hunting trips for now, cruising up river beds etc.

but all good thinking material... might be best to keep eye out for a nice suzzie

rangimotors wrote:I had one and with out exagerating there was not one time that i drove it when I didn't need to push/tow it at least once.

and your point is ........??

I had a Toyota once and without a lie there was not a time that I drove it when I didn't need to tow, push or winch it at least once and after everytrip it needed something fixed.

Lada's are still in production after 30 plus years so that must be saying something about them. If people didn't think they were OK for what they were they wouldn't be buying them still.

Ralfie wrote:

rangimotors wrote:I had one and with out exagerating there was not one time that i drove it when I didn't need to push/tow it at least once.

and your point is ........??

I had a Toyota once and without a lie there was not a time that I drove it when I didn't need to tow, push or winch it at least once and after everytrip it needed something fixed.

Lada's are still in production after 30 plus years so that must be saying something about them. If people didn't think they were OK for what they were they wouldn't be buying them still.

im not trying to make a point im stating a fact from someone who has owned one. Some people may love them but i'm not one of them and honestly don't think they are cheap for what you get. I wasn't hard on it, only ever took it off road once. When you compare that to a surf I picked up for 1000 and chucked on some 33 muds and just had fun in you'd never touch the Lada. Rokhound was selling a bog standard suzuki just the other day and only wanted 1500. There are good trucks around for good prices but Lada's are overpriced for what you get.

Each to his own, I mean no offence to guys that own them or love them I'm sure some people must have good experiances with them. I don't want to argue about what trucks best I just wanted to provide some contrast to the topic so the guy doesnt throw his cash at something thinking it'll be the best truck in the world.

Some possible options in that price range

86 Navara
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 080255.htm

90 Vitara
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 080752.htm

90 Blizzard
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 234665.htm

hilux
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 783101.htm

Pajero
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 854581.htm

Mu
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 551959.htm

not to sound fussy or un-appreciative (bad speller) but uzzie would be only one of interest, have seen that but no WOF or REG as opposed to lada having new wof and current rego.

have had, like the MU but diesel RUCs and rego just kill it.

wont touch mitsi with 10foot barge pole

others look sweet as 4x4 but th work needed to get on road will cost more!

RobLucking wrote:others look sweet as 4x4 but th work needed to get on road will cost more!

You get what you pay for man.

Taz wrote:

RobLucking wrote:others look sweet as 4x4 but th work needed to get on road will cost more!

You get what you pay for man.

oh I have no doubt!! I know I'm probably asking for a BMW at toyota prices with all this, and if I have to wait/save to get something better (suzzie) then I will, but although some people are clearly against the Lada... there are others for it, had a good read thru some links on Bazda's forum (Ironically I know him(kinda) thru something completely unrelated) and it seems like they go well if you maintain them, they just need more regular maintainence than other makes from the looks

Like I said, Ladas aren't that unreliable if they are maintained, it's just that people treat them like a modern vehicle, when they are actually a design from the seventies, using technology from the sixties

well cheers everyone.... I think I will bid on this one and see how we go, doesn't close for week and half yet so will possibly be outbid anyway, will just see

SP450andLE wrote:Like I said, Ladas aren't that unreliable if they are maintained, it's just that people treat them like a modern vehicle, when they are actually a design from the seventies, using technology from the sixties

Thats not quite my recollection, the joker I worked for in the late 80's and early 90's brought 4 of them as company vehicles, 3 cars and 1 niva, 2 were brand new and two were about 2 years old and they were always plauged with problems, they had about 2000 puntures in the first 6 months coz the russian tubes kept blistering, the mechanics couldnt keep the timing chain tensioners working and the engines always rattled and made a hell of a racket, they always kept going but they spent more time in the shop getting stupid shit fixed than they did out on the road unlike the rusty old mazda's and toyota's with high km's that he had back then

He took them all down to turners in the end and flogged them all off at a loss on the depreciated book value

Nivas are good, reliable vehicles, with very good off-road ability. They also happen to be comfortable and economical (as much as ANY 4x4) to run. All that depends on correct maintenance.
I've always found that people who knock them don't appear to have much in-depth knowledge of 4x4's generally!

ANY 4x4 is good, provided it does what you want it to do.

Regards,
Hoodoo

If your gonna be cruising up river beds etc definitely do diff breathers and a snorkel. Saves you your engine and $50 or so on oil every time water gets in your diffs. Oh and transfer case and gearbox if your gonna do them. Although they can be quite hard to get to. Anyway, here's some info on them:
http://www.ladaniva.co.uk/baxter/resour ... athers.pdf

Baxter's is an excellent source of info. One advantage of the Niva is that it costs a lot less than any other 4x4 to modify!
Regards,
Hoodoo