Faults:

My father used to own this car. He bought it new in 1994 and gave it to me in 2011.

The car is very well maintained, but has lots of discomforts.

First thing is there is only a manual 4 speed gear box; that is the reason for a very high engine sound while running fast.

No power steering.

Engine temperature is not stable; sometimes it goes high, and other times it is pretty good.

The maximum speed I drove in that Lada was 140 km/h. The car will not accelerate more, even if you stood on the accelerator.

I don't advise anyone to get a Lada. It's not easy to drive and it's not reliable.

There is no A/C.

The clutch breaks out easily, and don't ever forget, there's no power steering and it's only a 4 speed gear box.

If you can buy any other thing for its price, just go ahead.

General Comments:

This car is generally unreliable. Can't be used as a traveling car or a big city car.

Faults:

Broken down clutch, wobbly gearbox, busted alternator, wheel bearings, dodgy unmaintained small things due to the previous owner when I got it (it had received no love from the previous owner).

Busted headlight at 50.000 km due to an accident.

Clutch plates at 66.000km.

Wheel bearings, charger and battery broke at 71.000 km.

Main radiator rusted through at 78.000 km. (all in the same trip!)

Brake lines froze off at 79000 when the car wasn't used for the winter, because of the radiator that was gone. Car stood still for 5 months due to delivery troubles of the radiator.

All new brake pads front and back, brake lines

First and last damper of the exhaust needs replacing now at 81000 km.

General Comments:

I love it!

Some see it as a money pit, but I don't.

Had a little trouble in the beginning because of the previous owner, never pre-checked anything, didn't even do a good MOT / APK on it. Didn't change parts at the designated times provided by the manufacturer, and never took care of it.

So I added a lot of love and spent a lot of money in the beginning, getting the car to a good standard. That proved to be a good choice.

This car is ugly for many people, but I love the look! It makes me happy, drives me everywhere in Europe (even to steep slopes in the wintertime to go on winter sport trips!) My friends love the car, because even when it's broken down for them a lot, I always manage to get it working, and it delivers. That's the most important thing.

It's roomy, has lots of space, very comfortable on long drives (much better seating than the newer cars with their hard seats).

And it's a white box on wheels that brings me dry and happy to where I want!

Faults:

Water pump.

Brake cylinder and servo.

New radiator.

Heater valve.

Rear brake cylinders.

Transmission base.

Speedometer cable.

Left door lock.

Right side windows fell.

Rust all over the car.

Carburettor needed cleaning and overhaul.

Replaced tank because it was full of rust.

Overheating problems when driven fast and in traffic jams.

General Comments:

It reminds me more of a pickup truck than a saloon car; the handling isn't very good, the steering is heavy and slow, the brakes aren't very strong, the acceleration is poor, noisy, and the fuel economy is low.

On the other hand, it's quite roomy and the boot is big enough, the parts are cheap, and it is fairly reliable if you take care of it.

Faults:

Front windows parted company with the metal tabs bonded to them to attach the winder mechanism.

Front suspension ball joints worn out (replaced all of them, the top ones twice in 10 years).

Uneven braking (pulled to one side). This took a while to sort out and was never properly diagnosed, but fixed with new lines from master cylinder + new disk pads.

Steering imprecise. This was rectified by replacing upper ball joints, and adjusting steering box shims - quite acceptable after that.

Poor pickup. This was improved from "dreadful" to "just great for a small car" by replacing the Lada vacuum-actuated twin-throat carburettor with a direct-actuated weber off a fiat. After that it was really good to drive - very responsive, and capable of just on 100mph (!).

Unreliable distributor. The bearings wore, and the timing fluctuated as a result. The symptoms were hard starting, and uneven performance. Hard to spot, but once identified, and the distributor replaced, it ran like a dream.

General Comments:

This was one of the best cars I've ever owned. It was cheap, roomy and reliable. There were some teething problems with the steering being vague (ball joints and steering box shims), and with the ingnition and carburetor (noted above). Once those were sorted, this car gave 10 years of great, reliable service. We did long trips. The car was comfortable, and surprisingly quiet for it's time. The boot was huge for a small car (bigger than a friend's BMW 525), it was roomy and airy, and a fantastic all round family car... just as long as you were sufficiently handy with a spanner to diagnose and fix the little foibles noted above. One it was sorted out, I loved the simplicity and reliability.

The crowning glory of its achievements was when we went off on holiday one summer with the Lada and our Honda Accord. The Lada had to tow the Accord home after the first 100 miles on day-1.